The FedEx Cup is the championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction in 2007 marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by FedEx.
The FedEx Cup is a season-long competition. Points are awarded based on finishing position in all PGA Tour–sanctioned tournaments. The leading points earners throughout the regular season qualify for the playoffs. Players are further eliminated after each of the first two playoff events, with the leading 30 points earners qualifying for the Tour Championship.
Scottie Scheffler is the current champion after he won his second career Tour Championship in 2026.
Rory McIlroy has the most titles with three. The only other players to win multiple FedEx Cups are Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler, both with two.
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Rule changes
The PGA Tour has adjusted the rules around the FedEx Cup several times. Each set of changes was introduced to address issues that arose the previous year, particularly with the playoffs portion of the FedEx Cup:
In February 2008, the changes were designed to allow more golfers a chance to improve their positions on the points list as the playoffs progress. The changes involve a tightening of the playoff reset points and awarding more points to playoff participants. This is effectively a penalty on those players who skip a playoff event.
In November 2008, the changes were designed to help ensure that the championship would not be won until every golfer who qualified finished playing the final playoff event. This was inspired by the fact that Vijay Singh had accumulated enough points through the first three playoff events in 2008 to guarantee that he would win the Cup without finishing the final event.
In 2013, FedEx Cup points began to determine the 125 golfers who would retain their PGA Tour playing privileges (popularly known as "tour cards") for the following season. Previously, this was determined by position on the tour's money list at the end of the year.
In 2019, the playoffs were reduced from four events to three. Prior to that the top 125 players entered the first event, 100 the 2nd, 70 the third and 30 the last; with the first two events featuring cuts. In 2019 it went from 125 to 70 to 30. Also starting that year, the Tour Championship featured a strokes-based system (FedEx Cup Starting Strokes). At the time, the FedEx Cup points leader after the first two playoffs events began the Tour Championship at 10-under par. The no. 2 player started at 8 under. The no. 3 player started at 7 under; the no. 4 player started at 6 under; the no. 5 player started at 5 under. Players 6–10 started at 4 under; players 11–15 started at 3 under; players 16–20 started at 2 under; players 21–25 started at 1 under; and players 26–30 started at even par. At the Tour Championship, the player with the lowest aggregate score over 72 holes, when combined with his FedEx Cup Starting Strokes, won the Tour Championship and was also crowned FedEx Cup champion.
In 2023, the cutoff for the first Fedex Cup event was lowered to 70 and the second to 50, both with no cut.
Format
Qualifying for the playoffs
The season structure changed beginning in the fall of 2013, but the qualifying criteria have not changed since 2009.
The first part of the season is known as the "regular season" starting in January, culminating in three events called the "playoffs" in August.
Players earn points in each event they play. For all regular-season PGA Tour events, 500 FedEx Cup points are awarded to the winner, with points also being earned by every player making the cut. In "signature events", 700 FedEx Cup points go to the winner, while 750 points are given to the champion of the four majors and the Players. Lastly, 300 points are given to the winner of any event played in the same week as a major or signature event.
The goal is to be among the top 70 points leaders following the final event of the regular season.
Only those players who are regular full-time members of the PGA Tour earn points. A non-member who joins the PGA Tour in mid-season is eligible to earn points in the first event he plays after officially joining the Tour.
At the conclusion of the regular season (after the Wyndham Championship), the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings become eligible to play in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, a series of three events over the month of August.
Points earned during the PGA Tour regular season carry over to the playoffs. The FedEx Cup Playoffs events feature a progressive cut, with fields of 70 for FedEx St. Jude Championship, 50 for the BMW Championship and 30 for the Tour Championship held annually at East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia, where the FedEx Cup champion is determined.
In the event an eligible player is unable or chooses not to play, the field is shortened and no alternates are added. Points from the missing positions are not awarded. The FedEx St. Jude Championship, the BMW Championship and Tour Championship are no-cut events.
Playoff events
If an eligible player skips a playoff event, no alternates are added and the field is reduced accordingly.
Playoff rewards
Starting in 2025, the 30 players with the most points after the BMW Championship win a share of the FedExCup bonus pool based on their standings at that point. The FedEx Cup itself goes to the winner of the Tour Championship and the prize money for that event is based on performance in that event. In 2026, the points leader (Scottie Scheffler) received $22 million. The runner-up got $13 million, 3rd place $8 million and so on down to $460,000 for 30th place.
Beginning with the 2013 season, non-exempt players who finish 126th-150th in the FedEx Cup are given conditional PGA Tour status, but can attempt to improve their status via qualifying school.
In 2007, the money was placed into their tax-deferred retirement accounts, not given in cash. Players under 45 are not able to access any 2007 FedEx Cup bonuses (as opposed to prize money earned in the tournaments themselves) until turning 45. They can invest their bonus in any manner they choose, and once they turn 45, can choose to defer payment until they turn 60 or play in fewer than 15 PGA Tour events in a season. Once a player chooses to take payments from his fund, he will receive monthly checks for five years.
Because of possible legislation affecting deferred retirement plans, in the wake of business stories that speculated that Tiger Woods could amass a $1 billion retirement fund if he won the FedEx Cup six more times, the PGA Tour announced a change to the payout system effective in 2008. The top 10 finishers now receive the bulk of their FedEx Cup bonuses in cash up front; for example, the 2008 FedEx Cup champion received $9 million up front and $1 million in his tax-deferred retirement account. FedEx Cup bonuses to finishers below the top 10 are still paid solely into the players' retirement accounts.
The winner of the FedEx Cup also receives a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour, mirroring the exemption that was given to the tour's leading money winner prior to 2017. Before the change in format in 2019, that made it impossible for the FedEx Cup and the Tour Championship to be won by two different players, the Tour Championship winner received a three-year exemption. Winners of other playoff events receive only the standard 2-year exemption.
Since 2013, the FedEx Cup standings have been the primary means of determining exemption status for the following year; the 125 players who qualify for the playoffs are fully exempt. Players who finish 126th through 150th, if not exempt through other means such as a recent tournament win, retain conditional status; these, along with finishers 151 through 200, are eligible for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, through which they may regain their cards if not already exempt.
Career FedEx Cup bonus leaders
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