FedEx Cup Playoffs bubble watch: One moves into top 30 for East Lake, one moves out
At some point on Sunday, it looked as if Rickie Fowler, Michael Kim and Harry Hall would all move into the top 30 and advance to the Tour Championship in East Lake in the FedEx Cup Playoffs finale. Akshay Bhatia and Chris Gotterup appeared as if their bubbles would burst but when it was all said and done, only Hall booked his ticket to Atlanta.
Last week, entry into all eight signature events was on the line; this week it was the majors. The top 30 earn a spot in the Masters, U.S. Open and the Open (top 100 in the world for PGA Championship). It also earns two-year Tour exemption, which is nothing to sneeze at with only 100 fully-exempt players starting in 2026.
Who moved into top 30 of FedEx Cup Playoffs?
Hall started the week at No. 45 and did just enough to make it to East Lake for the first time in his career. Hall made four birdies and four bogeys on Sunday to shoot even-par 70 and finish sixth at 8-under 272.
Hall survived making bogeys at two of the last three holes and finished No. 26. It didn't hurt that he chipped in for birdie at 17 to give him a cushion.
'I had just bogeyed 16, and I knew I couldn't afford to drop a shot coming in. I hit a beautiful 5-iron, just the way I wanted to, and it just rolled a little bit over the back,' Hall said. 'I've been hitting that chip shot on the practice chipping green all week, like the same spot warming up every day with a 54 into the grain on an upslope. As soon as I saw the lie, I'm like, I've been doing this all week. Yeah, I hit a perfect shot.'
Who moved out of top 30 of FedEx Cup Playoffs?
He started the week as the Bubble Boy at No. 30 but took himself out of the running early with an opening-round 76. He finished T-40 and plummeted to No. 36. It was a solid season for the 45-year-old Glover but not good enough to make his way to the Tour Championship.
Who else just missed out on the FedEx Cup Playoffs finale?
Someone had to be the odd man out at No. 31 and it turned out to be Kim but not for a solid effort. Kim made a birdie at 16 to move inside the top 30 at No. 29. But he bogeyed the difficult par-3 17th to move back to being the Bubble Boy. He was doomed by Viktor Hovland making a 7-foot birdie at the last to vault ahead of him into a share of seventh.
'I looked at the projections right before the 18th hole, and after Viktor hit it really close on 18 I was like, 'Oh, I think I might have to make birdie,'' Kim said.
His 23-foot birdie putt at the last wouldn't go down and he settled for an even-par 70 and 10th place finish. Kim, who had never finished better than No. 79, played with an attitude of gratitude but he left unsatisfied with the result.
Later, he showed he had a sense of humor about it all, tweeting, 'Viktor and I used to be friends.'
Fowler made a valiant effort to go from barely making the playoffs at No. 64 all the way to East Lake but couldn't close the deal. He started the week at No. 48 after finishing T-6 at Memphis last week and had jumped to No. 26 with five birdies in his first 10 holes. He gave a stroke back with a bogey at 12 but answered at 13 with a birdie. It turned out to be his final circle on the card.
'I knew what I needed to do. Really just made a poor swing. I just needed to give myself a little bit more time and get fully committed to what I was trying to do,' he said of his 8-iron approach at 14 that hung out to the right. He made bogey. But then he made a bigger mess on 15, airmailing the green with his approach from the fairway, duffing his chip and making a double bogey that dropped him to No. 33 and sealed his fate. He finished No. 32.
'I thought I was going to put one in there and have a good look at birdie and walk away with double was kind of a kick in the you-know-what there,' he said.
Who survived and advanced to the FedEx Cup Playoffs finale?
Im started the week at No. 27 in the season-long standings but shot 77 on Saturday to put himself in danger of missing out on East Lake for the first time in his career. But he took care of business, shooting a final-round 67, 10 strokes better than the day before.
'I've been in the top 30 for the last six years and this is the seventh year and I'm on the bubble, and I really want to get top 30 again to get into next week, to keep my seven years going,' he said.
Im finished T-40 and when asked how he would spend the next several hours as the drama played out, he said, 'I'll be on my phone for the next couple of hours stressing out about the different scenarios coming up.'
In the end, Im, who lives in Atlanta while in the U.S., will have a home game of sorts as he survived at No. 28.
He started the week at No. 26 but shot 6-over 286 and finished T-37 after a final-round 2-under 68. Gotterup birdied 15 but took three putts at 17. He was No. 30 when he signed his scorecard.
'I knew I needed to play well. My goal today was to catch Sungjae on points, and I don't think I quite did that. I definitely have had a disappointing last two weeks with how I felt like I was coming into the weeks, but I grinded it out. I finished today 2-under and then last week I finished with a couple under, 4-under or whatever. I was grabbing whatever points I could at the end. I played good today with not my best stuff,' he said.
Gotterup had some extra motivation to make birdies this week. He had a bet with his buddy Danny that he had to do 10 push-ups for every birdie he made. 'I was going to give him $100 for every birdie I made. I only got three or four today, but I would have happily made him do 90 push-ups if I could. I tried my best, but not many birdies out here this week, for me at least,' Gotterup said.
After he finished, he drove to his parents' house in Annapolis, Maryland, and said he would try to avoid tracking the live scoring.
'Hopefully by the time I get there I'll know,' he said. 'It is what it is. Luckily I'm not far from home if I have to go home. But I hope I don't.'
Gotterup survived at No. 29.
'I want to give myself another chance to play well and climb the Ryder Cup rankings and all that stuff,' he said
Bhatia endured a full range of emotions on Sunday. He was bogey-free through 11 holes but then dropped shots at three consecutive holes. With no cushion anymore, he was still on the right side of the cutline when he arrived at the par-3 17th, where he had made a hole-in-one and won a BMW that he said he would be giving to his sister. But he took three putts from 75 feet on Sunday, missing a 7-footer for par. He signed for 2-over 72 and fell to No. 32 when he was done.
'I just feel like maybe I didn't do a great job. I think we could have done a better job with the mindset of just trying to play golf and not trying to protect. It felt like that in a way,' he said. 'You know, that's part of the learning experience.'
He had every reason to be deflated but it turned out he wasn't down and out. Fowler and Kim struggled coming home and Bhatia survived as the Bubble Boy at No. 30. On to East Lake after all.
Top 30 for 2025 Tour Championship
The 20 golfers who came up short of East Lake
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