Keegan Bradley had his bags packed in his Memphis hotel room and was resigned to the fact that his 2024 FedEx Cup run was over. But he had his TV tuned to the live tournament coverage, his phone on the PGA Tour app’s live scoring and his iPad streaming a featured hole. Still, he couldn’t believe how the stars aligned perfectly for him. Or rather, how things came crashing down for Tom Kim, who finished bogey, double bogey, double bogey at TPC Southwind, dropping from 46th to 51st in the FedEx Cup standings and allowing Bradley to sneak in at No. 50.
“At the last minute, I texted my caddie, ‘Dude, I think we’re going to finish in the top 50. I don’t see how we don’t,’ ” recounted Bradley, who hitched a ride to the next event with fellow pro Billy Horschel. “I went to Denver with this real big sense of relief.”
Bradley exhaled, and everything changed. He had guaranteed his entry into all eight signature events this season, while Kim was admitted into none. The following week? Bradley won the BMW, made his way to Atlanta for the Tour Championship, finishing T-21, and even parlayed his late-season success into a captain’s pick for the U.S. Presidents Cup team. Such is the fine line that exists on the PGA Tour.
Spieth, Clark, Lee teetering on top 50
While 70 players qualified for the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, everyone is hoping to pull a Keegan Bradley because the magic number this week is 50 – that’s how many players will survive and advance to the BMW Championship, and, more importantly, secure all eight signature events in 2026.
Some notable pros are under the gun to produce this week, including three-time major winner Jordan Spieth at No. 48 in the FedEx Cup standings, 2023 U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, who enters the week at No. 49, and the “Bubble Boy,” Min Woo Lee at 50.
Spieth played last week in hopes of improving his position, but finished T-31 at the Wyndham Championship and only treaded water. He knows he’s in for a stressful week and that he has work to do to avoid missing the BMW for a second straight year.
“I didn’t like asking for exemptions this year at all. I was fortunate to receive a lot of them, but you just never know,” he said. “And when you miss out on elevated events, the way it’s structured, they’ve got the best players in the world at all of them and you don’t want to miss any of them.”
Clark is in the same boat. Since missing the cut at the U.S. Open, he has climbed from No. 80 to No. 49. He’s finished T-17 or better in four of his last five starts, and his T-4 at the British Open was his best result of his season. Clark also has positive vibes at TPC Southwind, where he finished T-7 last year. He’ll need no worse than to finish 68th this week and still has positioning for East Lake on his mind plus Ryder Cup hopes to play for too.
Australia’s Lee sits on the bubble at No. 50 and his game has been ice cold since his win at the Children’s Hospital Houston Open in late March. He missed the cut at the last three majors and has failed to record a top 10 since his win.
Poston, Finau among those looking to climb
Among those on the outside looking in are J.T. Poston, who has qualified for the BMW in each of the last three years, starts the week at No. 51. He’s only recorded one top-10 finish all season and his seven top 25s are his fewest since 2020-21. Tony Finau at No. 60 is looking to stretch his streak of eight straight trips to East Lake for the Tour Championship, but he has work to do, as does Rickie Fowler at No. 64, who needs no worse than a T-17 finish.
“Good golf solves a lot of things,” he said.
And that’s what it takes to make it this far and beyond.
“It’s becoming as challenging as ever to qualify for the playoffs and then BMW and Tour Championship, so, it’s truly the best fields we can get in terms of who has played the best over the course of the whole season and I’m ready to get going,” said Justin Thomas, who enters the week at No. 5 in the standings.
By Sunday, some players will rise to the occasion, others will benefit from some Keegan Bradley-like luck, and inevitably, there will be a player who experiences a Tom Kim-like meltdown. Last week, that player was Keith Mitchell, who made a 4-putt double bogey and missed a 7-foot putt on his final hole during the second round of the Wyndham Championship to miss the cut. He failed to make it to Memphis, but he succeeded in summing up how it hurts to come up just short of a season-long goal. “Gave it my all this year, probably too much, loads of pressure on myself to make the playoffs and top 50,” he said. “We fight and fight and grind to give it our all and to finish like that is really just heartbreaking.”
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