Top 100 watch: Stakes rise as PGA Tour returns to Los Cabos

NOTE: For every tournament until the conclusion of the FedExCup Fall, Rob is focusing on four PGA Tour members who are committed to the next one, outside the top 100 of the FedExCup standings and not yet fully exempt for the 2027 season. None appear in his Power Rankings or Sleepers for the same tournament.

Emiliano Grillo

• Age: 34
• FedExCup rank: 117
• Seasons on the PGA Tour: 11
• Odds to win the World Wide Technology Championship: +9800

This is uncharted territory for the veteran of 294 starts on the PGA Tour. He qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs in each of his first 10 seasons. Now he needs a solo fifth at the World Wide Technology Championship just to have a chance to climb into the top 100 in points for full Tour status with the finish line on the horizon. In the first five stops of the FedExCup Fall, seven golfers rose from outside to inside the bubble, with at least one in every tournament, so there’s been some action that can be encouraging for guys as it keeps others honest. Notwithstanding a pair of victories, one of the big reasons why he’s been able to sustain his position among fully exempt members throughout his career is a hot putter. For the large part, his ball-striking has been the foundation that allows for an unexpectedly dazzling game on the greens, but it’s been muted to the tune of two top 10s among just four top 25s this year. Both match career lows.

Marco Penge

• Age: 28
• FedExCup rank: 113
• Seasons on the PGA Tour: One
• Odds to win the World Wide Technology Championship: +4300

The first half of his rookie season included more than its share of challenges. From the time his newborn child required intensive care to an unplanned three-week break during the spring to try to recover fully from ongoing complications related to a viral infection from which he suffered last fall, the customary headwinds of learning courses on the Tour, where to stay and eat and all other components of the onboarding didn’t match in personal relevance. However, it can be a long year in a good way. After missing out on the FedExCup Playoffs, the Brit found some traction with a pair of starts on the DP World Tour that was his pathway to the PGA Tour after an epic 2025. That momentum has fed directly into a 3-for-3 slate in the fall that opened with a T10 at the Biltmore Championship Asheville in September. Perhaps he’ll be extended some playing time via a medical extension in 2027, but his surge bodes well for a promising final stretch that would eliminate the need.

Rico Hoey

• Age: 31
• FedExCup rank: 112
• Seasons on the PGA Tour: Three
• Odds to win the World Wide Technology Championship: +6400

There’s still time, of course, but it’s fair to wonder when he’s going to rekindle the magic this fall. He finished the regular season at 113th in the FedExCup, so treading water isn’t an exit strategy from conditional status (Nos. 101-125) in 2027. It’s a departure from the formula of his first two seasons when he was just outside the top 100 entering the FedExCup Fall and then ripped off a series of potent performances. In 2024 and 2025 combined, he went 13-for-14 with a pair of podium finishes among five top 10s and 10 top 25s in the FedExCup Fall. This year, his only top-35 finish among three paydays in four starts post-Playoffs was a T10 at the Bank of Utah Championship. Still a terrific ball-striker but not as strong as last year’s output, and it shows, but with a pair of cuts made in as many starts at El Cardonal at Diamante, expectations are for another.

Justin Lower

• Age: 37
• FedExCup rank: 159
• Seasons on the PGA Tour: Five
• Odds to win the World Wide Technology Championship: +14000

With only one top 25 on the season, the face of his climb steepens every week, but he’s 3-for-4 in the FedExCup Fall with a T21 at the Bank of Utah Championship a month ago. He placed T3 at Black Desert Resort last year, so it can’t be ruled out that course knowledge and success mattered. Given what’s at stake this week, he wouldn’t mind turning back the clock yet again. A fixture at El Cardonal at Diamante since the tournament moved there in 2023, he’s cashed every time with a T23, T2 and T31, respectively. Only a win would eliminate his deficit outside the top 100 in the FedExCup, but taking a sizable bite out of his targets for the trio of conditional status categories currently above him would be lucrative both now and in the future.

Odds were sourced at DraftKings.

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