FedEx St. Jude Championship golf field is set, Justin Thomas among notable omissions
The FedEx St. Jude Championship field is officially set, and there's a big name who won't be in Memphis this year. Justin Thomas created all kinds of drama Sunday in his last-gasp attempt to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs, hitting the pin on a chip shot at No. 18 during the final round of the Wyndham Championship.
If it had gone in, Thomas would have finished inside the top 70 of the FedEx Cup standings. But it bounced just a few feet away from the cup, sending him to the grass in disbelief at how close he had come. He finished No. 71 in the standings.
Only the top 70 advance to the PGA Tour's version of the postseason this year, as opposed to the top 125 in previous years. TPC Southwind will play host to the first of three events of the FedEx Cup playoffs, beginning Thursday and running through Sunday. Adam Scott, Shane Lowry and Gary Woodland were among the other former major winners who weren't able to qualify to play in Memphis this week. Defending tournament champion Will Zalatoris also won't be here due to an injury.
The field nonetheless will include many of the biggest names in golf, most notably Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler. Three of the four major winners from this year (Rahm, Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman) are also slated to compete. The top 50 players in the FedEx Cup standings following the conclusion of the FedEx St. Jude Championship will qualify for the BMW Championship next week in Illinois.
Local fan favorites like Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson once again will not be able to participate because of their switch to the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series. Though the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund are in negotiations about a partnership, many details remain to be ironed out. There is a much-anticipated meeting between PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and the PGA Tour's golfers scheduled to take place Tuesday in Memphis to discuss the potential deal.
This year's tournament, much like the three years in which Memphis served as the host of a World Golf Championship event, will not have a cut due to the limited field.
SETTING THE STAGE: PGA Tour is bringing so much drama to Memphis, maybe Tiger Woods finally shows
FedEx St. Jude Championship field
*In order of FedEx Cup standings
Jon Rahm
Scottie Scheffler
Rory McIlroy
Max Homa
Wyndham Clark
Brian Harman
Viktor Hovland
Keegan Bradley
Rickie Fowler
Tony Finau
Jason Day
Nick Taylor
Patrick Cantlay
Tom Kim
Sepp Straka
Xander Schauffele
Tyrell Hatton
Si Woo Kim
Sam Burns
Russell Henley
Emiliano Grillo
Collin Morikawa
Kurt Kitayama
Adam Schenk
Taylor Moore
Tommy Fleetwood
Denny McCarthy
Chris Kirk
Seamus Power
Corey Conners
Jordan Spieth
Sungjae Im
Justin Rose
Sahith Theegala
Lee Hodges
Matt Fitzpatrick
Byeung Hun An
Adam Svensson
Brendon Todd
Eric Cole
Andrew Putnam
Harris English
Patrick Rodgers
Adam Hadwin
J.T. Poston
Tom Hoge
Mackenzie Hughes
Cameron Young
Lucas Glover
Nick Hardy
Alex Smalley
Thomas Detry
Taylor Montgomery
Davis Riley
Brandon Wu
Hayden Buckley
Hideki Matsuyama
Keith Mitchell
Mark Hubbard
Matt Kuchar
Stephan Jaeger
Cam Davis
Sam Ryder
Sam Stevens
Aaron Rai
Beau Hossler
Matt NeSmith
Vincent Norrman
J.J. Spaun
Ben Griffin
You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: FedEx St. Jude Championship golf field set, Justin Thomas among omissions