What to watch at 2024 FedEx Cup Playoffs: Scottie Scheffler could streak, Rory McIlroy's consolation prize?

The 2024 regular season has ended on the PGA Tour, which means the FedEx Cup Playoffs are back on deck. This year's version is full of interesting storylines headlined by whether Scottie Scheffler, who has put together the best PGA Tour season since Tiger Woods won six times in 2009, can snag his first FedEx Cup title to go with six PGA Tour victories -- two at majors, four at signature events -- and an Olympic gold medal.

Everything may revolve around Scheffler, but there are plenty of others looking to make significant moves starting this week at the 2024 St. Jude Championship in Memphis. Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa will all be in the spotlight, as will some players -- like Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland -- on the cusp of moving the other direction and missing the final round of the playoffs.

Here are five intriguing storylines to follow as the FedEx Cup Playoffs begin to unfold.

1. Will anyone catch Scheffler early? If the No. 1 player in the world starts the Tour Championship at 10 under with everyone else trailing him, that's probably a wrap. We're talking about someone in Scheffler who has lost to 91 golfers across 17 events since Jan. 1. Scheffler holds nearly a 2,000-point lead on Schauffele, who sits second, and a 3,500-point lead on everyone else. Playoff events are worth 2,000 points for first place. So unless Scheffler finishes nearly last, it's going to be difficult for anyone but Schauffele to catch him.

Let's say, for example, Morikawa wins the first two events and runs his total up to 6,456. Scheffler could still easily surpass him by finishing T8 and T10 in the first two events. Given how well Scheffler has played and how unlikely it is that anyone would win both of the first two events, any scenario in which he is caught by someone other than Schauffele seems unlikely. 

2. What's at stake for Xander? Speaking of Schauffele, not only is he the only golfer who has a realistic chance of catching Scheffler, he's also the only one who can even challenge him for PGA Tour Player of the Year. Right now, Schauffele's case is decent but not great. He brings two major championship wins up against Scheffler's Masters green jacket, Players trophy, four signature-event titles and Olympic gold medal. 

Still, it's not inconceivable that Schauffele wins, say, the St. Jude Championship and then goes on to win the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup. In that scenario, I would probably still lean toward Scheffler as Player of the Year, but it becomes a more realistic conversation that somebody else whose last name begins with "Sch" wins the award.

3. Four for Rory: One of the quieter stories of these playoffs is that McIlroy has an opportunity to win his fourth FedEx Cup title. No one else has won more than two (Woods) with there being 12 one-time winners. None of that would make up for McIlroy once again failing to win a major championship -- especially with the way he let the U.S. Open at Pinehurst slip away -- but another end-of-year title and $25 million in the bank wouldn't be the worst consolation prizes.

McIlroy stacks these titles. Not only does he have three on the PGA Tour, he also has five Race to Dubai victories, which is the European Tour's version of a yearlong race. If and when he wins another major, it will be a magnifying glass on all these season-long titles, which are a terrific marker of his absurd consistency at the highest level of the game. 

4. Last year's champion to miss cut? Hovland is currently ranked No. 57 in the FedEx Cup standings, which means -- as of right now -- he would not move on to the second round of the playoffs, the BMW Championship (the top 50 advance). That's unusual for such a recent past champion, but Hovland has not been playing at the same level he was a year ago -- and he really has not been all that close for most of the season. Hovland's third-place finish at the PGA Championship was a thrill, but he does not have a top 10 anywhere since then.

He's is not the only notable name in trouble, either: Adam Scott (46th), Will Zalatoris (49th), Justin Rose (55th), Viktor Hovland (57th), Jordan Spieth (63rd), Nick Dunlap (67th). All of these players need good (in some cases, great) weeks at the St. Jude Championship to make it to the BMW Championship. Dunlap is the most curious case as he's one of just a handful of players who have won multiple times this year (Scheffler, Schauffele, McIlroy and Bob MacIntyre are the others).

However, Dunlap was still an amateur when he won the American Express back in January and did not receive FedEx Cup points for that win. So, he needs a huge week in Memphis to make it to the BMW and, more importantly for him, get inside the top 50, which guarantees golfers entry into the PGA Tour's signature evens in 2025.

5. When will Morikawa and Åberg win? Since Jan. 1, no golfers have gained more strokes worldwide than Morikawa and Åberg without winning. Morikawa, who has won two majors and six PGA Tour events as a professional, is actually having the best statistical season of his career despite the wins not falling.

Both Morikawa and Åberg are among the top 10 in the season-long points race, but what they want -- what all players at that level want -- is to hold some trophies in these playoffs. Whether they can cash in their tremendous play for a win at the St. Jude, BMW or even the Tour Championship certainly remains to be seen. But they would be tremendous cappers following seasons that have gone on long enough for them without any hardware.