Life happens fast for PGA TOUR rookies – and this week is no exception.

The Wyndham Championship marks the final event of the FedExCup Regular Season, after which the top 70 on the season-long FedExCup standings will qualify for the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first leg of the three-event Playoffs. The top 50 after the FedEx St. Jude will advance to the second leg and, crucially, qualify for next season’s Signature Events – which offer elevated FedExCup points and prize money.

Qualifying for Signature Events can change the trajectory of a young pro’s career, and for a chance to move inside the top 50, it’s mandatory to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs.

At No. 42 on the season-long FedExCup standings into the Wyndham Championship, 20-year-old Aldrich Potgieter is pacing the rookie class and will qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs with ease. The South African’s season thus far is highlighted by a playoff victory at the Rocket Classic, four months after finishing runner-up in a playoff to Brian Campbell at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld. Potgieter, who leads the TOUR in driving distance (more than 4 yards clear of Rory McIlroy on average), has quickly proven that he can compete at the highest level.

Potgieter, though, is the only rookie inside the top 70 on the FedExCup standings into the Wyndham. The others will need a signature week at venerable Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, to punch their ticket to the postseason and keep their top-50 hopes alive.

It’s important to note that 2026 Full-Field Event eligibility is not determined this week. The top 100 on the FedExCup Fall standings after The RSM Classic in late November will earn exempt status for all 2026 Full-Field Events, with Nos. 101-125 on the FedExCup Fall standings, retaining conditional status in some capacity.

Here’s a look at five players just outside the top 70 on the FedExCup standings who could qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs with a sterling showing in North Carolina.

1. William Mouw (No. 80)

Needs a solo 11th at minimum for a chance to move inside the top 70

Mouw has charged up the FedExCup standings of late, with a come-from-behind win at the ISCO Championship followed by a T7 at last week’s 3M Open. Prior to the ISCO Championship in early July, Mouw stood a distant No. 153 on the FedExCup standings. Now he has a fighting chance to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs in his rookie season, after earning his TOUR card via the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List. Mouw learned the importance of work ethic from a young age, growing up on his family farm in California and sometimes waking up pre-dawn to tend to farm tasks. He wasn’t fazed by his long-shot prospects before his ISCO victory earlier this month; after early-season struggles (accented by an octuple-bogey 13 at The American Express earlier this year), he vowed to continue working harder with the belief that good results would come. He won’t be fazed now, either.

2. Rasmus Højgaard (No. 82)

Needs a three-way T4 at minimum for a chance to move inside the top 70

The Denmark native finished atop the 2024 DP World Tour Eligibility Ranking to earn his first PGA TOUR card for 2025 and join his twin brother Nicolai in America, and Rasmus has acquitted himself reasonably in his rookie campaign with 12 made cuts in 17 starts, including five top-25 finishes. His season highlight has been a runner-up finish at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (fittingly alongside his twin brother) that bolstered his attempt to make the FedExCup Playoffs in his first TOUR season. He finished T16 at The Open Championship in his most recent TOUR start, then took a week off before heading to North Carolina for a last-ditch postseason push. (His brother Nicolai enters the week at No. 71 on the FedExCup, just five points outside the all-important top 70.)

3. Karl Vilips (No. 83)

Needs a solo fourth at minimum for a chance to move inside the top 70

Vilips is a longtime fixture in the golf world as one of the first to document his rounds and various golf exploits on YouTube from a young age in Australia, with several modern-day YouTube golfers having followed Vilips’ path in their formative years. After graduating from Stanford in spring 2024, Vilips wasted no time displaying his talents in professional golf. He earned his TOUR card via the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, and he won his third PGA TOUR start as a member at the Puerto Rico Open in February – rebounding from a back injury more quickly than even he could have imagined. He added a T4 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (alongside Michael Thorbjornsen) and a T11 at the Charles Schwab Challenge, but he has hit a summertime lull with five straight missed cuts into the Wyndham – a skid that has dropped him from No. 64 to No. 83 on the FedExCup standings. Now he needs a big-ticket week at the Regular Season finale to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs. The good news? He has proven capable of those big-ticket weeks.

4. Danny Walker (No. 91)

Needs a solo third at minimum for a chance to move inside the top 70

The University of Virginia alum was long known as a Q-School specialist who had trouble translating his game to a full season – before breaking through on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour to earn his first TOUR card via the season-long race. With a career arguably defined by raising his level when playing from the fringes, it was fitting that he entered the limelight at this year’s PLAYERS Championship, finishing T6 at TPC Sawgrass after waking up Thursday morning without a tee time and entering the field as an alternate. Walker, 29, earned 250 FedExCup points for that effort – more than half of his total thus far in 2025, and the crucial reason he has even an outside chance at a Playoffs berth this week. After a steady stretch of four straight top-34 finishes in April and May, he arrives at the Wyndham on a skid of six straight missed cuts that has deflated his FedExCup position from No. 58 to No. 91. He might need some PLAYERS-type form to qualify for the Playoffs this week – but he knows it’s in there.

5. Isaiah Salinda (No. 100)

Needs a two-way T2 at minimum for a chance to move inside the top 70

After breaking out in his sixth professional season to earn his first PGA TOUR card via the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, the fun-loving Salinda asserted himself on the game’s highest level with a third-place finish at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld in just his fourth TOUR start as a member. Although he has continued to show flashes at times (like a T11 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open and an eighth-place finish at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside San Francisco-area native Kevin Velo), he has yet to replicate the success from Mexico. To qualify for the Playoffs as a TOUR rookie, he’ll need something special in North Carolina.

Click here for Rob Bolton’s full Rookie Ranking