Do you have playoff fever yet?

August has arrived and that means the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs, a tidy little three-week sprint before the NFL fully takes over the sports landscape. The format for the second consecutive year is 70, then 50, then 30 players competing each week in no-cut play, with the top 70 in season-long points qualifying for this week’s opener. After the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the top 50 advance to the BMW Championship and then the top 30 head to the Tour Championship.

The Wyndham Championship finalized the field, with Chris Kirk cracking the top 70 with a top-5 finish in the regular-season finale and Ben An falling out after missing the cut. Matti Schmid came into the week as the bubble player at No. 70 and remained there.

The No. 1, of course, is Scottie Scheffler. How dominant was the world No. 1 this season? Playoff points are quadrupled from regular-season Tour events with 2,000 to the winner and Scheffler will still be No. 1 after the opener, that’s how big his lead is.

There is an assist to that, however, as No. 2 Rory McIlroy is sitting out the first event. At some 1,400 points behind there are scenarios where McIlroy could have become No. 1 going to the BMW, but he’s opting for rest. Scheffler, McIlroy and others at the top of the points are virtually assured of trips to East Lake for the finale.

The 69 players who are teeing it up this week will take on TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tenn., which hosts for the fourth consecutive year. Hideki Matsuyama is the defending champion and qualified for the playoffs again, as did 2023 champion Lucas Glover. The 7,288-yard par-70 gives up a fair number of birdies and even more sweat-soaked shirts.

Below is the field for the playoff opener.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as 2025 FedEx St. Jude Championship Full Field: Playoff Opener With One Notable Absence.

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