Nick Dunlap in, Tom Kim out, FedEx Cup playoffs shrunk to 50
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — South Korea’s Tom Kim’s loss was a gain for Nick Dunlap and Keegan Bradley on Sunday as results from the FedEx St. Jude Championship helped determine the top 50 players in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama won the tournament by birdieing his final two holes and jumped from eighth to third in the FedEx Cup points standings. But for the players not competing for the win, every shot counted, as the top 50 after the St. Jude qualified not only for next week’s BMW Championship, but also for all eight PGA Tour signature events in 2025.
Bradley, the captain of the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team, started the week 39th in the FedEx Cup points standings but appeared to be heading in the wrong direction as he finished the tournament at 1 over par. Bradley, however, finished tied for 50th after Kim’s late stumble pushed him onto the wrong side of the playoff bubble, the first man to finish in 51st place.
Kim finished his final round with a bogey and two consecutive double bogeys, dropping from 6 under par to 1 under par for the tournament. It’s almost certain he would have made the cut for the top 50 had he put together a more solid finish.
Kim said he has played so much in 2024, including the Olympics earlier this month, that he has lost some mental fitness in recent weeks.
“I told myself before the day that if I don’t play well, I really feel like I’m going to end up at No. 51,” Kim said. “I kind of told myself, ‘If that happens, I’ve done everything I can to get in the top 50 and hopefully give myself a shot at the Tour Championship.’ But I couldn’t do that, and I’m going to look forward to a really good offseason because I’m pretty tired.”
A big beneficiary this week was Dunlap, who moved up from 67th to 48th in the overall standings thanks to a T5 finish at St. Jude.
The PGA Tour rookie has recorded two victories this season, but his first – the American Express in January – was won as an amateur and therefore did not receive any FedEx Cup points according to the rules.
Dunlap was in contention on Sunday before settling for 1-under-par 69, finishing four strokes behind Matsuyama.
“I was completely exhausted,” Dunlap said. “I’m not going to lie to you. Honestly, I was probably more nervous than I’ve ever been. I just didn’t want the season to end. I was having so much fun.”
The following 50 players have made it to the BMW Championship in Castle Rock, Colorado (in order of their FedEx Cup points):
1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Xander Schauffele
3. Hideki Matsuyama
4. Collin Morikawa
5. Rory McIlroy
6. Wyndham Clark
7. Ludvig Aberg
8. Sahith Theegala
9. Patrick Cantlay
10. Sungjae Im
11. Shane Lowry
12. Robert MacIntyre
13. Akshay Bhatia
14. Tony Finau
15. Byeong-Hun An
16. Viktor Hovland
17. Russell Henley
18. Sam Burns
19. Billy Hoerschel
20. Matthieu Pavon
21. Aaron Rai
22. Justin Thomas
23. Christiaan Bezuidenhout
24. Sepp Straka
25. Jason Day
26. Davis Thompson
27. Taylor Pendrith
28. Tom Hoge
29. Brian Harman
30. Denny McCarthy
31. Tommy Fleetwood
32. Chris Kirk
33. Corey Conners
34. JT Poston
35. Stephan Jaeger
36. Matt Fitzpatrick
37. Will Zalatoris
38. Austin Eckroat
39. Cameron Young
40. Thomas Detry
41. Adam Scott
42. Adam Hadwin
43. Max Homa
44. Si Woo Kim
45. Alex Noren
46. Eric Cole
47. Max Greyserman
48. Nick Dunlap
49. Cam Davis
50. Keegan Bradley
–Field level media