Authored By: Adrian Rosati

Photo Credits: Chris Waugman, This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

At last, the golf playoffs are here! It may have come around very quickly, but with all the storylines surrounding first- and second-time winners this season, it is shaping up to be a great weekend to kick off the playoffs.

The only downside? With smaller fields, the tournament will likely be over by 4 or 5 p.m. ET, so make sure you don’t miss a second—especially on Sunday!

Here are our top eight golfers in the field:

Scottie Scheffler | 1st in FedEx Cup Standings | +450

The world No. 1 is the favourite this week. Scheffler finished T-3 at St. Jude last year at 15-under par.

Scheffler’s last win came in January 2026, which is pretty crazy considering how consistently he’s been playing. He did not participate in the Wyndham last week in anticipation of a long playoff run ahead.

Scheffler’s last event was a solo second-place finish at the 3M Open, where he shot 8-under on Sunday and kept Jackson Koivun within striking distance almost until the end. The extra time to scout out the course could be seen as a competitive advantage.

Scheffler has recorded 11 top-10 finishes in 17 events this year, a 65% top-10 rate. He’s also ranked first in Strokes Gained: Total, third in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and seventh in Strokes Gained: Putting.

Not to give him too much praise, but he’s managed all of this while often playing what appeared to be his B or C game—not even his A game.

He’s going to need that consistency to continue this week. Making as few mistakes as possible and turning his drives into scoring opportunities will be key to winning.

Rory McIlroy | 12th in FedEx Cup | +1050

Rory has only played 11 events, which is four below the 15-event minimum required to maintain his PGA Tour card. He was granted an exemption by the Tour, so he will maintain his card next year.

However, his lack of events could work against him this year. He’s made all 11 cuts, but it’s been a mixed bag, with only four top-10 finishes compared to Scheffler’s 11.

Rory hasn’t played since mid-July at The Open Championship, where he finished T-40 at 1-under par. His last three events have followed an up-and-down trend, with his most recent event being a down.

It’s possible that Rory could have a strong week as a result. Like Scheffler, not playing last week could give him additional practice time, if he chose to use it. We’ve seen that work for him at the Masters over the past two years.

His big key to winning this week? Bogey avoidance.

He ranks 14th in bogey avoidance, which is better than the Tour average. Rory is known for his streaky play, and he’ll need to avoid those poor stretches of golf in order to succeed this week.

I don’t expect him to win this week, but he should be in the hunt barring a colossal failure.

Xander Schauffele | 11th in FedEx Cup | +1850

Xander Schauffele comes into the week, like the two golfers above him, off an impressive result. His last tournament was a solo second-place finish at the Rocket Classic.

Schauffele has been elite at making the cut this year, making 15 of 17 cuts. He has six top-10 finishes in those 17 appearances, putting him in the top 10 roughly 35% of the time.

Compared to Scheffler, that’s almost half. That’s the difference between the world’s top golfer and the world’s ninth-ranked golfer.

Schauffele has had a good year, but it hasn’t been overly spectacular like you would expect from a player of his calibre. He’s ranked inside the top 15 in most Strokes Gained categories, but his weakness has been putting.

Last year, he finished 10 shots behind Justin Rose at St. Jude. However, last year he was coming off a T-7 finish, while this year he’s coming in as a runner-up.

He’s going to need to putt well, as that appears to be the edge he could have this week.

Cameron Young | 3rd in FedEx Cup | +1900

Cameron Young is coming off a title defence that might be one of the worst in PGA Tour history. He was really off his game but still managed to make the cut.

Young has made all 17 cuts this year and has recorded eight top-10 finishes. That means he’s finished inside the top 10 in 47% of the events he’s played, which is worse than Scheffler but considerably better than Xander Schauffele.

His two wins this season came at The Players Championship and the Cadillac Championship.

Young has been streaky this year, with a few weeks of average golf followed by stretches where he’s really on his game. He’s hoping to avoid the start of a potential down streak after last week’s performance.

His putting, like many of the golfers above, has been abysmal this year. But the real problem I saw last week was that he was missing greens.

If you’re going to be off with your putting, you need to at least hit the greens. Young will need to get back to hitting greens in regulation if he wants to make a push this week.

Tommy Fleetwood | 9th in FedEx Cup | +2000

Tommy Fleetwood has been on the precipice of having a big week, but he hasn’t played since The Open, so it’s been a while since we’ve seen him.

He’s made 15 of 16 cuts, with his only missed cut coming at the PGA Championship. He’s also recorded seven top-10 finishes, including his most recent event, putting him inside the top 10 in 44% of his starts.

