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Six regular season tournaments, a major championship and the Olympics will be held before the FedEx Cup Playoffs begin, with only the top 70 players qualifying for the FedEx St. Jude Championship from Aug. 15-18.
There’s still plenty of time to earn those coveted FedEx Cup points, but for some players, time is running out.
Last year, the PGA Tour reduced the number of players in the inaugural playoff from 125 to 70. From there, only the top 50 will qualify for the BMW Championship. At the end of the three-week playoff, the top 30 will advance to the Tour Championship in Atlanta, where the FedEx Cup champion will be crowned.
Here’s an early look at teams on the outside who need to finish the regular season strong to compete again in the playoffs.
Notable PGA Tour players outside the top 70
*As of July 1, 202
— Nikolai Hoygard (No.74)
— Justin Rose (No. 75)
— Keith Mitchell (No. 76)
— Nick Dunlap (No. 87)
— Rickie Fowler (No. 93)
— Joel Dahmen (#103)
— Daniel Berger (No. 123)
— Webb Simpson (No. 131)
— Matt Kuchar (No. 140)
These are just a handful of players who are currently not eligible to compete in the FedExCup Playoffs.
Rickie Fowler could miss the playoffs if he doesn’t continue his strong form over the next few weeks, having just two top 25 finishes this season and missing the cut five times in 18 starts.
The former Oklahoma State Cowboy finished tied for 31st at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last week. Fowler finally made the top 25 for the second time in his career by finishing tied for 20th at the Travelers.
His best finish was T18 at the RBC Heritage.
Nikolaj Højgaard is another player who is interestingly outside the top 70, with one runner-up finish, one top 10 and two top 25 finishes, although the former Ryder Cup member has missed the cut five times this season.
Since then, Hoygaard has not finished a tournament outside the top 20 after tying for 16th at the Masters. Since that week, Hoygaard has missed the cut three times, with his best finish being a tie for 35th at the RBC Canadian Open.
But he’s been playing good golf and has a good chance of competing in the first playoff event in Memphis.
Justin Rose, ranked 75th in the world, is also one of the players who could make the playoffs.
It hasn’t been the Englishman’s best season, with just one top 10 and two top 25 finishes, finishing tied for sixth at the PGA Championship but missing the cut at the U.S. Open.
The players still have a lot of golf left to play if they want to earn FedExCup points and qualify for the playoffs, but they need momentum to make it into the top 70 and time is not on their side.
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Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow us for more golf articles. Follow You can follow us on all major social platforms. You can also follow us on Twitter Follow Instagram: @savannah_leigh_sports
