Three Canadians will move on to the playoffs on the PGA Tour after the regular season ended Sunday with the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship.
Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Corey Conners and Nick Taylor will play this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. That’s the first PGA Tour playoff event for the top 70 finishers on the FedEx Cup standings. The top 50 at the end of that tournament advance to the next stage the BMW Championship.
Yellamaraju, a rookie on the tour, was the top Canadian, finishing in 57th spot. He had three top-10 finishes including one at the Players Championship. However of late, his game has not been that sharp. He’s missed the cut in four of his last five starts.
Conners, who finished in 59th position, has been steady if not necessarily spectacular in the latter part of the season. Three of his last five starts have resulted in finishes inside the top 20, including his lone top 10 of the year, a tie for seventh at the Travelers Championship.
While he’s finished tied for 50th each of the last two years at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Conners does have a pair of top-10 finishes as well.
Taylor has also had just a single top 10, that coming in May at the Cadillac Championship. Perhaps his best showing was at the PGA Championship, where he was in contention until the back nine on Sunday. He shot 40 under difficult conditions and slipped into a tie for 26th. He enters the playoff in 63rd spot and will have to improve on his career-best finish at the FedEx St. Jude, which is a tie for 24th.
Moving into the top 50 this week will require a solid performance from all three players. Last year, five golfers climbed into the top 50, including Rickie Fowler who went from 64th spot. Advancing to the BMW Championship comes with a rich reward which is access to all the signature events in 2027.
The other Canadians on the PGA Tour will now wait until the playoffs end and the FedExCup Fall takes over. That’s an eight -event schedule that will let golfers improve their position in the standings. The top 125 will have full access for the tour.
That group includes Taylor Pendith, A.J. Ewart, Mackenzie Hughes, Ben Silverman, Adam Svensson and Adam Hadwin.
Pendrith ended the year in 89th position. Two years ago he made the playoffs and advanced all the way to the Tour Championship. Hughes, in 118th, will miss the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons.
To no one’s surprise, Scottie Schefler leads the way in top spot in the standings. Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young and Wyndham Clark are next.
Last year, Rory McIlroy skipped the first playoff event, knowing that he had enough points to make the Tour Championship. However, he has confirmed that he will play this week.
Weather could be an issue in Memphis where the temperatures are expected to hover in the high 30s. In past years, players and caddies have been given intravenous doses of liquids to help battle the stifling heat.
