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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 up to -FOUR- players competing in a sudden-death playoff for both Tour Championship and FedX titles. As it actually was #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 counteract Singh's runaway FedX title win. 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. Pre-Tour Championship FedX leaders #1 Matt Kuchar and #2 Dustin Johnson wound 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 do 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 leaves #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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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). |