PGA Tour players currently in and out of events designed for the coming year

For PGA Tour players, being in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup standings now means more than just a spot on the BMW Championship course.

The board recently ratified a new approach to the 2024 schedule that will see reduced courses at new designated events, as well as the removal of the 36-hole cutoff. Fields at designated events will contain between 70 and 78 players and will be largely made up of the top 50 players who qualified for the BMW Championship during last season’s FedEx Cup playoffs, adding some additional intrigue to the season-long race that was desperately needed.

While it may seem like it’s too early in the season to follow the top 50 movement, the Players Championship was the 20th^he tournament on the 2022-23 PGA Tour schedule, as well as the fifth designated event. With the main season just around the corner, here’s a look at some players currently in and out of next year’s designated events.

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Take a look at the last 10 and top 10 as they stand after the 2023 Players Championship, where numbers 40 and 60 are separated by just 101 points.

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Tyrrell Hatton was the big driver of the day on Sunday after an impressive 7-under 65 at TPC Sawgrass to finish solo second at 12-under and claim $2,725,000. Not only that, he moved up 43 spots on the FedEx Cup points list to rank 26th.

Hideki Matsuyama moved up 30 places to No. 60 after his fifth-place finish at the Tour’s flagship event.

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Notables within the top 50

The usual suspects this season of Jon Rahm, Max Homa and Players champion Scottie Scheffler are all No. 1-3 in the standings, with Keegan Bradley in fourth and Seamus Power in fifth.

Taylor Montgomery, in his first full season on the PGA Tour, currently ranks 17th thanks to eight top-25 finishes (four top-10 finishes) in his 14 events so far this season.

Jason Day (20) and Rickie Fowler (22) are inside the top 25, while fan favorites Xander Schauffele (40) and Joel Dahmen (43) are just inside the line.

Robby Shelton finished 167th last season after missing 21 cuts in 32 tournament starts, but currently sits 48th.

Notables outside the top 50

Around 100 points separate the numbers 50 to 72.

David Lingmerth moved up 14 spots to No. 52 after his T-6 performance on the Players, while Maverick McNealy (51) and KH Lee (54) played their way out.

Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are numbers 65 and 66, respectively, but each has yet to play more than seven events this season.

Other notable players currently outside the top 50 (rank in brackets):

• Sam Burns (68)

• Cameron Young (79)

• Will Zalatoris (85)

• Matt Fitzpatrick (92)

• Shane Lowry (96)

• Tommy Fleetwood (97)

• Billy Horschel (115)

As stated before, it’s still relatively early in the season, but certainly not as early as you might think. There’s still plenty of time for players to make their moves on the ranks, and we’ll be here to keep you updated on the Top 50 stories for the rest of the season.

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The story originally appeared on GolfWeek