What is the FedEx Cup Fall? The PGA Tour’s event schedule, what’s at stake for golfers through the 2024 season

Hope everyone enjoyed the off-season. A short one-week break has come to an end after the Tour Championship, where Scottie Scheffler won $25 million and this year’s FedEx Cup. The PGA Tour returns to Napa, California, this week for the inaugural FedEx Cup Fall event.

The FedEx Cup Fall is a series of eight events that offer plenty of upside for those outside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup after the St. Jude Championship to begin the playoffs in August. While most of the world’s top players won’t be participating, there will still be some interesting and valuable action to follow through the end of the year.

Let’s take a look at those dynamics, the players trying to grasp them and how it all might play out over the next few months on the PGA Tour.

FedEx Cup Fall 2024 Schedule

• Procore Championship — September 12-15
• Sanderson Farms Championship — October 3-6
• Black Desert Championship — October 10-13
• Shriners Children’s Open — October 17-20
• Zozo Championship — October 24-27
• Global Tech Championship — November 7-10
• Butterfield Bermuda Championship — November 14-17
• RSM Classic — November 21-24

The big addition this year is the Black Desert Championship, which will be held in Utah at the course of the same name. Everything else is the same as in 2023, although the total number of events has increased from seven a year ago to eight this year, and the FedEx Cup Fall concludes a week later.

Field strength

Most of the top players will skip these events because they’ve already secured their status for 2025. If a player finishes in the top 50 in the 2024 FedEx Cup standings — advancing to the BMW Championship — he or she is already eligible for all the special events in 2025 and basically every other tournament. So don’t expect to see Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa or Viktor Hovland often, if at all, over the next few months.

The same goes for players who finish in the top 70 or better. While they don’t get special event exemptions in 2025, they are eligible for the rest of the PGA Tour. They can improve their standing for next year, but they’ve locked up their PGA Tour card for 2025, and nothing this fall can change that.

Interestingly, the first event — the Procore Championship in Napa, formerly known as the Fortinet Championship — attracted Wyndham Clark, Gary Woodland, Webb Simpson, Max Homa, Corey Conners, Harris English, Min Woo Lee and Sahith Theegala, among others. Many of these players are trying to stay in shape for the Presidents Cup, which takes place in two weeks in Montreal.

Other events could include good fields depending on what the plans are for the top players and what they are trying to do (stay in shape, prepare for something) this fall.

What is at stake?

While much of the 2025 tournaments have been decided, there are still some notable things to note. First, winners in the fall will qualify for The Players Championship and receive a two-year PGA Tour exemption; they will also likely receive invitations to major championships (like the Masters), events that traditionally have welcomed PGA Tour winners.

Golfers who move up in the FedEx Cup standings — from 51st to 60th after dropping — will be exempt from two of the first three special events of 2025. Here’s the full list of special events:

• The watchman
• Pebble Beach Pro-Am
• Genesis Invites
• Arnold Palmer Invitational Tournament
• RBC Heritage
• Truist Championship
• Memorial Tournament
• Tourism Championship

Since FedEx Cup points will be carried over from the 2024 regular season to the fall FedEx Cup, we have the “top 10” in the standings:

These golfers are playing to maintain their current positions, thereby preparing them for the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational in February 2025. The players behind them are trying to earn their spots to participate in those events.

There are even more risks

Perhaps the even bigger competition is at the bottom of the leaderboard. Only the top 125 players will retain their PGA Tour cards for 2025, and there are some interesting names at the bottom of the leaderboard, including Zac Blair (No. 113), Kevin Tway (No. 122), Sam Ryder (No. 125), Alejandro Tosti (No. 127), and others. They will all be fighting for a spot in that top 125 by the time the fall comes to a close to securing full PGA Tour status for next season.