PGA Tour FedEx Cup Fall continues to serve as an important platform for young stars and established players

When the PGA Tour announced the creation of the Fall FedEx Cup in April 2023, it was intended to complement the return of the calendar year schedule while increasing the intensity of the silly season. It was an official announcement. Gone are the days when players would take advantage of star players who missed the fall to get a head start on next season’s FedEx Cup standings.

As the calendar turned to a new year, everyone started from ground zero and balls flew through the air in the PGA Tour’s first tournament. There was no longer a best player playing catch-up on the circuit, and the offseason was finally reserved for players who more or less earned it.

Since then, the PGA Tour has raised the bar to make the FedEx Cup Fall even more exciting. From 2024 to 2025, the number of tournaments was reduced from eight to seven — goodbye Shriners Children’s Open — while the number of cards handed out was also reduced.

Originally a battle to rise within the top 125, the FedEx Cup Fall now focuses on the top 100 as the PGA Tour changed the starting cutoff point. Once inside, players qualify for full-time membership on the PGA Tour and are invited to the Players Championship. If on the outside, the player earns conditional status, i.e. scratch and claw for next year’s start, or not at all.

All of this drama and anxiety culminates in the final event of the year, the RSM Classic, where every putt counts for a lot. But while all the focus and attention has been on the players vying for the privilege of playing on the PGA Tour next season, the short history of the FedEx Cup Fall Tournament has been centered around the players who aren’t — the players who are already playing with house money and making the most of their opportunities.

Sunday’s Bank of Utah Championship was the latest example of Michael Brennan joining the winner’s circle as he raced a boat in his third career PGA Tour start. Brennan spent the last 18 months on the PGA Tour Americas, winning three of his last four consecutive tournaments and leading the season standings.

His reward was a membership on the Korn Ferry Tour, but when the 23-year-old Brennan stepped into the winner’s circle at Black Desert Resort, where he was invited by his sponsors, he skipped that step entirely as the win earned him a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.

“(Caddy Jeff) said we weren’t going on the Korn Ferry Tour after the great year we had. I don’t know if that happened, but I don’t know if it was through something like this or through Q-School,” Brennan said. “I can’t believe he’s right.”

Brennan’s win was special for a number of reasons. It brought a new star to the PGA Tour. This gave him starts in the Players Championship, PGA Championship, and RBC Heritage. That accelerated his career. But it also showed once again that those who play freely, unencumbered by the cloud of job security, have more to secure in the fall.

First FedEx Cup Fall Winner

Brennan became the first FedEx Cup fall PGA Tour winner. He worked with young players like Ludwig Oberg, Maverick McNeely and Sahis Segala to accomplish the same thing. Similarly, last year’s Bank of Utah Championship winner Matt McCarty entered his winning week having moved up from the Korn Ferry Tour with three wins.

McCarty’s win earned him an invitation to the Masters, and he told CBS Sports that he learned more about himself and his game than any other PGA Tour tournament he played during his rookie season. Similarly, his career accelerated.

Young players are being watched ad nauseum as being more ready than ever to win. Nick Dunlap accomplished it as an amateur in 2024, and Luke Clanton accomplished nearly the same thing last fall at Sea Island, falling just short of McNeely.

Traveler stories still exist, but they are becoming increasingly rare, as Campos’ emotional victory in Bermuda shows. Not only because young stallions are faster, more talented, more fearless, and have a special amount of ignorance that is actually beneficial to their purpose, but also because when a known number settles it, the Scotty Schefflers of the world, they do so with a purpose.

Other notable winners from the fall FedEx Cup

The reasons are different, but the important thing is the fact that there is a reason. For Scheffler in the Pro Core Championship, his objective was to prepare for the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. He was joined by an American teammate, but it would have been Ben Griffin if he hadn’t lifted the trophy in Napa.

For Morikawa and Schauffele of Bay Current Classic, the reason lies in their connection to the Land of the Rising Sun. They’re really excited to be a part of it. They want to play well. they want to win. This tournament is one that both players circle on their calendars every year, and their play shows that.

“I’ve been coming here to see my grandparents since I was about 9 years old,” Schauffele said. “I fell in love with this country a long time ago. I can’t wait to bring my son here when he’s old enough to appreciate and appreciate the culture here in Japan. Yes, the ties with the Schauffele family here in Japan are deep.”

For others, it may be a title defense, or a return to a golf course that was once part of the regular season and is now defunct, but their game is so well suited to it that they choose to remain involved.

The point is, there’s a reason behind these players teeing up this time of year on the PGA Tour. And unlike those of them who are doing it out of necessity, some of these men, both the stars of today and the stars of tomorrow, are doing it out of luxury, making them even more dangerous than usual.