The Five Biggest Storylines Heading into the 2026 PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoffs

The PGA Tour’s regular season came to an end Sunday with Michael Brennan getting his second career win at the Wyndham Championship.

Now it’s time for the FedEx Cup Playoffs to begin.

This first of the three postseason events kicks off Thursday in Memphis at the annual St. Jude Championship. The top 70 players in the season-long FedEx Cup race are in the field. The top 50 after this week’s event will advance to the BMW Championship in St. Louis and then the top 30 will move on to the Tour Championship in Atlanta at the end of the month.

The #FedExCup Playoffs are set! See you in Memphis 🤩

1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Matt Fitzpatrick
3. Cameron Young
4. Wyndham Clark
5. Chris Gotterup
6. Collin Morikawa
7. Si Woo Kim
8. Sam Burns
9. Tommy Fleetwood
10. Ludvig Åberg
11. Xander Schauffele
12. Rory McIlroy
13. Jacob… pic.twitter.com/jYyz6iISCz
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 9, 2026

Let’s take a look at the top storylines to watch in this year’s playoffs.

Can Scottie Scheffler get it done and win the FedEx Cup?

Scheffler is the No. 1 player in the world and is also No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings, so he should be an easy pick to win it all, right? Well, not exactly. While Scheffler has had a very strong year, he has only won once, way back in January at The American Express in Palm Springs. He does have five second place finishes this year, including in his last event at the 3M Open in July, and has 11 top 10 finishes. In recent years we’ve grown so used to seeing Scheffler winning a lot, which has made this season a weird one for the 30-year-old from Texas. It will be interesting to see if he can turn it up a notch in the playoffs, starting in Memphis here he finished T3 last year. Scheffler has only won the FedEx Cup once, back in 2024.

What are we going to get from Rory McIlroy?

Like Scheffler, McIlroy has only one win this season but it was a big one as he won the Masters for a second straight year. The No. 2 player in the world is 12th in the FedEx Cup standings, thanks mostly to the fact that he has only played in 11 PGA Tour events this year. He’s in the field this week at Memphis after hinting last month that he might skip it like he did last year since he’s already going to make it into the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship. He hasn’t played since the British Open so it’s hard to predict what we’ll get from McIlroy, who has won the FedEx Cup twice before in 2019 and 2016. At this point in his career McIIroy has done it all and is only really motivated by major championships. Will he be able to get fired up for the FedEx Cup Playoffs and be a factor come the Tour Championship? Only time will tell.

Can Jackson Koivun make some noise?

Koivun made some history over the weekend when he was able to hold on to the 70th spot in the FedEx Cup standings and qualify for the playoffs on the number. He needed just five starts on the PGA Tour to get enough points to punch his ticket to the postseason, which ties him with Tiger Woods for the fewest number of tournaments needed to play to qualify for the playoffs. Koivun’s dominant win at the 3M Open is the biggest reason why he was able to do that. Now he gets a chance on a big stage to make even more of a mark in his rookie year. He’ll need to have a good week in Memphis to make it to the next round but if we’ve learned anything so far about the 21-year-old it’s that he loves a challenge and he knows how to not only contend, but win.

Some elite company. pic.twitter.com/fnaaWMgAAT
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 10, 2026

Can Jordan Spieth make it past Memphis?

Spieth became a fan-favorite early in his career when he won three major championships and seemed destined to add a lot more during his career. But that hasn’t been the case as in recent years he’s shockingly become just an average PGA Tour player. For proof, he’s played in 21 events this year and doesn’t have a top 10 finish. He currently sits 54th in the FedEx Cup standings and will need to have a good week to get into the BMW Championship. He’s still must-see TV whenever he tees it up and it would be fun to see him advance but it would also not be a surprise if this week ends up being his final one of the season.

Will the playoffs be a hit with fans?

The PGA Tour moved the FedEx Cup playoffs to August a few years ago in order to not go head-to-head with the start of the NFL season. It was a good move because let’s face it, once football starts everything takes a back seat. But these playoffs will need to have the big names in contention each week for fans to really be drawn in. Hopefully they can deliver.

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