Scottie Schefflerhas a insurmountable lead on the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup points list but at this week's BMW Championship, Aug. 20-23 at the Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, it's all about getting to East Lake in Atlanta for the Tour Championship Aug. 27-30.
Scheffler'svictory at the FedEx St. Jude Classic on Aug. 16 gave him 750 points for the week and 4,873 for the season. With a lead of 1,447 points over Matt Fitzpatrick, Scheffler has the points race locked up, as he did last year after winning the BMW Championship at Caves Valley in Baltimore.
However, the points are wiped out once the top 30 are determined at the BMW and they've all got the same chance to win. Tommy Fleetwood took advantage of that last year to win at East Lake, after finishing
ninth in points.
That means there will be as nearly as much drama at the bottom end of the field than the top. Of course, Scheffler going for two victories in a row or main contenders Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young and Wyndham Clark will take center stage if they're on the leaderboard for the weekend, but the chase for No. 30 will be compelling.
Rickie Fowler is the bubble boy
Rickie Fowler is No. 30 on the FedEx Cup standings entering the week with 1,258 points. But to illustrate how compacted the players competing for the final spot are, only 2.333 points separate No. 28 Kurt Kitayama and No 31 Gary Woodland.
There's a gap of 413 points between Fowler and No. 50 Matt McCarty, the last player to qualify for the BMW Championship. That could be made up with a solo fifth or better.
Who else is on the bubble at the BMW Championship?
- No. 25, Ryan Fox, 1,352 points
- No. 26, Tom Kim, 1,341 (11 behind Fox)
- No. 27, Adam Scott, 1,315 (37 behind)
- No. 28, Kurt Kitayama, 1,258.606 (93.394 behind)
- No. 29, Bud Cauley, 1,257.626 (94.374 behind)
- No. 30, Rickie Fowler, 1,257.511 (93,489 behind), final spot for Tour Championship
- No. 31, Gary Woodland, 1,256.273 (95.727 behind)
- No. 32, J.T. Poston, 1,237.39 (114.61 behind)
- No. 33, Nicolai Hojgaard, 1,207.836 (144.164 behind)
- No. 34, Alex Noren, 1,196.875 (155.125 behind)
- No. 35, Jake Knapp, 1,195.875 (156.125 behind)
- No. 36, Robert MacIntyre, 1,190.731 (161.269 behind)
- No. 37, Aaron Rai, 1,145.785 (206.215 behind)
- No. 38, Ben Griffin, 1,124.249 (227.751 behind)
- No. 39, Sepp Straka, 1,121.9 (230.1 behind)
- No. 40, Sungjae Im, 1,051.980 (300.02 behind)
Who made the biggest FedEx Cup moves at St. Jude Classic?
- Sungjae Im, up 13 spots (53rd to 40th), tied for 5th at St. Jude Classic
- Alex Noren, up 12 spots (46th to 34th), tied for 3rd at St. Jude Classic
- Jake Knapp, up five spots (40th to 35th), tied for 7th at St. Jude Classic
- Bud Cauley, up five spots (34th to 29th), tied for 12th at St. Jude Classic
- Kurt Kitayama, up five spots (33rd to 28th), tied for 12th at St. Jude Classic
FedEx Cup standings
Through FedEx St. Jude Classic. All players are in the field for the BMW Championship Aug. 20-23, with the top 30 in points advancing to the Tour Championship in Atlanta Aug. 27-30.
- 1. Scottie Scheffler 4873
- 2. Matt Fitzpatrick 3426
- 3. Cameron Young 3183
- 4. Si Woo Kim 2701
- 5. Wyndham Clark 2542
- 6. Sam Burns 2416
- 7. Chris Gotterup 2288
- 8. Tommy Fleetwood 2247
- 9. Collin Morikawa 2242
- 10. Ludvig Åberg 2130
- 11. Xander Schauffele 1981
- 12. Jacob Bridgeman 1761
- 13. Rory McIlroy 1745
- 14. Russell Henley 1740
- 15. Akshay Bhatia 1730
- 16. Hideki Matsuyama 1600
- 17. Ryan Gerard 1540
- 18. Min Woo Lee 1481
- 19. Kristoffer Reitan 1473
- 20. Alex Fitzpatrick 1416
- 21. J.J. Spaun 1414
- 22. Viktor Hovland 1397
- 23. Alex Smalley 1375
- 24. Justin Rose 1355
- 25. Ryan Fox 1352
- 26. Tom Kim 1341
- 27. Adam Scott 1315
- 28. Kurt Kitayama 1259
- 29. Bud Cauley 1258
- 30. Rickie Fowler 1258
- 31. Gary Woodland 1256
- 32. J.T. Poston 1237
- 33. Nicolai Højgaard 1208
- 34. Alex Noren 1197
- 35. Jake Knapp 1196
- 36. Robert MacIntyre 1191
- 37. Aaron Rai 1146
- 38. Ben Griffin 1124
- 39. Sepp Straka 1122
- 40. Sungjae Im 1052
- 41. Michael Thorbjornsen 1051
- 42. Nico Echavarria 1040
- 43. Patrick Cantlay 1029
- 44. Justin Thomas 1027
- 45. Ryo Hisatsune 908
- 46. Sahith Theegala 898
- 47. Michael Brennan 875
- 48. Eric Cole 875
- 49. Maverick McNealy 863
- 50. Matt McCarty 845
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Scottie Scheffler leads FedEx Cup points but real drama is on the bubble
