The FedExCup playoff events kick off this week with the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee. There are three total playoff events, and the winner of the final TOUR Championship earns a whopping $18 million and the FedExCup title.
Golfers earn FedExCup points in tournaments throughout the season, and the top 70 in the standings reach the St. Jude Championship. The top 50 after St. Jude reach the BMW Championship, and the top 30 in the standings qualify for the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Depending on one’s FedExCup standing, golfers start the TOUR Championship with a certain amount of strokes already on their scoreboard. This gives an advantage to those who have won more throughout the season, creating imbalance in the field but encouraging golfers to earn as much as possible throughout the season.
The biggest motivation to get those extra strokes at the beginning of the TOUR Championship is the fact that a win here marks the biggest payout in the sport. There is nearly a $12 million difference between the first and second place finishers. Last year, Rory McIlroy won the TOUR Championship over Scottie Scheffler and Sungjae Im, beating both by a single stroke.
A rough back nine on Sunday for Scheffler saw him miss the big payday, but he still finished as the PGA TOUR’s Player of The Year.