FedExCup Playoffs format: Rules, field, prize money breakdown, PGA TOUR schedule

The tough part is over for the best 125 players on the PGA TOUR, as all that qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs are guaranteed their spot on TOUR next season. But now it becomes about how much extra money each player will capture, as the fight for a piece of the $75 million bonus pool begins now.

$18 million will go to the winner of the FedExCup for 2021-22, one of the richest individual prizes in all of professional sports. And that's not counting what you might win on the way there via the St. Jude Championship and the BMW Championship the next two weekends. And there's bonus money just for being here in the first place.

Here's how it all works.

The schedule and format

The best 125 players in terms of points earned on the PGA TOUR this season are invited to play in the FedEx St. Jude Classic from August 11-14. From there, the top-70 in overall points after this tournament earn an invite to the BMW Championship in Wilmington, Delaware. There is a 36-hole cut to the top 65 and ties at the St. Jude, but there is no cut at the BMW.

After the BMW, the best 30 players remaining on the points list are off to East Lake in Atlanta for the TOUR Championship, which gives scoring handicaps to players based on their performance throughout the season.

At East Lake, players are given bonus strokes based on their points so far. There is no prize for having the lowest raw score at the TOUR Championship; all the prizes are based on the scores after the chart below is added to their finishing total.

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

FedExCup points

During the regular season, your standard TOUR event is worth 500 points to the winner, the player that finishes 65th receives four points, and a total of 2,972 points are available to the best 65 players. The five “invitational” events (The Memorial, The Arnold Palmer at Bay Hill, etc) earn 550 points for a victory, and add about 8% to the field total. Major winners get 600 for a victory, and then add a bit more than an invitational for a top-20 finish as well.

But the St. Jude Championship and BMW Championship are worth a regular TOUR stop, with 2,000 for a win and 16 points for 65th. So even the most mediocre of regular seasons can be fixed with elite finishes the next two weeks.

Here's the complete FedEx Points chart:

  
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