Copyright CBS Sports
When the PGA Tour announced the creation of FedEx Cup Fall in April 2023, it was meant to heighten the intensity of the silly season while serving as a complement to the return of the calendar year schedule. It was official -- gone were the days of players taking advantage of the stars being sidelined during the fall and getting a head start in the FedEx Cup standings for the following season. Everyone started from ground zero when the calendar flipped to the new year, and balls were sent flying through the air in the PGA Tour's first tournament. No longer were the best players on the circuit playing catch up and finally an offseason was more or less created for those who earned one. The PGA Tour has since upped the ante in making the FedEx Cup Fall more heart pounding. It cut the number of tournaments down from eight to seven from 2024 to 2025 -- farewell, Shriners Children's Open -- while also cutting the number of cards it hands out. Initially, a fight to climb inside the top 125, the FedEx Cup Fall now focuses on the top 100 as the PGA Tour has since repositioned where the cut-off point starts. If inside, a player qualifies for full-time membership on the PGA Tour and is invited to play in the Players Championship. If outside, a player earns conditional status -- i.e., scratching and clawing for starts next year -- or nothing at all. All of this drama and anxiety is put on full display and culminates at the RSM Classic, the final event of the year, where every putt is magnified. However, while focus and attention is drawn to those vying for the privilege of playing on the PGA Tour next season, the main story in the FedEx Cup Fall's brief history has been those who are not ... those players who are playing with house money already and taking full advantage of the opportunity. Sunday at the Bank of Utah Championship was the latest example as Michael Brennan boat raced the field in his third career PGA Tour start and found his way into the winner's circle. Brennan spent his last 18 months on PGA Tour Americas, where he finished atop the season-long standings thanks to three wins in a recent four-tournament stretch. The Power 18 golf rankings: Xander Schauffele returns to top five, Cameron Young among most notable movers Patrick McDonald His reward was membership on the Korn Ferry Tour, however, once the 23-year-old stepped into the winner's circle at Black Desert Resort where he was in the field thanks to a sponsor's invitation, Brennan skipped that step entirely as he had secured a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour along with his victory. "[My caddie Jeff] told me ever since we played a great year we're not going to the Korn Ferry Tour, whether it was, I don't know through something like this or Q-School," Brennan said. "I can't believe he's right." Brennan's win was special for a multitude of reasons. It has brought a new star into the spotlight that is the PGA Tour. It has given him starts at the Players Championship, PGA Championship and the RBC Heritage. It has sped up his career. But it has also shown, once again, that in the fall, those who play freely and without the cloud of job security are the ones who can secure so much more. First-time winners in FedEx Cup Fall PlayerTournamentYear Sahith Theegala Procore Championship 2023 Ludvig Åberg RSM Classic 2023 Kevin Yu Sanderson Farms Championship 2024 Matt McCarty Bank of Utah Championship 2024 Rafael Campos Bermuda Championship 2024 Maverick McNealy RSM Classic 2024 Steven Fisk Sanderson Farms Championship 2025 Michael Brennan Bank of Utah Championship 2025 Brennan became the latest first-time winner on the PGA Tour to come out of the FedEx Cup Fall. He joins young players such as Ludvig Åberg, Maverick McNealy and Sahith Theegala to accomplish the same. Similarly, last year's winner of the Bank of Utah Championship, Matt McCarty, entered the week of his win following a three-win promotion from the Korn Ferry Tour. McCarty's win earned him an invitation into the Masters where he told CBS Sports he learned more about himself and his game than any other tournament he played in his rookie season on the PGA Tour. Similarly, his career was sped up. It has been noted ad nauseam regarding young players that they are more equipped to win than ever before. Nick Dunlap did so as an amateur in 2024, and Luke Clanton nearly did the same last fall as he fell short to McNealy in Sea Island. The stories of journeymen are still there -- just look at Campos' emotional triumph in Bermuda -- but they are becoming more and more rare. Not only because young studs are faster, more talented, more fearless and with a speciail amount of ignorance that is actually beneficial to their cause, but also because when the known quantities do decide to tee it up -- the Scottie Schefflers of the world -- they are doing so with a purpose. Other notable winners in FedEx Cup Fall PlayerTournamentYear Tom Kim Shriners Children's Open 2023 Collin Morikawa Baycurrent Classic 2023 Camilo Villegas Bermuda Championship 2023 J.T. Poston Shriners Children's Open 2024 Scottie Scheffler Procore Championship 2025 Xander Schauffele Baycurrent Classic 2025 The why differs for each of them, but the fact they have one is what matters. For Scheffler at the Procore Championship, his why was was to prepare for the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. He was joined by his American teammates, and had he not raised the trophy in Napa, well, it would have been Ben Griffin instead. For Morikawa and Schauffele at the Baycurrent Classic, their whys are their ties to the Land of the Rising Sun. They are genuinely excited to be there. They want to play well. They want to win. The tournament is one that is circled on the calendar every year for both of them and their play has shown that. "I've been coming here since I was about 9 years old to visit my grandparents," Schauffele said. "I sort of fell in love with this country a long time ago. I can't wait to bring my son here when he's old enough to sort of understand and appreciate the culture here in Japan. Yeah, the ties run deep for the Schauffele family here in Japan." For others, it could be a title defense or perhaps a return to a golf course that was once part of the regular season and no longer is, but their games fit it so well that they have opted to continue to participate in it. The point is there is a reason behind these players teeing it up during this time of year on the PGA Tour. And unlike their counterparts who are doing so out of necessity, some of these men -- both the stars of today and the stars of tomorrow -- are doing so out of luxury making them even more dangerous than usual.
