Getty A tee marker as seen during a practice round prior to the World Golf Championship-FedEx St Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind on July 24, 2019 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Rory McIlroy had a disastrous first day at last week’s British Open right near his hometown in Northern Ireland. Ever since his 8-over-par implosion last Thursday, he’s shot 16-under-par over the last four rounds.
This includes a sizzling 8-under 62 at Saturday’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational third round. He notched nine birdies and just one bogey at TPC Southwind in Memphis, including a successful 27-foot birdie putt on 18 to take the outright lead.
McIlroy leads by one stroke over Brooks Koepka entering the final round. He now has a great chance at tallying his third PGA Tour victory of the 2019 season. This also means a potential $1.745 million prize, according to Golf News Net. This is based on a $10.25 million purse.
This would add onto McIlroy’s career earnings of $68,046,841 per Yahoo Sports. A little under $48 million of that has come on the PGA Tour.
A win would also vault him into the top-10 on the all-time PGA Tour Money List. He currently sits at No. 11 just behind Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia. With Els not participating this weekend and Garcia back in a tie for 41st at the moment, McIlroy’s potential first-place prize would be more than enough to jump to No. 9 overall.
This is how the entire field pays out:
- 1. $1,745,000
- 2. $1,095,000
- 3. $602,000
- 4. $455,000
- 5. $384,000
- 6. $314,000
- 7. $273,000
- 8. $242,000
- 9. $216,000
- 10. $194,000
- 11. $183,000
- 12. $172,000
- 13. $161,000
- 14. $151,000
- 15. $143,000
- 16. $138,000
- 17. $133,000
- 18. $128,000
- 19. $123,000
- 20. $118,000
- 21. $115,000
- 22. $112,000
- 23. $109,000
- 24. $106,000
- 25. $103,000
- 26. $100,000
- 27. $97,000
- 28. $95,000
- 29. $93,000
- 30. $91,000
- 31. $89,000
- 32. $87,000
- 33. $85,000
- 34. $83,000
- 35. $81,000
- 36. $79,000
- 37. $78,000
- 38. $77,000
- 39. $76,000
- 40. $75,000
- 41. $74,000
- 42. $73,000
- 43. $72,000
- 44. $71,000
- 45. $70,000
- 46. $69,000
- 47. $68,000
- 48. $67,000
- 49. $66,000
- 50. $65,000
- 51. $64,000
- 52. $63,000
- 53. $62,000
- 54. $61,000
- 55. $60,000
- 56. $59,000
- 57. $58,000
- 58. $57,000
- 59. $56,000
- 60. $55,000
- 61. $54,000
- 62. $53,000
- 63. $52,000
How the FedEx Playoffs Work for 2019
This tournament will go a long way towards determining how the rankings will shake out at the FedEx Playoffs starting on Aug. 8 at The Northern Trust. At the moment, Koepka sits in first place, Matt Kuchar in second and McIlroy in third.
If McIlroy holds onto the lead Sunday, he is projected as the No. 1 seed. While the top-125 in the rankings qualify, what advantages do the higher seeds get? Per Golf Channel:
The Tour also announced the addition of a regular-season bonus pool called the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. The $10 million bonus pool will be based on regular-season performance, with the No. 1 player on the points list after the Wyndham Championship, the final regular-season event, earning $2 million.
After The Northern Trust, the player list whittles down to 70. After the following week’s BMW Championship, that list goes down to 30. The points-leaders over the first two rounds earns handicaps for The Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
The No. 1 player on the post-season points list will begin the finale at 10 under par. The next four players will start at 8 under through 5 under, respectively, while Nos. 6-10 will begin the tournament at 4 under par with the total regressing by one stroke every five players with those ranked 26th through 30th starting at even par. The winner at East Lake will also claim the FedExCup.
The FedEx champion will receive a bonus of $15 million. When McIlroy won the playoffs in 2016, he earned a prize of $10 million.