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Not everyone who mattered this season made it to Memphis. When the FedExCup Playoffs open this week, a handful of the sport’s biggest names will be sitting at home instead.

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Brooks Koepka, Billy Horschel and Jason Day all missed the cut for the 2026 postseason after coming up short in the FedExCup standings. A five-time major champion and an 18-year playoff mainstay were among the names left out.

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Like a tradition, the field is built each year from the top 70 in the FedExCup standings.

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The FedEx St. Jude Championship dates back to 1958 as the Memphis Open, with Arnold Palmer fresh off his first Masters in the field for that debut year. Since then, the tournament has seen a fair share of history and eventually added FedEx as title sponsor in 1986. After becoming a favorite on the schedule, it opened the FedExCup Playoffs every year since 2007.

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Here’s a closer look at each.

Brooks Koepka

Brooks Koepka is missing the FedEx St. Jude Championship after finishing outside the top 70 in the standings. He entered the Wyndham Championship at No. 86, and he needed at least a fourth place to advance. But he fell short, and he was listed at 94th.

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His 2026 season was his first one back on the tour after the returning member program in February. He has made just 11 cuts in 16 starts and posted six top-25 finishes. It includes a T-9 at the Cognizant Classic as his best result. As far as majors were concerned, it was rough. He tied for 55th at the PGA Championship, missed the cut at the U.S. Open, and tied for 28th at the Open Championship.

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Before four years on LIV Golf, Koepka qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs every season he played, reaching the Tour Championship four times and finishing third in the final standings in 2018-19, his best result.

Koepka didn’t hide his frustration. “I think it’s pretty pathetic that I can’t get through, zero top 10s, basically, in two years. Just need to go home and completely re-evaluate everything,” he said.

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Despite the results, Brooks Koepka added that his return to the Tour has been positive, rating his overall happiness out of 10 out of 10. Since he spent last season on LIV Golf, this marked his first FedEx Cup campaign back on the Tour.

Billy Horschel

Billy Horschel is also missing the FedEx St. Jude Championship after entering the Wyndham Championship at number 107. He needed a win to force his way in, but a T-12 lifted him only No. 100, short of the top 70.

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His 2026 season has been affected by the hip surgery he underwent in May 2025. It cost him six months and three of the four 2025 majors. In 23 starts this season, he managed just one top-10 finish. Yet he displayed strong ball-striking weeks at the Genesis Scottish Open and the Open Championship, but both ended in missed cuts because of poor putting.

When asked to grade his year, Horschel didn’t soften it.

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“It’s an F. It’s an F. There’s no doubt about it. I could try and make it sound better or find something good, but I’m going to put it as it is right now. It’s an F.”

Horschel won the FedEx Cup outright in 2014 and has made 10 straight playoff appearances from 2013 to 2022. This year will now mark his second missed postseason in as many years after he sat out the playoff season last year due to a hip injury.

Jason Day

Jason Day is missing the FedEx St. Jude Championship after entering the Wyndham Championship at number 75. He needed at least a two-way tie for 12th to climb up to the top 70. He carded rounds of 71 and 73 to miss the cut, ending his streak of 18 consecutive FedExCup playoff appearances.

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A back injury cost Day most of the season. He withdrew after 10 holes of the U.S. Open in June, then returned the following week and finished T-55 at the Travelers Championship. He missed the cut at the Open Championship, then withdrew from both the 3M Open and the Rocket Classic in back-to-back weeks.

Jason Day, as a matter of fact, was honest about it afterwards. “I’m looking forward to taking some time off. My body has been really awful actually this year, so just to try and grind through, it has been rough.”

Last year, Day made the first two playoff events despite a back injury. He finished 41st in the final FedEx Cup standings. But his best season has so far been 2015, when he won back-to-back playoff events and finished third in the FedEx Cup after five wins that season.

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Written by

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Roshni Dhawan

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Roshni Dhawan is a Golf Writer at EssentiallySports, covering the financial and human side of the professional game. Her reporting centers on player earnings and tournament economics, from net-worth profiles of pros such as Sahith Theegala to the prize-money breakdown at the 2026 U.S. Open, alongside explainer features that introduce readers to the tour's lesser-known names, including her profile of Harry Higgs. She also reports on everything that define a tournament week, covering on-course conduct, rules decisions, and the fan and media reaction that follows, with much of her 2026 work centered on the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Roshni's background is in research and brand strategy, which informs the accuracy and structure she brings to her coverage. She works methodically, prioritizing verification and the detail that a strong earnings or profile piece depends on.

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Pulkit Prabhav

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