Fight for FedEx Cup tees off in Memphis

MEMPHIS — Jon Rahm has the golf game for any occasion, most notably the PGA Tour’s postseason. He just doesn’t have history on his side.

Rahm is the No. 1 seed going into the FedEx Cup playoffs, courtesy of four wins this season, including the Masters for the second major championship of his career, along with a runner-up finish in the British Open last month. But only once in the last 13 years has the top seed at the start of the PGA Tour’s postseason gone on to capture the FedEx Cup.

The exception falls to Jordan Spieth, and that surprised him.

“Because usually if you’re the No. 1 seed, you’ve won at least a couple of times,” Spieth said as he began his Wednesday afternoon pro-am at rainsoaked TPC Southwind.

One good week should be enough to get it done, provided that one week is the last one.

In 2015, Spieth was three strokes away from a shot at the calendar Grand Slam. He then entered the playoffs with an enormous lead in the standings, missed the cut in two events, but made up for it by winning the season-ending Tour Championship.

Circumstances are far different going into the FedEx St. Jude Championship, which starts Thursday at TPC Southwind as the first of three postseason events. There are no cuts this year. The field for the opening event has been reduced from 125 players to 70, with only the top 50 (down from 70) reaching the BMW Championship next week near Chicago. As usual, the top 30 after that go to Atlanta for the Tour Championship.

And while Rahm may be No. 1 in FedEx Cup points, the 28-year-old Spaniard has company. One spot behind him is Scottie Scheffler, who has two wins and has finished in the top 10 at all but four of his 17 tournaments this PGA Tour season, with his worst showing is a tie for 23rd at the British Open. That’s why he’s No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Also right there is Rory McIlroy, No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings and No. 2 in the world (Rahm is No. 3). For all the focus on McIlroy going a ninth straight year without winning a major since earning the fourth such title of his career, he has two wins this season and hasn’t finished out of the top 10 in three months.

It starts to unfold Thursday on a course that for has been getting soaked since Monday.*