FedEx Cup Playoffs Preview: Schedule and Predictions
This week sees the FedEx Cup Playoffs take centre stage as the top 125 players on the PGA Tour this year head to Glen Oaks Club in New York for the first of four lucrative events which will help round off the 2016/17 PGA Tour season.
The regular season came to close on Sunday past as last year’s Open Champion Henrik Stenson held onto a one-shot victory over young Ollie Schniederjans to take the Wyndham Championship in Gainsboro, North Carolina.
Many of the world’s best will be vying for the $10 million winner’s bonus paid to the man atop the adjusted FedEx points list come September 25th upon the climax of the season-ending Tour Championship, while each of the four individual tournaments boasts a $8 million prize pot.
By the time we get to Atlanta for the final playoff event only the top 30 players in the standings will remain. Cuts will be made to the field after each of the three preceding tournaments and the men left standing will slug it out for the FedEx Cup.
2017 FedEx Cup Playoff Schedule:
The Northern Trust: Glen Oaks Club from Thursday, August 24th to Sunday, August 27th
Dell Technologies Championship: TPC Boston from Friday, September 1st to Monday, September 4th
BMW Championship: Conway Farms Golf Club from Thursday, September 14th to Sunday, September 17th
TOUR Championship: East Lake Golf Club from Thursday, September 21st to Sunday, September 24th.
Possible winners:
It’s quite a hard task picking a player from the current list of 125 who may take this season’s lucrative prize.
Justin Thomas sits at a healthy second position in the rankings thanks to his early season form and recent PGA Championship win. He, along with his close friend Jordan Spieth, could be seen as the two players with the most obvious chance of landing the spoils in five weeks time.
Dustin Johnson could yet find form and remind us all that he’s got some serious game, while the talented Spaniard Jon Rahm is an undoubtedly burgeoning talent and within touching distance of joining the game’s elite.
Other noteworthies include two consistent performers in Marc Leishman and Paul Casey.
The big Aussie has a win to his name already this year. At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, he finished one stroke ahead of Charley Hoffman and Kevin Kisner while he has been impressive on many other occasions – not least when picking up a T-6 at Royal Birkdale back in July.
Casey meanwhile, although without a win this season, is the very definition of solid. Six top-10s, 11 top-25s and only one missed cut all year seem to point towards an impressive showing over the four events up to and including the Tour Championship.
So then, who wins it?
While the FedEx Cup format lends itself to a surprise winner from out of nowhere, for the safest of bets – and given his ultimate winning mentality – it’s got to be Jordan.