Momentum is fickle, and in the game of golf, a little can change a lot. A single swing can tilt the entire narrative of a season, and for Keith Mitchell, that reality came crashing down late Friday at the 3M Open.

Mitchell began the week at No. 70 in the FedExCup standings, squarely on the bubble for gaining entry into the FedEx St. Jude Championship come the end of the PGA TOUR Regular Season. A promising 68 in the first round of the 3M Open put him in position to do just that, and he began Friday in a similar fashion until a brutal closing stretch derailed things for the 33-year-old veteran TOUR pro. A triple-bogey 7 on his third-to-last hole, followed by a closing bogey, dropped him back to even par on his day, leaving him 3-under for the tournament and just shy of the projected cutline for the weekend.

For Mitchell, the sting is familiar. He came short of qualifying for the FedExCup Playoffs last year, but a runner-up and T7 this season, along with just three missed cuts, have anchored a largely consistent 2025 that has seen the one-time TOUR winner steadily rise through the ranks. That progress now risks being overshadowed, his postseason prospects hinging on one final chance at next week’s Wyndham Championship to salvage months of work and punch his ticket to Memphis.

Mitchell isn’t the only player feeling the squeeze. 2022 3M Open champion Tony Finau, who hopes to earn a spot in the BMW Championship and secure his place in next year’s Signature Events, gave himself an uphill battle for the coming weeks with a Friday 77 to finish well outside the cutline. The finish marks Finau’s first missed cut since the Masters in April and only the fifth of the season. Other notables to miss the cut include world No. 18 Maverick McNealy, the highest-ranked player in the field, and Sahith Theegala, who has been working through a lingering neck injury that put him out for two months earlier in the season.

PGA TOUR rookie Karl Vilips, who broke through with a win at the Puerto Rico Open earlier this year, found himself unable to summon momentum in his tournament debut in Minnesota. Rounds of 70-71 left him well outside the weekend and well outside the top-70 threshold. The promising start to his rookie campaign now threatens to devolve into a sobering reminder of just how unforgiving this level can be.

“It’s a grind," Vilips said ahead of his start in Minnesota. "You need to show up and play well to get the points at this point. Earlier in the season, you’re just going week-to-week, trying to win and play your best, and now, I’m starting to really feel the pressure … each week matters.”

Byeong Hun An began the week 67th in the FedExCup, needing some magic to replicate his 2024 season and potentially earn a spot in the TOUR Championship for the second consecutive year. He couldn’t find it this week, faltering with rounds of 69-70 to miss out on a weekend tee time. He’ll have to battle to make it to the first leg of the Playoffs, let alone a trip to East Lake. Patrick Rodgers, who began the week at No. 66, bogeyed his final two holes to drop to 4-under for the tournament and one outside the projected cutline.

With time running out, Rodgers, An and Vilips will join the other FedExCup Playoffs hopefuls on the sidelines, left to face the razor-thin margins of one final week to extend their season and keep their FedExCup Playoffs hopes alive.