The 2025 BMW Championship at Caves Valley presents one final opportunity for players to earn a spot in the Tour Championship, the final event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. This after five golfers played their ways into the top 50 last week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship: Rickie Fowler, Kurt Kitayama, Bud Cauley, Jhonattan Vegas and J.T. Poston all moved up with strong performances.
On the flip side, Jordan Spieth, Wyndham Clark, Aldrich Potgieter, Jake Knapp and Min Woo Lee all struggled in Memphis, Tennessee, backing out of the top 50, losing out on guaranteed signature event status for 2026 and ending their seasons. This week, the bubble battle shifts to the top 30.
There are quadruple points available at the BMW Championship once again with the winner taking home 2,000 points. That means someone like Xander Schauffele could bounce himself from all the way down at No. 43 to firmly in the Tour Championship with a high finish.
The points battle isn’t just important for those on the bubble, though. There is another payout coming for the top 30 after this week, with the top five iin the standings each taking home more than $1.4 million. The only person locked into their current position is Scottie Scheffler, who is guaranteed the $5 million payout for being first in points going into the Tour Championship, but everyone else will be fighting to maintain or improve their position entering East Lake Golf Club.
While everyone in the field this week has secured their spots in all the big events for 2026, making it to Atlanta guarantees $550,000 and give players the chance to compete for the $10 million grand prize awarded to the winner of the Tour Championship. That provides plenty of motivation, and these are the players battling on the bubble to extend their season one more week.
Top 30 bubble watch (Tour Championship)
Hideki Matsuyama
1,497
+263
Nick Taylor
1,481
+247
Shane Lowry
1,458
+224
Sam Burns
1,381
+147
Sungjae Im
1,360
+126
Chris Gotterup
1,331
+97
Jacob Bridgeman
1,299
+67
Viktor Hovland
1,297
+65
Akshay Bhatia
1,276
+42
Lucas Glover
1,234
—
Sam Stevens
1,207
-27
Ryan Gerard
1,202
-32
Daniel Berger
1,180
-54
Ryan Fox
1,157
-77
Taylor Pendrith
1,150
-84
Thomas Detry
1,142
-92
Kurt Kitayama
1,122
-112
Denny McCarthy
1,121
-113
Brian Campbell
1,120
-114
Matt Fitzpatrick
1,104
-130
Other notables further down the standings include Schauffele (43rd, 1,099 points), who won two majors just last year, along with Jason Day (44th, 1,093 points) and Rickie Fowler (48th, 1,032 points).
There are only 238 points separating 30th from 50th, and with the top 10 at the BMW Championship each receiving 300 points or more this week, the Tour Championship is in reach for everyone. Last week saw Berger (30th) and Stevens (28th) slip out of the top 30, while Bhatia (45th) and Bridgeman (33rd) climbed inside that number with strong finishes in Memphis.
Those in the top 20 will be largely concerned with jockeying for position on the post-BMW Championship payout sheet, but everyone below that number will have to keep watch of the scoreboard to see what they need to do to punch their ticket to Atlanta next week.