These 7 tour pros have A LOT to play for at the Wyndham Championship (2024)

For years, the PGA Tour’s regular-season-ending Wyndham Championship would determine the fate of the players near the bottom of the FedEx Cup standings: Would they fight their way to the top 125, thus making the FedEx Cup Playoffs and keeping their tour cards? And for those outside the number, could they hold on to partial eligibility in the top 150?

These days, the bubble drama has been partially offloaded to the fall series, where the tour-card fates of players are determined. But there are still high stakes at the Wyndham, specifically for those players trying to finish inside the top 70 of the FedEx Cup standings, which last year became the new cut-off point to qualify for the playoffs. Additionally, being in the top 50 after the first FedEx Cup playoff event secures your status into 2025’s $20 million signature events, so making a move inside that additional bubble line is critical, too.

With an eye on those top 50 and top 70 numbers, here are seven players with the most to gain or lose this week in Greensboro, N.C.

Editor's Note: Currently, the PGA Tour's website lists Grayson Murray at No. 57 and Tyrrell Hatton at No. 96 in the FedEx Cup standings. Murray died in May, and it is believed he will not count in standings used to determine who qualifies for the Playoffs. Hatton joined LIV Golf in January, and he issubsequently ineligible for PGA Tour competition. Rankings for the players below are adjusted accordingly.

1. Jordan Spieth (FedEx Cup ranking: 62)

It's hard to know what to make of Spieth's "second" career, where he's no longer the phenom that won three majors, but he's still a competent golfer who registers as either "low elite" or "high journeyman." At 62nd in the standings, he opted in for the Wyndham late last week. His position inside the top 70 seems relatively safe—in other words, he'll probably make the playoffs even if he misses the cut—but to retain his full status in signature events, he needs to claw his way inside the top 50 after the first playoff event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship. If he fails there, he has no 2024 tour win to secure his spot in next year's signature events, and would have to scrap and claw for other exemptions, which, in turn, makes it harder to secure status next year. In a rich-get-richer ecosystem, Spieth at the very least needs to use the Wyndham to position himself for that top 50 spot.

2. Justin Rose (52)

It's been a remarkable last calendar year for Rose, who at 44 seems to be aging like a fine wine. From his heroic European Ryder Cup performance in Rome that validated Luke Donald's trust in him as a captain's pick to his tremendous Open Championship at Troon, fighting through the hard part of the draw to finish in a tie for second, he has exceeded even the highest expectations set out for him at this late stage in his career. At No. 52 in the standings, though, there's one final hurdle for him to cross, and that's getting inside the top 50 by the end of Memphis to ensure he'll be included in all of 2025's signature events. Rose is no stranger to drama at the Wyndham, and with a track record of solid finishes, he's a great bet to get inside that number even before he tees off in the playoffs.

3. Nick Dunlap (65)

Dunlap shocked the golf world when he won The American Express in January to become the first amateur in more than 30 years to win a PGA Tour event. The 20-year-old sophom*ore at Alabama subsequently turned pro and quietly put together a solid season before winning again at the Barracuda Championship when the game's stars were at Royal Troon for the Open. Because he wasn’t a PGA Tour member, the 500 FedEx Cup points for his Amex win don’t count toward his season total. Still, he's in prime position for the playoffs after the Barracuda, and he has already make the Sentry (next year's first signature event) by virtue of his wins. To put an exclamation mark on an exceptional year, however, he will want to hold on to his top 70 spot for dear life at the Wyndham and give himself a shot to close out on a hot streak both to launch his career and to secure spots in the "free money" signature events of 2025.

4. Lucas Glover (75)

Last year, Glover emerged from nowhere to win the Wyndham Championship, spurred on by a change in putting technique that seemed to cure a decade of yips in a short span. He went from there to win the next week at Memphis in the first playoff event, and before anyone knew what had hit them, Glover was being talked about as a potential U.S. Ryder Cup captain's pick. It was a legitimate rejuvenation, and Glover has played well in the first full season of his second act. But heading into Greensboro, he's outside the top 70, and if he wants a chance to defend his Memphis title, he'll have to recreate his Greensboro success first. OK, he doesn't need to win, but a good showing is an absolute must if Glover can make the leap into the playoffs.

5. Matt Kuchar (111)

If all good things must come to an end, tip your cap to Kuchar, who has kept at least one very good streak from ending for almost two decades. Since the first FedEx Cup Playoffs were held in 2007, only one guy has qualified every single year. That's Kuchar, a model of longevity in the modern era. Now, to be brutally honest, things don't look good—he's 111th with a ton of ground to make up, and pretty much only a win or something extremely close will give him the necessary points to leapfrog 41 other golfers and keep the streak alive. The good news is that he was on the leaderboard late at the 3M Open two weeks ago, and knowing there a lot to play for, but if he can find himself in the mix this coming Sunday, the fight to extend his playoff run to 18 years will make for a great story.

6. Nicolai Hojgaard (79)

Here's a bit of a curveball, since Hojgaard still seems to fly under the radar in America, especially in comparison to fellow Nordic stars like Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg. Granted, he doesn't have their pedigree quite yet, and he didn't exactly light things up in the majors this year, but let's not forget that this guy had a strong Ryder Cup last fall and went on to win the DP World Tour Championship. His time in America is coming, and if he can capitalize on his chance at the Wyndham, where he finished T-14 last year, it could come soon—he only needs to gain nine spots to make the playoffs.

7. Min Woo Lee (61)

File him in the Hojgaard category of a foreign player just beginning to enjoy a higher profile in the states, and add in a sort of natural charisma and a famous sister. Now, granted, his form in the Olympics wasn't so hot (as he would tell you himself), but the 26-year-old Aussie is in great shape to make the first FedEx Cup Playoffs of his career. At 61st in the standings, he would have to get very unlucky to miss it, but like so many others on this list, he could turn a very solid season into a great one by forging his way into the top 50 and beyond. A memorable week at the Wyndham, in what will be his first visit to the tour regular-season finale, would get the job done.