And then there was one.
One round remains in Memphis for the FedEx St. Jude Championship and Scottie Scheffler is clinging to a two-stroke lead over Sam Burns and Sungjae Im after 54 holes. Can the world No. 1 end his seven-month victory drought? Burns and Im have much lengthier victory droughts they are trying to put an end to so we could get drama during Sunday's trophy chase. But there's a lack of drama in the game within the game of qualifying for the BMW Championship and the top 50. Why? It's pretty simple. The PGA Tour has taken the volatility out of the first two legs of the playoffs by reducing the point totals. Instead of 2,000 FedEx Cup points, the winner will receive only 750 points. Last year, with jacked up points available in the first two playoff events,
five players moved into the top 50 with their performance at the FedEx St. Jude Championship; through 54 holes, only one player (Sungjae Im) is projected to move inside the top 50 of the FedExCup standings:
There's barely any movement: Sahith Theegala is 68th in a field of 69 and shot 9-over 79 on Saturday and only has dropped two spots. He's a virtual lock to stay inside the top 50. Rory McIlroy? He sits T-62 and he's only projected to drop from No. 12 to 13. And he thought he didn't need to play in Memphis last year. Akshay Bhatia is 66th and is projected to drop from No. 14 to 15. Then there's Robert McIntyre, who withdrew after an 82 on Thursday. He tumbled down the standings, right? Not so much: he's falling from No. 31 to 34. This isn't a playoffs; it's a money grab.
Keith Mitchell and Maverick McNealy entered the week at Nos. 49 and No. 50 and haven't budged from those positions while both being T-22. They are two and three points aheads of Nos. 51 and 52 — Brian Harman and Matt McCarty — so there very well may be some more movement before things are said and done and someone likely will miss out on qualifying for all of the signature events because of a single stroke somewhere along the way and less than five measly FedEx Cup points.
But there should be more punishment for stinking up the joint at TPC Southwind this week and there could be more excitement next week at the BMW in order to make it to the Tour Championship. At least there's only one more year of the current format and then presumably the Tour is going to blow it up. But that's for another day. Here’s the last five in and the first five out.
FedEx Cup standings: Last 5 in for BMW Championship
FedEx Cup standings: Last 5 out for BMW Championship
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: FedEx Cup bubble watch: Who's in, who's out heading into final round of St. Jude Championship
