4 Big Names Eliminated From FedEx Cup Playoffs Before BMW Championship

20 PGA Tour players failed to make it out of the first round of the FedEx Cup playoffs as 50 continue on to Castle Pines...

Jordan Spieth at The Players Championship

Jordan Spieth had a mixed second round to miss the cut

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The FedEx Cup Playoffs began in dramatic style last week with Hideki Matsuyama winning the FedEx St Jude Championship by two shots after almost blowing a five-stroke advantage at TPC Southwind.

While there was plenty of interest at the top end of the event leaderboard, 70 players were also battling it out to gain employment next week as well - with only the top-50 in the FedEx Cup standings progressing to the BMW Championship.

Every birdie and bogey changed the fate of not only the golfer involved, but also several players around them as the likes of Nick Dunlap moved around 25 places in the space of one hole down the back nine on Sunday.

While the two-time PGA Tour winner survived one more week to reach the top-50, several big names and winners on tour this season saw their Playoff campaigns come to an end at the first hurdle.

Here are just a handful of big names to miss out on the BMW Championship and Tour Championship.

Which Big Names Have Been Eliminated From The FedEx Cup Playoffs?

Jordan Spieth (67th)

Jordan Spieth of the United States looks on from the second tee during the first round of the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Spieth managed just three top-10s in 2024 and a best result of third at The Sentry - ultimately ending 67th in the FedEx Cup standings. He also missed the cut in seven of his 22 starts as a disappointing campaign finally came to a merciful ending.

The three-time Major winner revealed he had been battling a troublesome wrist issue for some time, however, and plans to have surgery ASAP before returning either later in the year or early in 2025.

Min Woo Lee (60th)

10 Things You Didn't Know About Min Woo Lee

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A bonafide fans favorite, Lee finished as a runner-up in two PGA Tour events this term (Cognizant Classic and Rocket Mortgage Classic) while also scoring eight top-25s from 17 appearances.

Yet, the Australian couldn't find the result he needed at TPC Southwind - T22 left him 173 points adrift of 50th - and he ended the season 60th. He is likely to tee it up in a handful more DP World Tour events before the turn of the year, though, so 'Dr Chipinski' will leave his clinic open for a little while longer.

Justin Rose (55th)

Justin Rose reading a putt using AimPoint

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Rose was 75 points away from featuring at the BMW Championship this week after a T22 finish at TPC Southwind. 

The Englishman enjoyed or endured something of a feast or famine campaign, with his results in Majors reflecting his PGA Tour season overall, in a way. Having missed the cut at The Masters and US Open, Rose was T6 at the PGA Championship and a narrow runner-up at The Open. 

Otherwise, he had one top-10 and missed five more cuts from 19 appearances in total, leaving him to focus on the remainder of the DP World Tour term.

Tom Kim (51st)

Tom Kim of South Korea smiles on the fourth tee during the Pro-Am prior to the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club on July 10, 2024 in North Berwick, Scotland.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

17 points. That's all Tom Kim missed the FedEx Cup top-50 by after the dust had settled on the FedEx St Jude Championship. His T50 finish was extremely disappointing to a player who almost bested good friend Scottie Scheffler at the Memorial Tournament, only to lose in a playoff.

While Kim only missed four cuts from 23 starts, he did also only register one further top-10 as a plethora of so-so weeks populated his 2024 season.

FedEx Cup Standings

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Position Player FedEx Cup Points
1 Scottie Scheffler 6,533
2 Xander Schauffele 5,037
3 Hideki Matsuyama 3,899
4 Collin Morikawa 2,596
5 Rory McIlroy 2,559
6 Wyndham Clark 2,504
7 Ludvig Aberg 2,146
8 Sahith Theegala 2,076
9 Patrick Cantlay 2,017
10 Sungjae Im 1,950
11 Shane Lowry 1,895
12 Robert MacIntyre 1,885
13 Akshay Bhatia 1,847
14 Tony Finau 1,843
15 Byeong Hun An 1,835
16 Viktor Hovland 1,834
17 Russell Henley 1,777
18 Sam Burns 1,685
19 Billy Horschel 1,682
20 Matthieu Pavon 1,608
21 Aaron Rai 1,589
22 Justin Thomas 1,551
23 Christiaan Bezuidenhout 1,546
24 Sepp Straka 1,516
25 Jason Day 1,485
26 Davis Thompson 1,465
27 Taylor Pendrith 1,464
28 Tom Hoge 1,450
29 Brian Harman 1,446
30 Denny McCarthy 1,365
CUT-OFF TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP CUT-OFF TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP CUT-OFF
31 Tommy Fleetwood 1,362
32 Chris Kirk 1,346
33 Corey Conners 1,277
34 J.T. Poston 1,273
35 Stephan Jaeger 1,261
36 Matt Fitzpatrick 1,258
37 Will Zalatoris 1,256
38 Austin Eckroat 1,253
39 Cameron Young 1,245
40 Thomas Detry 1,241
41 Adam Scott 1,225
42 Adam Hadwin 1,208
43 Max Homa 1,206
44 Si Woo Kim 1,195
45 Alex Noren 1,173
46 Eric Cole 1,132
47 Max Greyserman 1,121
48 Nick Dunlap 1,121
49 Cam Davis 1,105
50 Keegan Bradley 1,096
CUT-OFF BMW CHAMPIONSHIP CUT-OFF BMW CHAMPIONSHIP CUT-OFF
51 Tom Kim 1,079
52 Mackenzie Hughes 1,048
53 Maverick McNealy 1,045
54 Patrick Rodgers 1,032
55 Justin Rose 1,021
56 Seamus Power 993
57 Harris English 984
58 Nick Taylor 985
59 Jake Knapp 984
60 Min Woo Lee 923
61 Ben Griffin 895
62 Erik van Rooyen 893
63 Brendon Todd 860
64 Taylor Moore 818
65 Peter Malnati 814
66 Jordan Spieth 795
67 Emiliano Grillo 765
68 Mark Hubbard 755
69 Jhonattan Vegas 739
70 Victor Perez 708
Jonny Leighfield
News Writer

Jonny Leighfield is our Staff News Writer who joined Golf Monthly just in time for the 2023 Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup. He graduated from the University of Brighton with a degree in Sport Journalism in 2017 and spent almost five years as the sole sports reporter at his local newspaper. During his time with Golf Monthly, Jonny has interviewed several stars of the game, including Robert MacIntyre, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and Joaquin Niemann. An improving golfer himself, Jonny enjoys learning as much about the game as he can and recently reached his Handicap goal of 18 for the first time.