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2020 FedEx Cup: DJ vaults to top, big names bounced, and bubble watch at the BMW Championship

Rob Carr
The first stage of the FedEx Cup was less of a golf tournament and more of a boat race, with Dustin Johnson leaving The Northern Trust field in his wake. Luckily for the remaining players in the PGA Tour’s postseason, the FEC has not moved to a cumulative scoring-based system. (Yet.) Here are the results after Round 1 of the 2020 FedEx Cup Playoffs.
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Johnson’s win moved him from No. 15 in the standings to leader of the FedEx Cup. Johnson has never won the tour’s postseason, his best finish a second-place showing in 2016. Also moving into the top 10 was Harris English, his runner-up at The Northern Trust catapulting him from No. 27 to No. 6. The rest of the top 10: Justin Thomas, Webb Simpson, Daniel Berger, Collin Morikawa, Bryson DeChambeau, Sungjae Im, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed.
Northern Trust winners not named Dustin Johnson
Russell Henley, thanks to a T-8 at TPC Boston, jumped 40 spots—most of anyone in first event of the playoffs—to earn a trip to the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields. Also making leaps were Alex Noren (No. 78 to No. 47), Harry Higgs (No. 72 to No. 48), Kevin Kisner (No. 40 to No. 23) and Robby Shelton (No. 81 to 62). Special shoutouts to Jason Kokrak, who turned in a final-round 65 to move outside the fire (No. 90) into a spot in the BMW, and Louis Oosthuizen, who birdied the 72nd hole to go from No. 99 to No. 70, earning the last ticket to Chicago.
Big names sent packing
Brooks Koepka bowed out before the proceedings began, his WD at the Northern Trust putting an end to his 2019-’20 tour season. Phil Mickelson’s streak of reaching the second round of the playoffs every year since they began in 2007 was snapped after a quick exit from Boston. Justin Rose had a nice weekend to finish T-24 at The Northern Trust; however, the 2018 FedEx Cup champ played in just 12 regular-season tour events, missed the cut in six of his last nine outings, and couldn’t make up enough ground this week. Fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood similarly could not overcome the gamble of a limited playing schedule.
Also bounced from the playoffs were Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler. Spieth’s woes have been well-chronicled, so we’ll save that storyline when it returns at Winged Foot. Fowler’s 2020 is a bit of an odd duck. He entered the week 31st in strokes gained, yet made just three weekends in seven appearances following the restart and never truly contended at a full-field tournament this year. It marks the first time Fowler has not made it to the second event of the playoffs in his career.
Bubble Boys
Tony Finau dropped six spots after missing the cut in Boston and enters Olympia Fields No. 29 in the standings, with Billy Horschel the man on the number and Joaquin Niemann on the wrong side of 30. Matthew Wolff (No. 33), Patrick Cantlay (No. 37), Adam Scott (No. 38) and Gary Woodland (No. 39) are stars with business to take care of in Illinois. Jason Day (No. 50) and Matt Kuchar (No. 54) need something special to reach Atlanta as well.
Also needing something special is a certain 15-time major winner. Tiger Woods made the cut at The Northern Trust but dropped eight spots in the FEC standings. At No. 57, he’ll need to contend in Chicago to have any hopes of playing at East Lake. Woods has won the FedEx Cup in 2007 and 2009, and last played in (and won) the Tour Championship in 2018.
The FedEx Cup Top 70 heading into the BMW Championship:
1 Dustin Johnson
2 Justin Thomas
3 Webb Simpson
4 Daniel Berger
5 Collin Morikawa
6 Harris English
7 Bryson DeChambeau
8 Sungjae Im
9 Jon Rahm
10 Patrick Reed
11 Xander Schauffele
12 Rory McIlroy
13 Brendon Todd
14 Scottie Scheffler
15 Lanto Griffin
16 Sebastián Muñoz
17 Tyrrell Hatton
18 Hideki Matsuyama
19 Abraham Ancer
20 Marc Leishman
21 Kevin Na
22 Ryan Palmer
23 Kevin Kisner
24 Viktor Hovland
25 Cameron Champ
26 Cameron Smith
27 Adam Long
28 Kevin Streelman
29 Tony Finau
30 Billy Horschel
31 Joaquin Niemann
32 Tyler Duncan
33 Matthew Wolff
34 Mark Hubbard
35 Byeong Hun An
36 Mackenzie Hughes
37 Patrick Cantlay
38 Adam Scott
39 Gary Woodland
40 Nick Taylor
41 Joel Dahmen
42 Danny Lee
43 Tom Hoge
44 Richy Werenski
45 Brendan Steele
46 Brian Harman
47 Alex Noren
48 Harry Higgs
49 Adam Hadwin
50 Jason Day
51 Michael Thompson
52 Talor Gooch
53 Andrew Landry
54 Corey Conners
55 Matt Kuchar
56 Carlos Ortiz
57 Tiger Woods
58 Bubba Watson
59 Dylan Frittelli
60 Matthew Fitzpatrick
61 Russell Henley
62 Robby Shelton
63 Jim Herman
64 Paul Casey
65 J.T. Poston
66 Jason Kokrak
67 Maverick McNealy
68 Max Homa
69 Charles Howell III
70 Louis Oosthuizen