The recently concluded BMW Championship on the PGA Tour saw Keegan Bradley’s victory catapult him from 50th to 4th place in the FedEx Cup rankings. The top five positions are currently held by Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama, Keegan Bradley, and Ludvig Åberg, with Rory McIlroy in the 6th position. Tommy Fleetwood’s strong performance at the BMW Championship secured his spot among the top 30 players advancing to the prestigious 2024 PGA Tour FedEx Cup Championship at East Lake Golf Club.
Players like Justin Thomas, Adam Scott, Tommy Fleetwood, and Chris Kirk managed to move into the top 30, while others such as Brian Harman, Jason Day, Davis Thompson, and Max Homa fell short and won’t compete at East Lake this week. The Tour Championship, which determines the ultimate FedEx Cup champion, offers a $100 million purse, with the winner earning $25 million and being declared the FedExCup champion. The consolation for those in the top 50 but not making the top 30 is that they gain entry to the eight lucrative Signature Events in 2025.
The Tour Championship uses a unique format where players begin the tournament with staggered starting scores based on their position in the FedEx Cup standings after the BMW Championship. The player ranked 1st in the FedEx Cup starts at 10 under par, while the player ranked 2nd starts at 8 under par, and so on. This format ensures that the FedEx Cup standings directly influence the outcome of the Tour Championship, with the final score including the starting strokes determining the champion.
The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points allocation is a complex system designed to fairly assess the relative performance of golfers across different tours and tournaments worldwide. The distribution of points depends on the tournament strength, the finishing position of players, and the rolling two-year period used for calculations. The FedEx Cup prize structure for 2024 features a total prize pool of $100 million, with the winner receiving $25 million. Even the player finishing last in the Tour Championship will receive a minimum payout of $500,000.
The season’s top golfers will be competing for the biggest payouts at the Tour Championship, with the financial rewards highlighting the importance of performing well in the PGA Tour’s final events. The structure of the FedEx Cup rewards consistency and top performances throughout the season, making it a high-stakes event where substantial rewards are at stake. The Tour Championship is where the season’s best golfers come together to compete for the ultimate prize, showcasing their skills and resilience in a quest for the FedEx Cup championship.