FedEx Cup Playoffs: How does the format work?

The Fedex Cup Playoffs are a series of tournaments used to determine the champion of the annual PGA Tour season.

First started in 2007, the FedEx Cup Playoffs consist of three events which all take place in August, culminating in the lucrative Tour Championship finale. But how exactly will a champion be crowned?

Here’s everything you need to know about the FedEx Cup Playoff system…

What is the FedEx Cup Playoff format?

The system for the FedEx Cup Playoffs has changed over the years, but the current format has been in place since 2019.

Throughout the regular PGA Tour season, players earn points in the FedEx Cup standings for how well they finish in each tournament. By example, a player is rewarded 500 points for winning a regular event, and 600 points for winning a major or the Players Championship.

When the 44-event season then comes to an end in July, the top 125 point scorers in the standings qualify for the first playoff event – the FedEx St Jude Championship. Following the conclusion of that, the top 70 players proceed to the second playoff event a week later – the BMW Championship.

While the standings do not reset during these two events, more points are on offer than in the regular PGA Tour season, with the winner of each receiving 2000 points.

Once the BMW Championship is complete, the top 30 players in the standings move on to the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

How the Tour Championship works

The season ending Tour Championship is unique to anything else in golf. While FedEx Cup points previously reset after the penultimate playoff event, players are now given ‘starting strokes’ in the revamped format based on their position in the standings.

So instead of starting on level-par, the leader will start on 10-under, while second place will start on 8-under and so on. Here’s the full breakdown…

1st: -10
2nd: -8
3rd: -7
4th: -6
5th: -5
6th-10th: -4
11th-15th: -3
16th-20th: -2
21st-25th: -1
26th-30th: Even

Once play begins under this format, whoever finishes the Tour Championship will therefore be crowned the FedEx Cup champion.

This is done so the PGA Tour rewards the most consistent players over the season and prevents a situation where the Tour Championship winner isn’t the FedEx Cup winner – like in 2018 with Tiger Woods and Justin Rose.