Jordan Spieth lost his shot at the $10 million FedEx Cup prize pot and left his Ryder Cup dream hanging by a thread.
The former world No. 1 shot two under in his final round at the St. Jude Championship after finding the water on the 18th at TPC Southwind to drop out of the top 50.
After failing to qualify for the BMW Championship, he now faces an uphill battle to earn a spot on Keegan Bradley’s Team USA for next month’s trans-Atlantic showdown.
It is a decade since Spieth won the 2015 FedEx Cup and he had joked ahead of the Memphis tournament that he hoped Bradley would drop himself from the 12-man team to open up a spot.
“I was coming in with almost no carryover points from [2024], which hurts and is unusual for me for a Ryder Cup year, and then obviously skipping the first month of the season I thought, ‘Boy, this would be the end goal,'” he told Sirius PGA TOUR Radio.
“And the idea that I have a chance for it is very cool. If you told me I have a chance for it in August, I’d be excited about it.”
Spieth, who won three Majors between 2015 and 2017 before enduring a slump, admitted that his odds weren’t good.
“Having said that, I’m certainly on the outside looking in right now, and I recognize that,” he added.
“I keep trying to convince Keegan that it’d be a lot for him to have to play, too. So he probably should give up that pick, even if he’s a top 10 player and a top seven player in the world.
“Just seems like way too much to have to do. So, I’m trying to open up all the opportunities I can, but I can also go take care of business myself.”
Spieth misread a crucial birdie putt early in his round and struggled with the wind before ending up in the drink on the final hole.
The 32-year-old knew that Memphis was his last real shot to make a leap into Bradley’s plans at Bethpage Black.
“I know I’m on the outside looking in, the only way I can change that is just by focusing on setting a goal for [Memphis], stay on the first tee and hit my line,” he remarked.
“It’s a shot at a time, it’s a round at a time. I’m still relying on the captains and the assistants on thinking I’d be an additive addition to the team, so that’s my goal.”
Rickie Fowler qualifies for BMW Championship
As Spieth fell, Rickie Fowler made a huge leap from 64th to 48th after finishing 10-under for the tournament.
He will now be in the field at the Caves Valley Golf Club on August 14.
“It feels good,” said the world No. 104. “Being that I got a handful of spots this year, which I’m incredibly grateful for, unfortunately I really didn’t take advantage of many of those opportunities up until Jack’s event [the Memorial Tournament]. Didn’t play that well in any of them.
“But it was great to have a tee time in them this year and didn’t really want to bank on that for next year. Yeah, nice to be in a position where we’ll be able to be back in those and not have to write notes and calls and ask for favors.”
The story of the weekend was Bud Cauley, whose career was nearly ended in an automobile accident seven years ago.
He began 2025 on a medical extension and fought his way up to 46th on the FedEx Cup points list in Memphis to ensure he will be present at the biggest events in 2026.
“I was thinking about it this morning before I played, like how I felt today is kind of how I felt starting the year, trying to fulfill my medical and get in all these events,” said the world No. 63.
“It was stressful today, but yeah, I’m happy to be in all those [signature] events.”