The most surprising season of the FedEx Cup Playoffs? You might have missed it

There are few surprises in the FedEx Cup play -offs. One glance at the top 70 that made the journey to Memphis for this week’s Fedex St. Jude Championship, and you will see the expected.

There is Scottie Scheffler in the midst of another dominant season, which is looking to win back-to-back Fedex cups. There is Rory McIlroy, who skipped the trip to Memphis, at number 2. Big names such as Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele Vechten to stay on the right side of the top-50 bubble. For the most part, the names are the remarkable that weekend television screens from January to August on a consistent base. To be in the top 30, or in the neighborhood, to enter the play -offs, it means that you have either won several times (Scheffler, McIlroy, Sepp Sepp), once won and the top of leaderboards (Justin Thomas, Russell Henley), or consistently played good wave without a trip to the winner. The latter category is where you enter Tommy Fleetwoods and Collin Morikawas.

But there is a different name around that 30 -number that you might surprise – Jacob Bridgeman.

Last year Bridgeman finished his Rookie season ranked 113rd after the autumn season of FedEx Cup, which means that he hardly received his card in the last year of the Top 125 from the PGA Tour. The Rookie season of Bridgeman saw him posts 10 Top-25 Finishes in 27 Starts, but he did not perform it in Majors, characteristic events or the players. That meant that he had to scrape for every point he could find to keep his card. Bridgeman did that with three Top-15 Finishes in the fall and got the best of his second season on the PGA Tour.

This season, the Clemson product has made 15 of 24 cuts, including second place at the Cognizant Classic and a third place in the Valspar. Bridgeman received that second place in the Cognizant in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he finished T15, and it also earned him a start with the players, where he finished T50 in serious circumstances.

Bridgeman Parlaarded his Stellaire Mars in a place in the Truist championship, another characteristic event, where he finished T4 in Philadelphia Cricket Club.

After he had ground his way through a season in which he played in zero of the big events, Bridgeman trees it in five characteristic events, two Majors and the players this season. That enabled him to arrive in Memphis in 33rd place in the Fedex Cup. That place guarantees him almost a place in next week’s BMW championship, which means that he will be in all characteristic events of next year. And Bridgeman, who opened the FedEx St. Jude Championship with rounds of 69 and 64, is in position to go to East Lake and to play in the Tour Championship.

“Not in those who are at the beginning of the year was difficult,” said Bridgeman Monday, Via the corresponding press. “I experienced that last year. I knew how that was and played that past and still kept my card. I felt that it was certainly a disadvantage, but not that it was unreachable.

“I just knew that if I played well, I had a chance. That was one of my goals, is a characteristic event to play early. I got into the Arnold Palmer and drove all the way through the Golf.”

Bridgeman has not won this season, but he has five top 10 Finishes and is about to place himself in all the characteristic events next season.

Of those who achieved the top 50 last year, 14 did not make the play -offs this year. Eleven was due to insufficient play, while Billy Horschel, Will Zalatoris and Alex Noren missed due to an injury.

Making the top 50 does not ensure that you stay in the following season, but it certainly makes the road easier.

Bridgeman started the season with his card and a way to play the “regular” PGA Tour events. He missed three of his four cuts of the season, but was stuck with a T34 in Mexico and then fired a final round 64 to complete T2 at the cognizant and open the door for his first characteristic event and the players. The Bridgeman season has been up and down since his T4 in the Truist. He missed three of his next four cuts, but then bought a T5 finish from the John Deere. He was also in position for a solid finish at the monument before a final round 78 pushed him to T31.

The Bridgeman season has not been perfect, but it is an example of how everything you need to unlock the door to the highest level of the PGA Tour, a card, faith and a series of good play.