Even though he is not competing in this week’s Wyndham Championship, Shane Lowry would not be human if he avoided the occasional glance at the leaderboard. He is not yet mathematically locked into the top 70 that earns a place in the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first of the three season-ending playoff events.
Lowry has not played since The Open at Royal Birkdale and has slipped to 60th in the FedExCup standings. Only an extremely specific and improbable set of results could drop him to 71st or lower – odds likely measured in the tens of thousands to one. By skipping the final regular-season event, however, he will arrive in Memphis needing to climb at least 10 places to reach the BMW Championship and, more importantly, secure entry into next season’s Signature Events.
He is also expected to fall outside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking this week for the first time since early 2024, after reaching a career-high of 10th during the week of the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. The world ranking is not an immediate worry over the coming weeks. Should he miss the second playoff event and remain outside the top 50, though, he will need to finish the year inside that threshold to guarantee a Masters invitation.
With the Amgen Irish Open at Doonbeg and the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth scheduled for early September, Lowry will feel confident of ticking that box regardless of how his PGA Tour season concludes. The last thing he wants is to scramble for late-season starts under the pressure of having to deliver.
The Open marked Lowry’s 18th start of the season and his sixth event in seven weeks. Since finishing runner-up at the Cognizant Classic, he has not recorded a result better than T22 in 13 tournaments. A break and reset was not merely desirable – it was almost certainly necessary. With three weeks between leaving Southport and arriving in Memphis to recharge and rebuild confidence, his decision to skip the Wyndham is understandable. It is, however, a calculated risk that places all his eggs in one basket regarding 2027 Signature Event status.
The PGA Tour is preparing its most radical structural changes yet for 2028, which will make the 2027 season even more significant. Players will not want to be on the outside looking in when the new Championship Series field is finalised. Given Lowry’s skill set and consistent performance over the past seven or eight years, he should have little difficulty securing a place among the 120 or 130 players (the exact number is still to be confirmed). Still, competing in the events that offer the largest prize funds and most FedExCup points remains the surest route, and he may now have to take the harder road.
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