With just four events remaining in the FedExCup Fall, this week’s Zozo Championship offers players inside the all-important top-125 bubble a big opportunity.
Because the Zozo is 78-player tournament, not every player fighting around the bubble for his PGA Tour card is afforded the chance to compete, and the event’s no-cut format means that those lucky enough to earn their spot in the field are guaranteed FedExCup points if they complete four rounds.
“I wish the field was a little bigger for guys who are trying to keep their cards,” said one PGA Tour member around the bubble.
He’s not alone.
So, who’s in, and who’s out?
Let’s start with those competing:
• Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Hideki Matsuyama are among the 12 players who finished inside the top 50 in the FedExCup this season and locked up exemptions into every signature event next year.
• There are also 15 Japanese players teeing it up who aren’t PGA Tour members and will not earn official points.
• Of those currently Nos. 101-125 in points, 15 players in that group are in the field as of Monday evening, including No. 118 Zac Blair (sponsor exemption) and No. 123 S.H. Kim, who was the last player who qualified via the top 60 available players in points when the field was finalized last Friday.
• Sponsor exemptions Joel Dahmen (129) and Gary Woodland (137) are the only players outside the top 125 in points in the field.
Since the PGA Tour reimagined its fall schedule last year, the Zozo has been the oddball among the eight-tournament slate, which has been billed as the final opportunities for players to secure fully exempt membership for the following season. Three of the first four fall events, excluding only last week’s Shriners Children’s Open, have had field cutoffs accommodate every full member.
Michael Kim, who is No. 112 in points after a T-5 in Las Vegas, is the highest-ranked player in the current FedExCup who is on the alternate list.
“I needed to player better,” said Kim, who is second alternate but did not travel to Japan.
The next man out, though the fifth alternate, is No. 117 Jacob Bridgeman, followed by:
119. Alex Smalley
120. Vince Whaley
121. Henrik Norlander
122. Hayden Springer
124. Matt Wallace
125. Joe Highsmith
126. Kevin Tway
127. Ale Tosti
128. Daniel Berger
130. Pierceson Coody
No. 132 Taylor Montgomery was listed the first alternate after No. 115 Carson Young replaced Emiliano Grillo on Monday morning. Young will begin the week with a five-point lead on Bridgeman and 58-point advantage on Tway. But No. 134 Dylan Wu said Tuesday that he’d made the trip to Japan as the new first alternate.
Wu is a big fan of the Zozo, saying Japan is “one of the coolest countries in the world” and “the staff and Japanese fans are like the nicest in the world; they truly appreciate golf.” He wishes, however, that its field was bigger, and while he believes it belongs on the schedule, he does admit it doesn’t quite fit the theme of the fall.
“It’s an awesome event that I hope I can play in,” Wu said. “But it definitely is a weird mix when guys are battling for top 125 and everyone in the field is basically locked up on that.”
The PGA Tour takes a week off after Zozo before finishing off its fall with the World Wide Technology Championship in Cabo, Butterfield Bermuda Championship and RSM Classic.
