|
1 .. Pre-2007 Tour Championship Leaders
2007 was the first year of the Fed Ex Cup Playoffs. Going into the season's final event, the Tour Championship, Tiger Woods led the way with 112,733 points, followed by #2 Steve Stricker with 109,600 points. Then came #3 Phil Mickelson with 108,613 points, #4 Rory Sabbatini with 103,588 points, #5 K.J. Choi with 103,100 points, and so on down to Padraig Harrington #30 with 94,841 points. The difference between #1 Woods and #30 Harrington was 17,892 points.
Actual Actual
Rank Player Points Rank Player Points
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Tiger Woods 112,733 16 Justin Rose 97,250
2 Steve Stricker 109,600 17 Woody Austin 97,223
3 Phil Mickelson 108,613 18 Mark Calcavecchia 97,019
4 Rory Sabbatini 103,588 19 Scott Verplank 96,632
5 K.J. Choi 103,100 20 Hunter Mahan 96,516
6 Aaron Baddeley 102,800 21 Brett Wetterich 95,774
7 Adam Scott 100,227 22 Boo Weekley 95,734
8 Jim Furyk 99,838 23 John Rollins 95,710
9 Vijay Singh 99,214 24 Stewart Cink 95,513
10 Sergio Garcia 98,277 25 Jonathan Byrd 95,471
11 Geoff Ogilvy 98,063 26 Robert Allenby 95,450
12 Zach Johnson 97,823 27 Tim Clark 95,425
13 Charles Howell III 97,631 28 Camilo Villegas 95,003
14 Ernie Els 97,575 29 Heath Slocum 94,876
15 Brandt Snedeker 97,507 30 Padraig Harrington 94,841
2 .. Pre-2007 Tour Championship
Actual and Alternative Fed Ex Cup Points The actual points distribution used (a total of 50,000 pts) for the 2007 Tour Championship was as follows ....
1.. 10,300 6.. 2,060 11.. 1,440 16.. 965 21.. 690 26.. 475
2.. 6,200 7.. 1,920 12.. 1,330 17.. 910 22.. 640 27.. 440
3.. 3,900 8.. 1,780 13.. 1,220 18.. 855 23.. 590 28.. 420
4.. 2,800 9.. 1,660 14.. 1,120 19.. 800 24.. 550 29.. 405
5.. 2,300 10.. 1,550 15.. 1,030 20.. 745 25.. 510 30.. 395
With a difference of 17,892 points between #1 Tiger Woods and #30 Padraig Harrington, and with most of the Top 30
trailing Woods by far greater than 10,300 points (the actual 1st place offering), it is clear that the actual Tour Championship distribution, fixed in place since before the beginning of 2007 (at least some ten months before the 2007 FedX playoffs would even start!), was not going to give very many players a fair enough chance to offer Tiger Woods a meaningful competitive challenge for the Fed Ex Cup title. For 2007, an alternative points distribution method, which offers a total of 192,000 pts, calculated, approved and announced on the Monday before play in the Tour Championship begins, is as follows ....
1.. 32,000 6.. 7,680 11.. 4,992 16.. 4,352 21.. 3,776 26 .. 3,456
2.. 17,600 7.. 6,720 12.. 4,864 17.. 4,224 22.. 3,712 27 .. 3,392
3.. 13,440 8.. 5,760 13.. 4,736 18.. 4,096 23.. 3,648 28 .. 3,328
4.. 10,240 9.. 5,440 14.. 4,608 19.. 3,968 24.. 3,584 29 .. 3,264
5.. 8,960 10.. 5,120 15.. 4,480 20.. 3,840 25.. 3,520 30 .. 3,200
With the alternative points distribution in effect, a few of the potential scenarios it creates are as follows ....
»» Players #1 thru #9 ... JUST WIN, BABY !! »» Players #10 thru #20 Combination of winning Tour Championship (32,000 pts) -AND- Tiger Woods finishing no better than a two-way tie for 2nd place (15,520 pts) »» Players #21 thru #30 Combination of winning Tour Championship (32,000 pts) -AND- Tiger Woods finishing no better than a three-way tie for 2nd place (13,760 pts) or solo 3rd place (13,440 pts) -AND- Steve Stricker finishing no better than a two-way tie for 2nd place (15,520 pts)
The customized alternative Tour Championship points makes the 2007 Fed Ex Cup winning scenarios less complex
and easier to understand. Using the alternative points also makes it clear that Tiger Woods and the other leading players can't just sleepwalk through 72 holes. They have to play strong, steady, near flawless golf in order to hold off the entire field of 30, who in turn would surely be inspired to play their best. Now, on to the actual 2007 Tour Championship results, which will include the alternative points distribution and the various potential scenarios which have been created by such points. |
|
3 .. The 2007 Tour Championship ...
