This week, the penultimate event in the PGA Tour playoffs will be decided in Missouri, where the field of 50 players will be cut to 30 for next week's Tour Championship.
Ludvig Åberg (10th in the FedEx Cup standings) has already secured his place in the final, while Alex Norén (34th) needs to finish no lower than 17th to have any chance of climbing into the top 30.
First time?
Norén has never managed to make it to the Tour Championship at East Lake outside Atlanta, Georgia. If he does it now, it will be the first time Sweden has had two players in the Tour Championship in the same year.
But for Norén, much has already been achieved with last week's tied third place in Memphis, which definitely secured a place among the top 50 in the season standings.
Men's golf is facing major changes after next season, when the PGA Tour is split into two levels/divisions - Championship Series and Challenger Series. For players, it's a matter of positioning themselves, and Norén has already given himself a good foundation for the overhaul.
Getting into the top 50 is very, very important. You can change the whole autumn how you think about competitions and also that I am in all the "signature events" next year. It is incredibly important for the whole game, the 44-year-old Stockholmer told HBO Max.
Match play is introduced
Full details of the future PGA Tour have yet to be announced, but the current playoff format will soon be scrapped. When the plans were unveiled in June, the tour hinted that match play would be part of the season finale in some form.
The Championship Series will consist of a total of 23-24 events, including The Players Championship and the four majors. Each event will have a total prize pool of at least $20 million.
There should be a system for promotion and relegation between the two levels after each season.
+ 50 players remain for this week's competition at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri. Ludvig Åberg begins his first round at 4:47 p.m. on Thursday (Swedish time) while Alex Norén begins play at 6:51 p.m.
+ World number one Scottie Scheffler, USA, leads the overall ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick, England.
+ Another Englishman, Tommy Fleetwood, is the reigning champion.
+ Previously, a total of four Swedish players have reached the Tour Championship since the FedEx Cup was introduced in 2007. Ludvig Åberg (2024, 2025), Henrik Stenson (2013, 2015) and Calle Pettersson (2008, 2012) have all participated twice while Fredrik Jacobson made his only appearance in 2011.
+ Henrik Stenson made history when he won the FedEx Cup in 2013 and also took overall victory on the European Tour that same year.