That’s almost as good as world No. 3 Cameron Young and better than Xander Schauffele.

His biggest weakness is Strokes Gained: Approach to Green, where he ranks 43rd on Tour. He also lacks in the putting category, like many of the players above.

In order for him to win this week, he’s going to have to improve his approach play and steal a few putts along the way.

I don’t know if he’ll win this week with the guys ahead of him, but I’m sure he’ll put together a solid tournament and finish top 10 or better, as he has shown in recent weeks.

Sam Burns | 8th in FedEx Cup | +2200

Sam Burns has had an interesting season, making 14 of 17 cuts. But the one thing that has really stood out this year is his performance in the majors.

Burns has finished inside the top 10 in three of the four majors, with the PGA Championship being the exception.

With this being a playoff event, I’m sure he’ll be channeling that top-10 energy and giving it another run.

His Strokes Gained: Total numbers aren’t bad, but his play off the tee and approach play need some work. His putting, on the other hand, is the best on this list by far.

He’s third in Strokes Gained: Putting on Tour, and that’s his X-factor heading into the week.

A lot of the top golfers in this field are strong in other Strokes Gained categories but struggle once they get to the green. If Burns can hit good approach shots and give himself opportunities to score, the field better watch out.

He could equally be rusty coming off the break, though, as it has been some time since The Open.

Burns finished T-28 last year and is hoping for a bounce-back performance this year.

I definitely see him as a dark-horse pick!

Matt Fitzpatrick | 2nd in FedEx Cup | +2250

Fitzpatrick has made 17 of 18 cuts this year, including eight top-10 finishes. That puts his top-10 appearance rate at 44%, which is in line with Tommy Fleetwood and ahead of Schauffele.

Fitzpatrick has three wins this year: the Valspar Championship, RBC Heritage in a playoff and the Zurich Classic.

He’s coming off a missed cut at The Open, so he’s had some time to rest since then. The two tournaments before that? Both resulted in top-five finishes.

He’s second in Strokes Gained: Total, including first in Strokes Gained: Approach to Green.

He’s going to have to continue his strong approach play, as his putting has been a staggering weakness. He’s ranked 91st on Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting.

Despite having three wins, that is likely one of the reasons he hasn’t won more this year.

I think he’ll be in the hunt, but I don’t have him winning outright this week.

Ludvig Åberg | 10th in FedEx Cup | +3400

Ludvig Åberg is someone I’m rooting for this week, but the reality of him winning is likely reflected in his odds: He’s a long shot.

He’s made 14 of 17 cuts this year and has seven top-10 finishes, giving him a 41% top-10 rate. That’s higher than Xander Schauffele, which is somewhat surprising considering Åberg has been more under the radar in my opinion.

What’s saving Åberg’s season? He’s sixth in Strokes Gained: Total.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before in this preview: his putting is once again the problem that’s making his overall performance worse than you would expect.

So why is he still relatively high on the odds board this week?

He finished T-9 at last year’s St. Jude, just seven shots behind Justin Rose. So he’s had success at this course, and maybe his turnaround starts this week.

Would I bank on that? No.

There are just too many good golfers above him who have been more consistent this season. Unfortunately, I don’t think Åberg has much of an edge over the field.

Expert Picks

Here’s what our experts are picking heading into the first event of the playoffs.

Rosati — 5 Points

Justin Thomas is my pick this week.

He’s an outside shot compared to the golfers above, but he played much better than I expected last week. He finished T-14, and since the Travelers Championship, he’s either finished inside the top 20 or outside the top 50 with nothing really in between.

My biggest worry heading into last week was that he was hurt and had struggled out of the gate, but at certain tournaments, Thomas can really turn it on.

Last week gave me confidence that he can turn it on when he needs to.

I’m willing to be on the outside looking in, but I’m fairly confident that he’ll be in the mix this week if he doesn’t win.

Smith — 2 Points

Scottie Scheffler is the best golfer in the world. He’s +450, and he’s been due.

He’s not even close to the second favourite to win this week. As Adrian highlights above, he’s been playing his B and C games and still finds a way to be in the hunt until the end.

He hasn’t won since January 2026. He’s due.

Hutty — 2 Points

Sam Burns is one of the best putters on Tour.

When you look at the field, there are a lot of good golfers who struggle when they get to the green. When it comes to putting up good scores, one of the most crucial places to be good is on the greens.

A lot of the golfers among the top eight favourites have poor putting metrics, and it could come down to a made putt or two down the stretch when the tournament is all said and done.

Burns has been so close so many times this year, and I think he can finally put a checkmark in the win column this week.

Stay locked in for our post-round review on Monday!