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Past Results - Choose A Year |
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The first year of the Fed Ex Cup playoffs. Revealed right away were the flaws of the playoff points system, all set up at least some ten months before the playoffs would even begin. Tiger Woods, the #1 player going into the playoffs, won both the Tour Championship and the FedX title in "actual" and "alternative" modes. In 2008, FedX #1 Vijay Singh's playoff success (such as it was!) forced the PGA Tour to "Sing, Sing" goodbye to their very obviously messed up playoff points set-up, although their post-2008 "solution" would quickly prove to be not much better. The "Alternative" mode would reveal the possibility of a much more dramatic 2008 outcome, with the potential of up to -FOUR- players competing in a sudden-death playoff for both Tour Championship and FedEX titles. As it would actually play out, FedEx #2 Camilo Villegas would defeat #3 Sergio Garcia in a sudden-death playoff for the Tour Championship title. This provided at least some drama to offset the dullness of Singh's runaway FedEX title win. In "Actual" Mode, a ho hum intro to the PGA Tour's revised playoff points reset method. Tiger Woods, the number one points leader, won the FedX with ease over # 14 Phil Mickelson, who had to settle for winning just the Tour Championship title. The "Alternative" mode saw a dramatic turn-around as the customized points adjustment allowed Tour Championship winner Mickelson to overtake Tiger Woods and win the "Alt" Fed Ex Cup Title. Pre-Tour Championship FedX leaders #1 Matt Kuchar and #2 Dustin Johnson wound up near the bottom of the tournament's final standings, allowing Jim Furyk to claim both titles (actual and alternative). #1 FedX leader Webb Simpson was hardly heard from after the opening round. Rising up from the lowest pre-tournament FedX position yet in playoff history, #25 Bill Haas claimed both titles in a sudden-death playoff, one that featured a brilliant off-the-green save. In both "actual" and "alternative" modes, #5 FedX leader Brandt Snedeker claimed the FedX and Tour Championship titles. The "alternative" mode offered the most interesting, and certainly most exciting potential scenario yet, where there could have been a first-place FedX standings tie between #1 Rory McIlroy and #30 Scott Piercy. Had that happened, the two would have gone to a three-hole aggregate playoff for the FedX title. "Ho Hum" year as #2 FedX leader Henrik Stenson takes home all the booty. #30 FedX leader Dustin Johnson did not play in the Tour Championship. Unfortunately for #31 Stuart Appleby, the "actual" rules did not allow replacements for vacancies among the Top 30. #2 FedX leader Billy Horschel won both titles. |
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Once again, the PGA Tour's "no replacements" rule strikes, leaving #31 Daniel Summerhays out of the "X Chase" after the pre-tournament injury withdrawal of #16 Jim Furyk. Summerhays had 1,501 pts, while #30 Harris English had 1,503. Pre-tournament FedX #1 Jason Day would have only one round in the 60's, finishing the tournament tied 10th and seven strokes behind the pre-tournament FedX # 2 leader Jordan Spieth, who won both titles and claimed all the booty. Pre-tournament FedX #6 Rory McIlroy defeats #14 Ryan Moore and #15 Kevin Chappell in a sudden-death playoff to claim Tour Championship and FedX titles in both "actual" and "Alternative" modes, while the pre-tournament FedX #1 Dustin Johnson finishes seven shots out of the playoff. A Moore or Chappell Tour Championship win would have given the FedX title to Dustin Johnson in "actual" mode, while in the "alternative" reality either Moore or Chappell could have claimed both the Tour Championship and FedX titles. Pre-tournament FedX #26 Xander Schauffele claimed all the booty in "alternative" mode, besting out the "actual" "X Chase" champ, Justin Thomas. By one spot (#26 vs Bill Haas'#25 in 2011), Schauffele became the lowest-ever pre-tournament seed to win it all, albeit only in the "alternative" mode. Tiger Woods' return to the tournament victory circle after a five-year drought would prove to be greater in "alternative" mode, where he topped the "actual" mode FedX champion Justin Rose for all the booty. For 2019 and after, the PGA Tour has relegated the Tour Championship to that of title-only, removing its longtime status as a mini-season championship unto itself, which was very a nice consolation prize in case the FedX title had been decided by other means. The status change of the tournament removes any and all secondary dramas. Now, only the chase for the Fed Ex Cup title itself is all that counts. The new reset format calls for the pre-tournament Top 30 FedX leaders to receive reset scores instead of reset points. This has the potential of negatively handicapping many players and quite possibly cheapening the final outcome of the FedX title chase. Pre-tournament FedX #5 Rory McIlroy would do new format supporters and naysayers alike a huge favor by decisively winning the tournament and the FedX title in both "actual" and "alternative" modes. Both the "actual" scores reset and "alternative" non-scores reset tournament and shown. Also, the web-page author expresses an opinion about the new reset scores format. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an event-shortened 2019-20 season. Otherwise, the tournament format for 2020 remained the same as it was in 2019. Naysayers of the Reset Score Format would now have something to gripe about. Pre-tournament #1 Dustin Johnson would win all the booty with a total score of -21 (reset -10 plus tournament -11). #14 Xander Schauffle finished tied for 2nd with a total score of -18 (reset -3 plus tournament -15). In "actual" mode, Patrick Cantlay (21-under, 269/-11 plus -10 reset) capped off his 2020-21 season by winning the Tour Championship, one stroke over Jon Rahm (20-under, 266/-14 plus -6 reset) and, with the victory, secured the 2020-21 Fed Ex Cup title. Kevin Na (16-under, 266/-14 plus -2 reset) finished in solo 3rd place. In "alternative" mode, with the reset score format replaced by a customized points distribution, Rahm and Na finished tied for first place in the tournament itself. If it had not been for the "actual" way in which the tournament ended, Rahm and Na would have advanced to a sudden-death playoff to decide both of the "alternative" Tour Championship and Fed Ex Cup titles. Rory McIlroy, # 7 in the pre-tournament standings, shot 17-under-par within the tournament itself. Adding his pre-tournament -4 reset score allowed McIlroy to edge to Sungae Im (# 10 pre-tournament, -4 reset, -16 in-tournament) by one stroke. Scottie Scheffler (# 1 pre-tournament, -10 reset, -10 in-tournament) tied Im for 2nd place. Those were the "actual" results. In "Alternative" mode,Rory McIlroy finished 1st for both the tournament and the Cup. Sungae Im was solo 2nd for both tournament and Cup. Scottie Sheffler finished tied 13th in the tournament and solo 3rd for the Cup. Will Zalatoris, who in actual fact had withdrawn from the Tour Championship because of injury, would fair much better financially in "Alternative" mode. Patrick Cantlay, who did play in the tournament, would also enjoy greater financial success in the "Alternative" mode. Future years (if they are added) will show only the 30-or-so Tour Championship entrants, the alternative points scale that would have been used for the particular year, and the alternative winning scenarios for the entire field. No additional information or commentary will be given. Alternative Scenarios for ... 2023 2024 |
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