Northern Trust marks business end of FedExCup

August 19th, 2020 / Anthony Powter

The PGA Tour’s 2020 FedEx Cup playoffs start on their first stage with The Northern Trust this Thursday and features the top-125 players in FedEx Cup points through the regular season.

Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa have been the two most dominant PGA Tour players all season long, and they head into the playoffs ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the standings. Thomas leads the way with 2,458 points thanks to three wins this year. Morikawa is right behind with 1,902.

Justin Thomas Justin Thomas won the 2017 FedExCup (Credit: PGA Tour)

“It’s great coming into the start of the playoffs as No. 1. Some people might argue you want to be chasing or whatnot, but personally, I like my chances a lot more the further up I am,” said Thomas.

“At the end of the day, I’m just trying to start the Tour Championship with a two-shot lead because that means that I’ve done what I need to do these first two playoff events, and get myself in the best position.”

Webb Simpson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Sungjae Im follow right behind to round out the top five. Two-time FedEx Cup winner Rory McIlroy lurks behind the leaders at No. 8 on the points list.

Despite playing in just five events this season, Tiger Woods is firmly in the FedEx Cup playoff race at No. 49 in the standings. Brooks Koepka sits at No. 97 on the points list.

He’ll need to jump into the top 70 if he wants to make it to the next stop at the BMW Championship. Jordan Spieth is right behind Koepka at No. 100, so he’ll need a top finish this weekend as well.

The most surprising name to find below the 125 line is Sergio Garcia, who remains No. 43 in the world but just No. 135 in the FedEx Cup after a T66 at the Wyndham this week. Charl Schwartzel, who collected two top-5 finishes in 2020 also failed to make the playoffs after missing the cut at Wyndham to drop from 125 to 128 in the standings.

With the start of the playoffs, points are multiplied by four, with the winner of each playoff event getting 2,000 FedEx Cup points. At the end of The Northern Trust, the top-70 players in total points, adding in The Northern Trust, qualify for the BMW Championship. The Tour Championship will take place at East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta.