How the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs work for 2022: Locations, money, starting strokes

August 12, 2022

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The regular season is over. The playoffs are back.

The FedEx Cup Playoffs once again consist of three tournaments, with the finale being the Tour Championship, where someone will walk off with an $18 million prize, up from the $15 million Patrick Cantlay bagged a year ago.

This year marks the 16th season of the playoffs. PGA Tour players battled through 44 events during the 2021-22 season to get there.

The top 125 in FedEx Cup points made the postseason. The top 70 after the first event advance with only the top 30 making the field for the third of the three-tournament playoffs.

Scottie Scheffler entered the playoffs in the top spot. He’s already set the mark for most money earned in a single PGA Tour season ($13,176,910 million). He also earned bonus money totaling $5 million: a $4 million bonus via the Comcast Business Tour Top 10 (holding the top spot in the FedEx Cup standings at the end of the regular season) and a $1 million bonus for winning the Aon Risk Reward Challenge.

The three playoff events

FedEx St. Jude Championship, TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tennessee, Aug. 11-14.
BMW Championship, Wilmington Country Club, Wilmington, Delaware, Aug. 18-21.
Tour Championship, East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Aug. 25-28.

The money

The winner of the Tour Championship is declared the FedEx Cup champion and takes home the first-place prize of $18 million in bonus money. The increased bonus pool means that the top-10 finishers will bank seven-figure paydays and the 30th-place finisher will make $500,000.

There is a total of $75 million in bonus money up for grabs at East Lake, up from $60 last season.

Bonus money payout

1. $15,000,000
2. $6,500,000
3. $5,000,000
4. $4,000,000
5. $3,000,000
6. $2,500,000
7. $2,000,000
8. $1,500,000
9. $1,250,000
10. $1,000,000
11. $950,000
12. $900,000
13. $850,000
14. $800,000
15. $760,000
16. $720,000
17. $700,000
18. $680,000
19. $660,000
20. $640,000
21. $620,000
22. $600,000
23. $580,000
24. $565,000
25. $550,000
26. $540,000
27. $530,000
28. $520,000
29. $510,000
30. $500,000

There is no longer a purse for the Tour Championship. The FedEx Cup Playoffs bonus money is the only money that players earn at East Lake. Also, FedEx Cup bonus money is not considered part of a golfer’s official earnings for the season.

The format

The PGA Tour will continue to utilize the FedEx Cup Starting Strokes, which was introduced for the first time in 2019. It’s a staggered system whereby the golfer in the top position will start the Tour Championship at 10 under.

Starting strokes

No. 1: 10 under
No. 2: 8 under
No. 3: 7 under
No. 4: 6 under
No. 5: 5 under
Nos. 6-10: 4 under
Nos. 11-15: 3 under
Nos. 16-20: 2 under
Nos. 21-25: 1 under
Nos. 26-30: Even

This system was established to give players at the top of the points list the reward of a starting advantage in the Tour Championship.