Schedule, format and what’s changed

If you tuned in to the broadcast of the final round of the Wyndham Championship on Sunday, you probably noticed just how much attention was paid to players nowhere near the top of the leaderboard. That’s because, as the last tournament of the regular PGA Tour season, the Wyndham Championship was very consequential: it represented the final opportunity for players to earn a spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs, which start this week.

The FedEx St. Jude is the first tournament of the 2025 FedEx Cup playoff series. How does it all work? Here’s everything you need to know.

Overview

Starting in January, for each tournament a PGA Tour player competes in, he earns FedEx Cup points based on his finish. Winners of the Players Championship and majors get 750 points; Signature Event winners get 700 points; full-field event winners receive 500 points (except for the Zurich Classic, which awards 400 points to each winning team member); and winners of additional events receive 300 points. Other players in each field receive points in accordance with their finish.

At the end of the regular season (the Wyndham Championship), the top 70 players on the FedEx Cup points list are eligible for the first FedEx Cup playoff event, the FedEx St. Jude. The difference between No. 70, Matti Schmid, who is in, and No. 71, Davis Thompson, who is out? A mere 5 points.

Format

Scottie Scheffler is the top-ranked player on the points list heading into the first playoff event, with 4,806 points, followed by Rory McIlroy with 3,444 and Sepp Straka with 2,595. Schmid, mentioned above at No. 70, has 620 points.

The 70 players in the FedEx St. Jude field can build upon their current FedEx Cup point totals for the next two weeks, with quadruple points up for grabs — that’s 2,000 points for the winner. So there’s plenty of opportunity for upward advancement if you play well.

At the conclusion of the FedEx St. Jude, the top 50 players will move on to the BMW Championship, where they will again build upon their season-long FedEx Cup point totals with another chance to earn quadruple points. At the conclusion of the BMW Championship, the top 30 players will move on to the season finale, the Tour Championship, where points are no longer relevant and they will compete on an even playing field for the FedEx Cup title.

2025 FedEx Cup Playoff Schedule

The three playoff events will be played in successive weeks:

FedEx St. Jude – Aug. 7-10
BMW Championship – Aug. 14-17
Tour Championship – Aug. 21-24

What’s changed this year?

This year, instead of players being awarded “starting strokes” at the Tour Championship based on their FedEx Cup points ranking at the conclusion of the BMW Championship, players will compete on an even playing field from the beginning. They can earn or maintain their standing in the top 30 with the quadruple-points opportunity on offer over the next two weeks. But once you’re in, you’re in, and you have just as much of a chance to win as anyone else.

To better recognize season-long performance, the FedEx Cup $100 million bonus purse is also changing. It will be distributed across three events: at the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship (payments made to the top 10 players on the FedEx Cup points ranking); at the conclusion of the BMW Championship (payments made to the top 30 on points ranking); and at the conclusion of the Tour Championship (payments made to the top 30 on points ranking). Spoiler alert: Scottie Scheffler already took home the top bonus of $10 million from the regular-season standings payout after the Wyndham.

The Tour Championship will offer a $40 million purse, with $10 million going to the winner.

What about the players who didn’t make the playoffs?

For those players who finished outside the top 70 — as well as those who finish outside the top 50 after this week — the next few weeks offer a short opportunity to reset before the start of the FedEx Cup Fall: a seven-tournament series that begins in September and will finalize the next 100 in the standings.

All points earned through the FedEx St. Jude will carry over into the fall. At the end of the Fall Series (the RSM Classic in November is the last tournament), Nos. 51-60 in the FedEx Cup standings will qualify for the first two Signature Events after the Sentry in 2026, via the Aon Next 10. The top 125 players will earn PGA Tour cards, and Nos. 125-150 will earn conditional status.

As for everyone else? There’s always Q-School, where five Tour cards are up for grabs for the 2026 season.