It seems hard to believe that this year’s PGA Tour season is down to the final three events.

The top-70 players who qualified for the FedEx St. Jude Championship will tee off Thursday and, unlike last year when he skipped the tournament, Rory McIlroy (TaylorMade TP5) is in the field.

He is 12th overall in FedExCup points, so he could technically take a pass again this year. In fact, he could also skip next week’s BMW Championship and still qualify for the Tour Championship. 

He was second in FedExCup points heading into the 2025 tournament, yet another reason for bypassing the event.

 He has played a relatively light schedule this year—just 11 events, far and away the fewest of any of the big stars—in a season that will be remembered for his successful Masters title defense.  You would think that alone would be enough reason for him to decide on how often he played this year. Last year he played in 14 events prior to the FedExCup playoffs.

He drew criticism at this year’s Open Championship when he remarked: “I need to be in the to 30 going into (the Tour Championship) to have a chance to win the FedEx Cup, so why would I care about the first two (events)?”

Well, clearly something caused him to change his mind. Logic would suggest downplaying the need to play in the St. Jude Championship did not sit well with FedEx, a major sponsor of the PGA Tour and, one could argue, the biggest sponsor. All season long the FedExCup points are a running thread at the conclusion of each tournament.

It was certainly a storyline in last week’s Wyndham Championship, the final event to garner points to qualify for the FedExCup playoffs. You had to feel sorry for Beau Hossler (Titleist Pro V1x Left Dot), who finished second to Michael Brennan (Titleist Pro V1) in the Wyndham Championship. He came into the tournament 72^nd overall and despite the second-place finish it was not enough to move any closer to the top 70.

Notable among others who didn’t qualify were Keegan Bradley (Srixon Z-Star Diamond), Tom Hoge (Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot) and Jason Day (Bridgestone Tour B X).

Jackson Koivun (Titleist Pro V1) entered the Wyndham 70^th overall in the FedExCup standings and maintained that position. He finished T29 in the Wyndham Championship.

With a good showing in the FedExCup playoffs, Koivun could be a candidate for the Presidents Cup. American captain Brandt Snedeker (Titleist Pro V1x) will certainly be keeping tabs on Koivun. Snedeker finished 87^th overall in the FedExCup standings.

Snedeker was the feel-good story heading into the final round of the Valspar Championship, in which he was among the final pairing but shot five-over in the final round and tied at 18^th.

Snedeker won the Myrtle Beach Classic this year, his first PGA victory in nearly eight years. Fourteen years ago, he won the Tour Championship.

THIS AND THAT:

• Wonder if Ludvig Aberg (Titleist Pro V1x) will make a statement in the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He finished 10^th overall in points. It’ s been a season of frustration for Aberg, who seemed poised to win this season and came close in the Arnold Plamer Invitational. He hasn’t been able to put together four solid rounds. Maybe he’ll do it in the next three weeks

• It will also be interesting to see what Sudarshan Yellamaraju (Titleist Pro V1) does. Clearly a case can be made for him for rookie of the year honors, with one top-five and three top-10s. The Canadian could he be a longshot candidate for the Presidents Cup International Team.