You can’t win if you don’t enter.
With only 70 players making this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind, compared to 125 in years past, advancing to the FedExCup Playoffs is harder than ever.
And it doesn’t get any easier after Week 1.
Only the top 50 after the FedEx St. Jude will advance to the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields outside Chicago, followed by only the top 30 to the TOUR Championship at East Lake in Atlanta. There, at the home of Bobby Jones, someone will raise the FedExCup trophy.
Herewith, a quick primer on the players who reached the start of the three-week postseason.
1. Jon Rahm: FedExCup runner-up in 2021 has cooled only slightly since becoming this season’s only four-time winner at Masters in April.
2. Scottie Scheffler: World No. 1 and WM Phoenix Open and PLAYERS champ finished 12th or better in staggering 18 consecutive starts.
3. Rory McIlroy: Three-time FedExCup champ won twice, most recently Genesis Scottish Open, and counted as U.S. Open runner-up among 10 top-10s.
4. Max Homa: Successfully defended at Fortinet, one of two wins, and enjoyed a career season with nine top-10s. Tied for fifth in last year’s FedExCup.
5. Wyndham Clark: After a breakout season with two wins (Wells Fargo Championship, U.S. Open) is in line to make his first TOUR Championship.
6. Brian Harman: The runaway Open Championship winner also had three runner-up finishes; looks to improve on T21 in last year’s FedExCup.
7. Viktor Hovland: Winner of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday did not miss a cut all season and finished top-20 in all four majors.
8. Keegan Bradley: Two wins included the Travelers Championship among fellow Northeast sports fans. No TOUR Championship starts since 2018.
9. Rickie Fowler: Comeback kid captured Rocket Mortgage Classic for first win in 4 1/2 years. Last man in the Playoffs last year at No. 125.
10. Tony Finau: Second two-win season (Texas Children’s Houston Open; Mexico Open at Vidanta); aiming for seventh straight TOUR Championship.
11. Jason Day: Victory at AT&T Byron Nelson was first win in five years; comeback season for former world No. 1 included eight top-10s.
12. Nick Taylor: Crowd-pleasing 70-foot winning putt at RBC Canadian Open made him the first Canadian to win it since 1954.
13. Patrick Cantlay: FedExCup champion two seasons ago has not won this season but has amassed eight top-10 finishes.
14. Tom Kim: Winner of Shriners Children’s Open went T6, T2 in last two…
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