FedEx Cup Playoffs’ most surprising season? You might have missed it

There are few surprises in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. One look at the top 70 who made the trip to Memphis for this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, and you’ll see the expected.

There’s Scottie Scheffler amid another dominant season, looking to win back-to-back FedEx Cups. There’s Rory McIlroy, who skipped the trip to Memphis, at No. 2. Big names like Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele are fighting to stay on the right side of the top-50 bubble. For the most part, the names are the notable ones that grace weekend television screens from January through August on a consistent basis. To be inside the top 30, or near it, entering the playoffs means you have either won multiple times (Scheffler, McIlroy, Sepp Straka), won once and peppered the top of leaderboards (Justin Thomas, Russell Henley), or played consistently good golf without a trip to the winner’s circle. That last category is where your Tommy Fleetwoods and Collin Morikawas come in.

But there’s another name hovering around that 30 number that might surprise you — Jacob Bridgeman.

Last year, Bridgeman finished his rookie season ranked 113th after the FedEx Cup Fall season, which means he barely got to keep his card in the final year of the PGA Tour’s top 125 cutoff. Bridgeman’s rookie season saw him post 10 top-25 finishes in 27 starts, but he didn’t tee it up in any majors, Signature Events or the Players. That meant he had to scrap for every point he could find to keep his card. Bridgeman did that with three top-15 finishes in the fall and has made the most of his second season on the PGA Tour.

This season, the Clemson product has made 15 of 24 cuts, including a runner-up finish at the Cognizant Classic and a third-place finish at the Valspar. That runner-up at the Cognizant got Bridgeman into the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he finished T15, and it also earned him a start at the Players, where he finished T50 in tough conditions.

Bridgeman parlayed his stellar March into a spot in the Truist Championship, another Signature Event, where he finished T4 at Philadelphia Cricket Club.

After grinding his way through a season in which he played in zero of the big events, Bridgeman teed it up in five Signature Events, two majors and the Players this season. All of that allowed him to arrive in Memphis ranked 33rd in the FedEx Cup. That spot virtually guarantees him a place in next week’s BMW Championship, which means he will be in all of next year’s Signature Events. And Bridgeman, who opened the FedEx St. Jude Championship with rounds of 69 and 64, is in position to get to East Lake and play in the Tour Championship.

“Not being in those at the beginning of the year was tough,” Bridgeman said Monday, via The Associated Press. ”I went through that last year. I knew how that was and played past all that and still kept my card. I felt like it was a disadvantage, for sure, but not that it was unattainable.

“I just knew if I played well I’d have a chance. That was one of my goals is playing a Signature Event early. I got in the Arnold Palmer and rode the wave all the way through.”

Bridgeman hasn’t won this season, but he has five top-10 finishes and is on the cusp of placing himself in all of the Signature Events next season.

Of those who made the top 50 last year, 14 didn’t make the playoffs this year. Eleven were due to subpar play, while Billy Horschel, Will Zalatoris and Alex Noren missed due to injury.

Making the top 50 doesn’t ensure you stay in the next season, but it certainly makes the road easier.

Bridgeman started the season with his card and a way to play the “regular” PGA Tour events. He missed three of his four cuts of the season but steadied himself with a T34 in Mexico and then fired a final-round 64 to finish T2 at the Cognizant and open the door to his first Signature Event and the Players. Bridgeman’s season has been up-and-down since his T4 at the Truist. He missed three of his next four cuts but then carded a T5 finish at the John Deere. He was also in position for a solid finish at the Memorial before a final-round 78 pushed him down to T31.

Bridgeman’s season hasn’t been perfect, but it’s an example of how all you need to unlock the door to the PGA Tour’s top level is a card, belief and a string of good play.