The Five: Big names on brink of FedExCup Playoffs elimination

The postseason gets underway this week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind, and while the 69-man field is happy to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs, the stakes only ramp up from here.

Only 50 players will move on to next week’s BMW Championship. That has immediate postseason implications as players continue their push to East Lake and winning the season-ending TOUR Championship, but it also has serious ramifications for next year. Every player who reaches the BMW Championship will also lock their place into every Signature Event in 2027.

Since 2019, an average of 4.3 players have moved in and out at Memphis each year, but with a reduced points structure in the Playoffs (750 points to the winner of each of the first two legs), expect less movement than in previous seasons.

Which top players will be trying to push their way into the top 50? Here are five notables.

Jordan Spieth

• FedExCup rank: 54th
• Minimum required finish to reach top 50: solo 23rd

Can Jordan Spieth keep his season from ending in Memphis for the third consecutive year?

Spieth is familiar with this position. He finished 54th and 67th in the last two seasons, unable to produce a top week at TPC Southwind to reach the top 50 and move on. At least he’s familiar with the pressure.

Spieth’s season could be best described as weird. He has played steady enough golf to reach this point, but has rarely amassed a week that will be remembered. In fact, per CBS’s Patrick McDonald, Spieth is the only player who qualified for the FedEx St. Jude Championship who did not card a top 10 in the Regular Season.

That’s the ironic part. To advance to the BMW Championship in St. Louis, he will need to be sniffing around the top 10. The minimum finish to give himself a chance is solo 23rd, but he will likely need better than that. No better time than the present to grab his first top 10 and keep his season alive.

Max Homa

• FedExCup rank: 52nd
• Minimum required finish to reach top 50: two-way T25

Back in the Playoffs after a poor 2025, Homa has one of the more attainable paths to the BMW with only two players to pass. Still, that requires at least a two-way tie for 25th. The good news is that Homa has achieved that result in three of his last six starts, including a runner-up finish at the John Deere Classic.

Homa isn’t back to his peak form from a few years ago, but he’s in a much better place than he has been recently. Yet, given the up-and-down nature of his recent seasons, securing top-50 status and Signature Event starts would be a massive help.

Homa finished sixth in Memphis in 2023, though he’s had more poor weeks than good ones at the venue. That’s largely emblematic of his last few years, but the good continues to show itself more and more.

Shane Lowry

• FedExCup rank: 62nd
• Minimum required finish to reach top 50: two-way T11

Shane Lowry hasn’t been the same since he failed to convert his late lead at The Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches in February. He had carded three straight top 25s to begin his year, including two top 10s to start his season. But since that collapse at PGA National, Lowry has had only three top 25s the rest of the season and no finishes better than a T11.

Lowry will need to flip that momentum if his season is to continue. He has also never fallen out of favor with the Signature Events. Barring a strong week in Memphis, Lowry will miss out on a full schedule of Signature Events for the first time since they debuted.

Sungjae Im

• FedExCup rank: 53rd
• Minimum required finish to reach top 50: two-way T24

One of the most remarkable and under-discussed streaks in pro golf is Sungjae Im's insistence on reaching the TOUR Championship every season. He’s made it to East Lake every season of his career, a seven-year run that’s on the precipice of ending.

Im will have a built-in excuse if the streak ends this week. He was out for the first two months of the year with a wrist injury and has been playing catch-up ever since. Still, Im is making a late push. He has three top 15s in his last four starts, which has put him within range to keep his season alive. He likely needs another top 15 this week at TPC Southwind.

Jackson Koivun

• FedExCup rank: 70th
• Minimum required finish to reach top 50: two-way T7

Can the Cinderella rookie season continue?

Koivun clung to the last Playoffs spot at the Wyndham Championship, which was up for grabs until the very end. Now he’s the hunter instead of the hunted. Koivun will be trying to chase down Maverick McNealy (No. 50) and has the most ground to make up in the entire field, entering at 70th in the FedExCup. Koivun needs to finish in at least a two-way tie for seventh to have a chance. He’s bettered that in only one start this year – his win against Scottie Scheffler at the 3M Open.

Whether Koivun can keep his season alive has broader implications than just the postseason. If he hopes to convince U.S. Presidents Cup captain Brandt Snedeker that he’s deserving of a captain’s pick, it’s likely he needs to advance to the BMW Championship and keep building his resume. If Koivun can string together another top result, the hype train may run out of open seats.