FedEx Cup stroke advantage allows the point leader to start the Tour Championship at 10 under par. FedEx Cup first introduced the provision in 2019.
It is a mechanism that strategically gives top rankers a head start in the competition. The 2007-founded PGA Tour championship trophy is an all-season-long golf tournament. Players earn points based on their final ranks in all official PGA Tour events.
The ones who accumulate the most points throughout the regular season earn the opportunity to play in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
There are three main contests in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, BMW Championship and finishes with the Tour Championship at a golf club in Atlanta, Georgia.
The 2023 FedEx Cup began on August 10 and will culminate on August 27 with the finale, the Tour Championship. The winner will be granted $18 million out of the $75 million prize purse.
Who Are The Final 30 Players For FedEx Cup?
FedEx Cup standings after BMW Championship is:
- Scottie Scheffler – 4,218 points
- Viktor Hovland – 4,024
- Rory McIlroy – 3,494
- Jon Rahm- 3,486
- Lucas Glover – 3,041
- Max Homa – 2,871
- Patrick Cantlay – 2,843
- Brian Harman – 2,339
- Wyndham Clark – 2,157
- Matt Fitzpatrick – 2,043
- Tommy Fleetwood – 1,967
- Russell Henley – 1,948
- Keegan Bradley – 1,933
- Rickie Fowler – 1,885
- Xander Schauffele – 1,866
- Tom Kim – 1,814
- Sungjae Im – 1,780
- Tony Finau – 1,744
- Corey Conners – 1,688
- Si Woo Kim – 1,672
- Taylor Moore – 1,669
- Nick Taylor – 1,633
- Adam Schenk – 1,620
- Collin Morikawa – 1,609
- Jason Day – 1,574
- Sam Burns – 1,561
- Emiliano Grillo – 1,543
- Tyrrell Hatton – 1,509
- Jordan Spieth – 1,506
- Sepp Straka – 1,503
The 30-man list qualified for the Tour Championship shows the 2022 Masters winner Scottie Scheffler at the top with 4218.00 points.
Scheffler finished at the T2 position in the BMW Championship that took place from August 17 to 20, 2023, at Olympia Fields North Course. He tied Matt Fitzpatrick as both scored -15 under.
A Norwegian rising golfer Viktor Hovland claimed the 20 million prize after winning the 2023 BMW Championship, his 5th PGA Tour win. With that victory, the 25-year-old climbed up to 2nd place in the FedEx Cup Ranking.
Meanwhile, the reigning Scottish Open champion Rory Mcllroy holds the third position in the PGA Tour FedEx Cup Ranking. McIlroy achieved a T3 finish in the FedEx St. Jude Championship and secured fourth place in the BMW Championship.
Lucas Glover, the winner at TPC Southwind on August 13, managed to be in the top 5 spots for the Starting scores. Glover will start the Tour Championship at 5 strokes under.
FedEx Cup Starting Strokes 2023
The starting strokes for the 2023 FedEx Cup are:
| Brian Harman | -4 |
| Corey Conners | -2 |
| Emiliano Grillo | Even par |
| Jason Day | -1 |
| Jon Rahm | -6 |
| Jordan Spieth | Even par |
| Keegan Bradley | -3 |
| Lucas Glover | -5 |
| Matt Fitzpatrick | -4 |
| Max Homa | -4 |
| Nick Taylor | -1 |
| Patrick Cantlay | -4 |
| Rickie Fowler | -3 |
| Rory McIlroy | -7 |
| Russell Henley | -3 |
| Sam Burns | Even par |
| Scottie Scheffler | -10 |
| Sepp Straka | Even par |
| Si Woo Kim | -2 |
| Im Sung-jae | -2 |
| Taylor Moore | -1 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | -3 |
| Tony Finau | -2 |
| Viktor Hovland | -8 |
| Tom Kim | -2 |
| Wyndham Clark | -4 |
| Xander Schauffele | -3 |
| Tyrrell Hatton | Even par |
| Adam Schenk | -1 |
| Collin Morikawa | -1 |
After the 2023 BMW Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club, the PGA Tour’s 2023 FedEx Cup playoffs are heading towards their big finale, the Tour Championship.
The top 50 players on the leaderboard by the end of the FedEx St. Jude Championship participated in the BMW Championship. They are now reduced to 30, who will now compete for the ultimate prize at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
This is when the Tour Championship starting scores come into play. The golfer with the most FedEx Cup points after the BMW Championship starts the Tour Championship at 10 under par.
The structure aims to acknowledge players for their impressive regular-season performances and give them a chance to win the FedEx Cup, even if they do not perform their best in the Tour Championship.
