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The Fed Ex Cup
Alternative Final 30 Scenarios - - - - 2007 to 2022
!! DISCLAIMER !!
These web-pages use publicly obtainable information. No rights infringement intended. No commercial benefits suggested or sought.

Attention: January 16 2023
The Fed Ex Cup Alternative Scenarios series is now permanently closed out, although the
existing commentaries for 2007 thru 2022 scenarios will remain online here. This most
personal decision of the author comes in the wake of several recent changes to both
professional golf and the U.S. PGA Tour. This author personally feels that such changes
will prove to be extremely detrimental to the PGA Tour as well as to all of professional golf.

This author wishes to thank all online readers of these commentaries for their interest, and heartily
encourages all readers to share these pages with fellow golf enthusiasts everywhere.


Introducing The "Alternative" Scenarios And Their Purpose

The primary purpose herein is to point out issues and oversights of the PGA Tour's Fed Ex Cup Playoff System. The author argues that
the practice of employing a fixed set of points (2007 to 2018) or scores (2019 & after), pre-defined months ahead of the actual Tour
Championship event, does not ensure competitive fairness for the Top 30 or so pros who tee it up in the tournament each year.

The author suggests that the best, most fairest alternative solution would be for Tour Championship points to be defined and assigned
at the start of the very week in which the tournament is played. The current year-to-date standings of the 30 or so pros who qualify
for the tournament (IE, relation of #1 to #2, #1 to #3, and so on down to #1 to #30) would play a key role in determining the point
values to be used within the Tour Championship event itself.

Each year (2007 thru 2022), actual and alternative Final 30 scenarios are presented, the alternative ones being based on the customized
points process. The final actual and alternative results of the Tour Championship, as well as the final actual and alternative Top 30 Fed Ex
Cup standings, are shown. In some years there may possibly be more than one final alternative result, and this is presented as well.


Past Results - Choose A Year

• 2007
   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.


• 2008
   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.


• 2009
   A "ho hum" intro to the PGA Tour's revised playoff points reset method. In both "actual" and "alternative"
   modes, #1 Tiger Woods won the FedX with ease, while #14 Phil Mickelson, too far back in the FedX Top 30
   standings to mount a challenge, settled for the Tour Championship title.


• 2010
   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).


• 2011
   #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.


• 2012
   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.


• 2013
   "Ho Hum" year as #2 FedX leader Henrik Stenson takes home all the booty.


• 2014
   #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.



• 2015
   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 tied 10th and seven strokes behind pre-tournament
   FedX #2 Jordan Spieth, who won both titles and claimed all the booty.


• 2016
   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 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 "alternative" mode, either Moore or Chappell could
   have claimed both the Tour Championship and FedX titles.


• 2017
   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 "alternative" mode.


• 2018
   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.


• 2019
   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 rather than 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
   FedX results are shown. Also, the web-page author expresses an opinion about
   the new reset scores format.


• 2020
   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 pitch a major gripe
   about. Pre-tournament #1 Dustin Johnson would win all the booty with a total score of
   -21 (combo of reset -10 and tournament -11). #14 Xander Schauffle finished tied for
   2nd with a total score of -18 (combo of reset -3 and tournament -15).


• 2021
   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 not for the "actual" way in which the tournament ended, there would have been a
   sudden death playoff between Rahm and Na for both the "alternative" Tour Championship
   and Fed Ex Cup titles.


• 2022
   Rory McIlroy, # 7 in the pre-tournament standings, shot 17-under-par within the tournament itself.
   This, in combination with his pre-tournament -4 reset score, enabled McIlroy to edge 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
   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.



The Fed Ex Cup
Alternative Final 30 Scenarios - - - - 2007 to Present
!! DISCLAIMER !!
These web-pages use publicly obtainable information. No rights infringement intended. No commercial benefits suggested or sought.



Attention: January 16 2023
The Fed Ex Cup Alternative Scenarios series is now permanently closed out, although the
existing commentaries for 2007 thru 2022 scenarios will remain online here. This most
personal decision of the author comes in the wake of several recent changes to both
professional golf and the U.S. PGA Tour. This author personally feels that such changes
will prove to be extremely detrimental to the PGA Tour as well as to all of professional golf.

This author wishes to thank all online readers of these commentaries for their interest, and heartily
encourages all readers to share these pages with fellow golf enthusiasts everywhere.