Actual results, plus alternative points
Tiger Woods erased all actual/alternative suspense with an easy 8-stroke win. His two closest FedX, pursuers, Steve Stricker and Phil Mickelson, finished well out of contention. This gave the rest of the field a chance to finish high and improve on their final Fed Ex Cup standings. PURSE: $ 7,000,000 1st Prize: $ 1,260,000 No-Cut Field of 30 30 of 30 finishers Player Finish Scores Tournament FX Points -- -- -- Money Actual Alternative --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tiger Woods WINNER 64, 63, 64, 66 = 257 $ 1,260,000 10,300 32,000 Mark Calcavecchia T2 65, 66, 63, 71 = 265 $ 619,500 5,050 15,520 Zach Johnson T2 71, 66, 60, 68 = 265 $ 619,500 5,050 15,520 Sergio Garcia 4 68, 64, 64, 70 = 266 $ 336,000 2,800 10,240 Hunter Mahan T5 65, 68, 65, 71 = 269 $ 266,000 2,180 8,320 Scott Verplank T5 66, 68, 67, 68 = 269 $ 266,000 2,180 8,320 Tim Clark T7 62, 69, 70, 69 = 270 $ 231,000 1,850 6,240 Vijay Singh T7 68, 68, 65, 69 = 270 $ 231,000 1,850 6,240 Rory Sabbatini T9 68, 68, 67, 68 = 271 $ 204,400 1,605 5,280 Camilo Villegas T9 67, 68, 70, 66 = 271 $ 204,400 1,605 5,280 Robert Allenby T11 68, 71, 68, 66 = 273 $ 167,300 1,184 4,672 Jim Furyk T11 71, 69, 67, 66 = 273 $ 167,300 1,184 4,672 Justin Rose T11 69, 71, 66, 67 = 273 $ 167,300 1,184 4,672 Stewart Cink T11 67, 66, 71, 69 = 273 $ 167,300 1,184 4,672 Padraig Harrington T11 63, 70, 67, 73 = 273 $ 167,300 1,184 4,672 Woody Austin T11 65, 65, 69, 74 = 273 $ 167,300 1,184 4,672 Geoff Ogilvy T17 68, 70, 62, 74 = 274 $ 140,000 855 4,096 Heath Slocum T17 71, 64, 69, 70 = 274 $ 140,000 855 4,096 Steve Stricker T17 69, 67, 71, 67 = 274 $ 140,000 855 4,096 Phil Mickelson 20 68, 66, 70, 71 = 275 $ 134,400 745 3,840 K.J. Choi T21 67, 65, 75, 69 = 276 $ 130,200 665 3,744 Boo Weekley T21 70, 67, 68, 71 = 276 $ 130,200 665 3,744 Jonathan Byrd 23 71, 70, 65, 71 = 277 $ 126,000 590 3,648 Aaron Baddeley 24 69, 70, 68, 71 = 278 $ 123,200 550 3,584 John Rollins 25 64, 69, 73, 73 = 279 $ 120,400 510 3,520 Ernie Els T26 69, 69, 73, 69 = 280 $ 116,900 457 3,424 Adam Scott T26 65, 66, 71, 78 = 280 $ 116,900 457 3,424 Charles Howell III 28 68, 71, 68, 74 = 281 $ 114,800 420 3,328 Brandt Snedeker T29 71, 72, 68, 71 = 282 $ 112,700 400 3,232 Brett Wetterich T29 68, 69, 70, 75 = 282 $ 112,700 400 3,232
4 .. Final 2007 Fed Ex Cup Top 30 standings
-- Actual and Alternative
While Tiger Woods was easily claiming the first-ever Fed Ex Cup in both "actual" and "alternative" modes, two players realized "alternative" gains --- Zach Johnson, going from 7th place "actual" to 3rd place "alternative", and Mark Calcavecchia, from 8th place "actual" to 4th place "alternative". -- Actual -- Alternative Fed Ex Cup Rank Player Points Rank Player Points Bonus Money ------------------------------- -------------------------------- ------------ 1 Tiger Woods 123,033 1 Tiger Woods 144,733 $ 10,000,000 2 Steve Stricker 110,455 2 Steve Stricker 113,646 $ 3,000,000 3 Phil Mickelson 109,358 3 Zach Johnson 113,343 $ 2,000,000 4 Rory Sabbatini 105,193 4 Mark Calcavecchia 112,539 $ 1,500,000 5 K.J. Choi 103,765 5 Phil Mickelson 112,453 $ 1,000,000 6 Aaron Baddeley 103,350 6 Rory Sabbatini 108,868 $ 800,000 7 Zach Johnson 102,873 7 Sergio Garcia 108,517 $ 700,000 8 Mark Calcavecchia 102,069 8 K.J. Choi 106,844 $ 600,000 9 Sergio Garcia 101,077 9 Aaron Baddeley 106,384 $ 550,000 10 Vijay Singh 101,064 10 Vijay Singh 105,454 $ 500,000 11 Jim Furyk 101,022 11 Scott Verplank 104,952 $ 300,000 12 Adam Scott 100,684 12 Hunter Mahan 104,836 $ 290,000 13 Geoff Ogilvy 98,918 13 Jim Furyk 104,510 $ 280,000 14 Scott Verplank 98,812 14 Adam Scott 103,651 $ 270,000 15 Hunter Mahan 98,696 15 Geoff Ogilvy 102,159 $ 250,000 16 Justin Rose 98,434 16 Justin Rose 101,922 $ 245,000 17 Woody Austin 98,407 17 Woody Austin 101,897 $ 240,000 18 Charles Howell III 98,051 18 Tim Clark 101,665 $ 235,000 19 Ernie Els 98,033 19 Ernie Els 100,999 $ 230,000 20 Brandt Snedeker 97,907 20 Charles Howell III 100,959 $ 225,000 21 Tim Clark 97,275 21 Brandt Snedeker 100,739 $ 220,000 22 Stewart Cink 96,697 22 Camilo Villegas 100,283 $ 215,000 23 Robert Allenby 96,634 23 Stewart Cink 100,185 $ 210,000 24 Camilo Villegas 96,608 24 Robert Allenby 100,122 $ 205,000 25 Boo Weekley 96,399 25 Padraig Harrington 99,513 $ 200,000 26 John Rollins 96,220 26 Boo Weekley 99,478 $ 195,000 27 Brett Wetterich 96,174 27 John Rollins 99,230 $ 190,000 28 Jonathan Byrd 96,061 28 Jonathan Byrd 99,119 $ 185,000 29 Padraig Harrington 96,025 29 Brett Wetterich 99,006 $ 180,000 30 Heath Slocum 95,731 30 Heath Slocum 98,972 $ 175,000 |