The new staggered scoring system was introduced at the 2019 Tour Championship and was named the “FedEx Cup Starting Strokes”.
The player leading in FedEx Cup points after the first two Playoff events begins the tournament with a score of 10-under par. The second-ranked player starts at 8 under, the third at 7 under, the fourth at 6 under, and the fifth at 5 under.
In the end, the golfer with the lowest combined score over four rounds, taking into account their initial strokes, wins the Tour Championship and becomes the FedEx Cup champion.
Fedex Cup Rules
Fedex Cup playoff rules are:
- Players earn points for their finishes in official PGA Tour events. The number of points awarded varies by event.
- The FedExCup Playoffs are open to the top 70 players in the FedExCup rankings at the end of the regular season.
- If a qualified player skips the playoff, no substitutes will be added.
- After the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the top 50 players in the FedExCup standings advance to the BMW Championship.
- Following the BMW Championship, the top 30 players in the FedExCup standings earn a guaranteed Tour Championship participation.
- The FedExCup winner will be the player with the lowest total score over 72 holes at the Finale.
- Players can earn bonus points for tournament wins, certain cuts and top-10 finishes.
- Onset stroke is used in the Tour Championship to give an edge to players at the top of the leaderboard.
The top 70 golfers in the FedEx Cup standings get to play in the first playoff event. It used to be 125 players, but they cut it down. Then, from those 70, only 50 move on to the second event.
Since the PGA Tour has returned to a calendar-based schedule, the FedEx playoffs are no longer the end of the season. However, all 70 qualifiers will still receive an exemption for the 2024 season, regardless of their performance in the fall.
Also, those 50 players who make it to the BMW Championship will get a chance to play in special events in 2024.
FedEx Cup Scoring System
Here is how the FedExCup scoring system works:
- PGA Tour winner – 500 points
- Majors Champion – 600 points
- Designated events winner – 500 points
- Additional events – 300 points
- FedEx Playoffs win – 2000 points
The points distribution in FedEx Cup is based on a player’s overall performances in various golf events during the season.
Winners of the PGA Tour receive 500 FedEx points, whereas winners of any of the four major championships earn 600 points toward their overall score.
Jon Rahm, who won the Master Tournament along with three PGA Tour events, led the regular season scoreboard with 3,320 points before the playoffs began. He received a $4 million bonus for his position.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy followed Rahm in the second and third spots. Scheffler, who competed in 20 events in the season before the FedEx Cup, had 3,146 points and grabbed a 3 million bonus prize.
Every player, even those at the bottom of the leaderboard, has a chance to win the trophy during the playoffs. The winner of each playoff game receives 2000 FedEx points.
| Posiition | Points |
| 1st | 2000 |
| 2nd | 1200 |
| 3rd | 760 |
| 4th | 540 |
| 5th | 440 |
| 6th | 400 |
| 7th | 360 |
| 8th | 340 |
| 9th | 320 |
| 10th | 300 |
FedEx Cup Past Winners List
List of FedEx Cup winners by year:
- Rory McIlroy – 2022
- Patrick Cantlay – 2021
- Dustin Johnson – 2020
- Rory McIlroy – 2019
- Justin Rose – 2018
- Justin Thomas – 2017
- Rory McIlroy – 2016
- Jordan Spieth – 2015
- Billy Horschel – 2014
- Henrik Stenson – 2013
- Brandt Snedeker – 2012
- Bill Haas – 2011
- Jim Furyk – 2010
- Tiger Woods – 2009
- Vijay Singh – 2008
- Tiger Woods – 2007
Rory McIlroy has won the highest number of Tour championships, three times. Tiger Woods, on the other hand, is the only other athlete to win the FedEx Cup multiple times, with two victories.
McIlroy won his second title at the 2019 FedEx Cup with a total score 18 under par 267. He defeated Xander Schauffele by 4-stroke margin. Similarly, for his third Tou championship win in 2022, Mcllroy got the best of m Sung-Jae and Scottie Scheffler.
Besides, legendary golfer Tiger Woods won the inaugural FedEx Cup in 2007. Woods scored 257 points after four rounds and grabbed won by a margin of 8 strokes over Mark Calcavecchia and Zach Johnson.
Prior to 2019, players with the most points by the end of the Tour Championship are declared the FedEx Cup winner. However, the rule changed from the 2019 tournament and the previously four-events playoff was reduced to three.
From that on, the scoring methodology to declare a winner was abolished. Any player who wins the Tour Championship, also coined as the FedEx Cup Finale, is crowned champion.