By Chris Harris Contributor
Updated 8/25/23 1:05am ET
We’ve stepped out of the frying pan and right into the oven as we gear up for perhaps the most important weekend in professional golf. The FedEx Cup/Tour Championship, the final tournament of the season, comes to an end on Aug. 27 with a winner being crowned “World Champion”.
Established in 2007, the FedEx Cup is a season-long points competition culminating with playoffs in August. The FedexCup Playoffs, a series of three events that determine the champion, starts with the top 70-point leaders and totals three events. Players are then whittled down to the top 50, and then eventually the top 30. A lot of money is at stake as the playoffs offer a total purse of $75 million (co-champ is awarded $18 million). So, why does this matter?
The FedEx Cup determines the Ryder Cup team, with the top six in points automatically making the roster. At this point in the season, those six picks have been identified — Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman, Max Homa, and Xander Schauffele earned their way onto the team by qualifying.
That leaves six more players to be named to the roster by United States captain Zach Johnson, which is the current debate, and his picks will be questioned and scrutinized depending on how the Americans perform in the Ryder Cup. Let’s look at the current odds for the most likely players to be considered, according to Bet365:
| Name | Odds to Be U.S. Captain’s Pick |
|---|---|
| Sam Burns | +110 |
| Keegan Bradley | +175 |
| Russell Henley | +250 |
| Tony Finau | +300 |
| Lucas Glover | +350 |
| Jordan Spieth | Off the Board |
| Justin Thomas | -350 |
| Cameron Young | -600 |
| Rickie Fowler | -700 |
| Brooks Koepka | -700 |
| Collin Morikawa | -1000 |
There are a lot of good players on that list for Johnson to choose from, including Brooks Koepka, who took his talents to the LIV Tour and thus was ineligible to play in PGA Tour events, save for the four Majors last year and this year. Koepka’s performance in those eight events however was enough to see him finish seventh in points, just falling out of the automatic qualifier status.
It’s an exciting time in the world of golf with the FedEx Cup coming to an end and the Ryder Cup on the horizon. There is no question Koepka should be on the team, but will Johnson cross the proverbial PGA loyalty threshold and pick a LIV guy? The answer is Johnson should, and he most likely will, but we will have to wait until Aug. 29 to see if he does. Stay tuned for more updates.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
