PGA Tour: 10 of the most shocking players to miss FedEx Cup playoffs

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The three-tournament series to determine the FedEx Cup champion starts Thursday at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Who will come out on top in Atlanta?

Before we focus on the Top 70, there is one more thing I want to discuss.

So, today, we look at the guys who did not make the FedEx Cup playoffs. It shocked me to see these 10 guys on the outside looking in, but once I dug a little deeper, it made sense. It also showed me that the playoff system continues to be for the PGA Tour.

Among these 10 guys are four players who WON on the PGA Tour this season. There is also a victorious Ryder Cup member and a fan favorite.

Let’s get into it!

The 12 most shocking PGA Tour Players who will miss the FedEx Cup

*marks PGA Tour winner

— Davis Riley*
— Harry Hall*
— Lucas Glover
— Brice Garnett*
— Nicolai Højgaard
— Chris Gotterup*
— Matt Kuchar
— Rickie Fowler
— Gary Woodland
— Keith Mitchell

In 22 starts this year, Riley has one win at the Charles Schwab Challenge, a single Top 10 and 2 Top 25s. He made just 12 cuts all year. Since his victory in Texas, Riley missed the cut three times and his best finish came last week at Wyndham Championship in a T38.

Lucas Glover made magic in 2023, winning the Wyndham and the FedEx St. Jude, but the golf gods were not on his side this year. He did not do enough to get inside the Top 70 and finished No. 78.

Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images

Nicolai Højgaard played on the victorious Team Europe Ryder Cup team last September, but he did not have a strong season on the PGA Tour. Two Top 25s are not good enough to get into the Top 70s. He finished No. 81 in the standings.

Harry Hall is another winner this season. He earned his first PGA Tour victory at the newly named ISCO Championship in Kentucky. However, he had three Top 25s on the season and missed the cut in the Wyndham Championship. Hall finished No. 86 in the standings.

Brice Garnett and Chris Gotterup were the final players to win in 2024 to miss the playoffs. Garnett won the Puerto Rico Open, an opposite-field event to the Arnold Palmer Invitational. However, he only had two Top 25s, so he landed at No. 87 in the rankings.

Gotterup won the Myrtle Beach Classic, the opposite field event of the Wells Fargo Championship. He had 10 finishes and missed 10 cuts in his last 20 starts. Gotterup finished No. 94 in the standings.

Matt Kuchar broke his playoff streak and will miss his first postseason since 2007. He missed 11 cuts in 19 starts, which is not good enough. He was No. 103 in the FedEx Cup race.

Rickie Fowler is probably one of the most shocking names on this list. He is a fan favorite but has not done much all season.

Last year, the former Oklahoma State Cowboy ended his win drought and miraculously made the Ryder Cup team. This season has not been kind to him, with two Top 25s in 20 starts. However, his last start came at The Open, where he finished solo 71st. Fowler did not attempt to gain more FedEx Cup points, so he ended his season at No. 104.

Gary Woodland (No. 153) and Keith Mitchell (No. 77) round out the names that shocked me to see them miss the playoffs.

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Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For mor golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.