PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoff race: Justin Thomas on outside looking in
Playing Through will assess the playoff race each week leading up to the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs, which begin Aug. 10 in Memphis.
The Open Championship is now upon us, as the best golfers in the world will battle for the Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool this week.
But following the season’s final major, only two tournaments are left on the 2023 PGA Tour schedule: the 3M Open in Minnesota and the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Then, the Top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings will head to Memphis for the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first of three FedEx Cup Playoff events.
So let us get to the FedEx Cup bubble ahead of The Open Championship:
Last Five In: Players Ranked 66th to 70th
66. Ben Griffin - United States (577 FedEx Cup Points)
The Chapel Hill, North Carolina native tied for 25th at the Genesis Scottish Open, which awarded Griffin almost 29 FedEx Cup points.
Last week, Griffin sat in 66th place as well, so his solid performance in Scotland keeps him on the right side of the bubble for now.
He will make his Open Championship debut this week, as his tie for 14th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational earned him a spot in the field at Royal Liverpool
67. Sam Ryder - United States (575)
Sam Ryder missed the cut in Scotland, failing to shoot an under-par round over the first two days at The Renaissance Club.
This marks the third time he failed to make the weekend in his last four starts, with the Rocket Mortgage Classic being the outlier.
Even then, he tied for 40th, as his opening round 65 was the highlight of his week in Detroit.
Unfortunately for the former Stetson Hatter, Ryder is not in The Open field, meaning he has two events left to try and make the playoffs in Memphis.
68. JJ Spaun - United States (569)
Spaun has been trending in the wrong direction for weeks, as his downward trajectory began when he missed the cut at the PGA Championship in May.
In his last two events, the Travelers Championship and the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Spaun combined to nab 20 FedEx Cup points.
A missed cut in Connecticut and a tie for 33rd in Detroit leaves Spaun in 68th place right now.
Spaun is not in the field at The Open but will tee it up this week at the Barracuda Championship at Tahoe Mountain Club in California.
69. K.H. Lee - South Korea (567)
The 31-year-old from Seoul finished in 72nd place at the Genesis Scottish Open, earning only two FedEx Up points.
As Playing Through noted last week, Lee has not had his best stuff for a while now.
Before the Scottish Open, Lee had missed four consecutive cuts as he had not finished within the Top 20 since early May when he tied for eighth at the Wells Fargo Championship.
But Lee is in the field at Royal Liverpool this week, so perhaps he can find some magic at The Open and shock the world.
Stranger things have happened.
70. Davis Thompson - United States (559)
Thompson finished solo second at The American Express in January, which earned him 300 FedEx Cup points.
He still relies on that finish, as he barely clings to the 70th spot three weeks before the FedEx Cup Playoffs begin.
The former Georgia Bulldog is taking another week off to save himself for the 3M Open and Wyndham Championship.
His most recent event was the John Deere Classic, where he tied for 31st.
Needs Help: Players Ranked 71st to 75th
71. David Lingmerth - Sweden (557)
David Lingmerth, who won his only PGA Tour event at The Memorial Tournament in 2015, came out of nowhere to tie for third at the Scottish Open, thus vaulting him up to 71st from 95th in the FedEx Cup standings.
Before his appearance in Scotland, Lingmerth had missed the cut in his previous six events.
He also withdrew from the RBC Canadian Open.
The Swede tied for sixth at The Players, but other than that, his 2023 results have been sub-par at best.
He will need another solid finish over the next three weeks to make it to Memphis. That starts with him playing well again at Royal Liverpool.
72. Shane Lowry - Ireland (556)
The 2019 Champion Golfer of the Year has been trending in the right direction since the PGA Championship at Oak Hill, where he tied for 12th.
He again tied for 12th at the Scottish Open—his first start since the Travelers Championship.
Now the Irishman looks to win another Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool; he obviously has the game to do so.
Lowry is playing well, and if he can post another strong outing this week, he will be in prime position to make it to Memphis.
73. Beau Hossler - United States (553)
Hossler, who played collegiately at the University of Texas, most recently tied for 26th at the John Deere Classic. In the two weeks before that, he missed the cut in both Detroit and Connecticut.
Before that, however, Hossler made eight straight cuts, which included a third-place finish at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Hossler will return to play this week at the Barracuda Championship, where he needs to, at the very least, make the cut to make it to Memphis.
74. Lee Hodges - United States (552)
The Huntsville, Alabama native played well at the Genesis Scottish Open, where like Shane Lowry, he finished in a tie for 12th.
Hodges has only two top-tens in 28 events this season, so his terrific play in Scotland was a rarity.
But he also tied for 12th at the Memorial Tournament, which earned him a spot in the field at Royal Liverpool. As such, Hodges will make his Open Championship debut this week.
Perhaps he can continue to play well in the British Isles—it would pay dividends to his FedEx Cup Playoff chances.
75. Justin Thomas - United States (546)
Justin Thomas has struggled this season, as the former world number one now ranks 20th in the Official World Golf Rankings.
He embarrassingly failed to make the cut at the U.S. Open but rallied back the next week at the Travelers Championship to tie for 9th.
The next week, however, he reverted to missing the cut in Detroit.
Thomas most recently tied for 60th at the Scottish Open.
Now the two-time major champion turns his attention to Royal Liverpool, where he hopes to win the Claret Jug for the first time.
Maybe Thomas can contend, but if he misses the cut at a major for the third time this year, his playoff chances are in serious jeopardy.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.