The FedEx Cup is the PGA Tour's season long points race. Players earn points at every event, with more on offer at the majors and the biggest tournaments, and the leading players qualify for a short playoff series whose field shrinks at each stage before a final event decides the title.
The structure funnels the season into three weeks. The playoff series opens with a field of seventy, cuts to fifty for the second event and to thirty for the Tour Championship, so a player has to keep performing to stay in rather than banking a good summer and coasting.
The finale changed shape recently and is now simpler to follow. The Tour Championship is played as a straight seventy-two hole stroke play tournament with all thirty qualifiers starting level, having previously handicapped the field by giving the points leader a head start in strokes.
Points weightings shifted alongside it for the 2026 season, with the first two playoff events brought into line with the majors and the Players Championship rather than carrying far more than either. The effect is to reward the whole season and make qualifying for the final thirty the hardest part.