Ranking the 10 biggest surprises in the 2026 Tour Championship field

Ranking the 10 biggest surprises at the 2026 Tour Championship

1. Gary Woodland: The PGA Tour’s best comeback story rolls on as the 2019 U.S. Open champion surged through the opening two weeks of the FedEx Cup playoffs to jump into the top-30 and qualify for the Tour Championship for the first time since 2019 (and the first time since returning from brain surgery in 2023).
2. Alex Fitzpatrick: The younger brother of Matt Fitzpatrick began the 2026 season without PGA Tour status, but Alex parlayed a win at the Zurich Classic in April playing with his brother into a full-time spot in the biggest events and four more top-10 finishes. He’s the frontrunner to be the PGA Tour’s rookie of the year.,
3. Patrick Cantlay: Cantlay wasn’t having a particularly strong 2026 season until recently and entered last week’s BMW Championship in 43rd in the FedEx Cup points standings. But a second-place finish at Bellerive vaulted him into the Tour Championship for the sixth year in a row. He won the event in 2021.
4. Ryan Gerard: The 27-year-old from North Carolina is making his Tour Championship debut after his best season on the PGA Tour, collecting six top-10 finishes. Few predicted before the season that he would play his way to East Lake.
5. Kristoffer Reitan: The 28-year-old Norwegian quickly established himself during his first season on the PGA Tour, winning a signature event (Truist Championship) and contending in several more tournaments. Among the 30 golfers in this week’s Tour Championship field, Reitan might have entered this season with the lowest expectations.
6. Alex Smalley: The 29-year-old Duke product is still looking for his first career PGA Tour win, but put together his best professional season by registering the first five top-10 finishes of his career, including a tie for second at the PGA Championship.
7. Ryan Fox: The 2026 Open Champion was the last golfer to make the Tour Championship field and has just one other top-10 finish since the beginning of March. The 39-year-old will be making his first Tour Championship appearance since turning pro in 2011.
8. Adam Scott: The oldest golfer in the Tour Championship field returns to East Lake after a one-year hiatus and proved at 46 years old he can still compete with the sport’s best. Scott remains one of the PGA Tour’s purest ball-strikers and has shown he can still contend when the putter cooperates.
9. Jacob Bridgeman: Making his second straight Tour Championship appearance, Bridgeman’s emergence as one of the PGA Tour’s breakout stars is what’s most surprising. The 26-year-old earned his first career PGA Tour victory this season and climbed into the top 15 of the FedEx Cup standings thanks in large part to becoming one of the tour’s best putters.
10. Si Woo Kim: Though Kim didn’t win on the PGA Tour this year, he registered 11 top-10 finishes and climbing into the top-five of the FedEx Cup standings for the first time took most experts by surprise. He’s making just his third Tour Championship appearance this year.

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