2009 PGA Tour Season
2009 Fed Ex Cup Playoffs
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1 .. Pre-2009 Tour Championship Leaders
2009 was the third year of the Fed Ex Cup Playoffs. The PGA Tour changed the points reset rules from the previous two years. From 2009 onwards, points earned in the first three playoff events would be added to the regular season points already earned. Then, before the Tour Championship, the points for the Final Top 30 players would all be reset. For our 2009 alternative scenario, the pre-Tour Championship points reset is -NOT- performed. So, now going into the 2009 tournament, 2007 Fed Ex champion Tiger Woods leads the way with 7,196 points. Steve Stricker is 2nd with 5,692 points, Jim Furyk 3rd with 3,108 points, Zach Johnson 4th with 3,031 points, Heath Slocum 5th with 3,005 points, and so on all the way down to #30 John Senden with 1,532 points. It should be noted that Woods' 1,504 point lead over Steve Stricker, as well as the 5,664 point difference between #1 Woods and #30 John Senden is due mainly to the 2.5x point values (versus 1.0x, 1.1x and 1.2x for regular season events) of the first three playoff events. Full Top 30 Fed Ex Cup leaderboard going into the 2009 Tour Championship .....
FX Points FX Points
Rank Player Normal Reset Rank Player Normal Reset
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1 Tiger Woods 7,196 2,500 16 Marc Leishman 2,070 380
2 Steve Stricker 5,692 2,250 17 Brian Gay 1,989 360
3 Jim Furyk 3,108 2,000 18 Kevin Na 1,976 340
4 Zach Johnson 3,031 1,800 19 David Toms 1,951 320
5 Heath Slocum 3,005 1,600 20 Lucas Glover 1,919 310
6 Padraig Harrington 2,633 1,400 21 Y.E. Yang 1,919 300
7 Sean O'Hair 2,624 1,200 22 Ernie Els 1,833 290
8 Scott Verplank 2,416 1,000 23 Hunter Mahan 1,832 280
9 Kenny Perry 2,318 800 24 Ángel Cabrera 1,690 270
10 Jason Dufner 2,224 600 25 Steve Marino 1,681 260
11 Dustin Johnson 2,212 480 26 Stewart Cink 1,663 250
12 Nick Watney 2,170 460 27 Mike Weir 1,631 240
13 Geoff Ogilvy 2,126 440 28 Luke Donald 1,570 230
14 Phil Mickelson 2,110 420 29 Jerry Kelly 1,568 220
15 Retief Goosen 2,091 400 30 John Senden 1,532 210
2 .. Pre-2009 Tour Championship:
Actual and Alternative Fed Ex Cup Points
The actual points distribution used (a total of 13,590 pts) for the 2009 Tour Championship was as follows .... 1.. 2,500 6.. 500 11.. 350 16.. 275 21.. 250 26.. 225 2.. 1,500 7.. 450 12.. 325 17.. 270 22.. 245 27.. 220 3.. 1,000 8.. 425 13.. 300 18.. 265 23.. 240 28.. 215 4.. 750 9.. 400 14.. 285 19.. 260 24.. 235 29.. 210 5.. 550 10.. 375 15.. 280 20.. 255 25.. 230 30.. 205
A post reset difference of 2,290 points between #1 Tiger Woods and #30 John Seden was just barely covered by
the actual point distribution used for the 2009 Tour Championship. Furthermore, a Seden Tour Championship win along with a Fed Ex Cup win assumed that Tiger Woods would finish dead last in the tournament. In other scenarios, all assuming a Senden win and a Woods dead last finish, Steve Stricker would need to finish no better than solo 7th; Jim Furyk and Zach Johnson, no better than a two-way tie for 4th; Heath Slocum, no better than solo 3rd. For others in the field, the combinations to win the Fed Ex Cup vary - simple in the upper standings, more complex as one goes down the rankings. For 2009, an alternative points distribution method, which offers a total of 75,000 pts, calculated, approved and announced on the Monday before play in the Tour Championship begins, is as follows .... 1.. 12,000 6.. 3,000 11.. 2,250 16.. 1,620 21.. 1,470 26.. 1,320 2.. 6,600 7.. 2,850 12.. 2,100 17.. 1,590 22.. 1,440 27.. 1,290 3.. 4,800 8.. 2,700 13.. 1,950 18.. 1,560 23.. 1,410 28.. 1,260 4.. 3,900 9.. 2,550 14.. 1,800 19.. 1,530 24.. 1,380 29.. 1,230 5.. 3,300 10.. 2,400 15.. 1,650 20.. 1,500 25.. 1,350 30.. 1,200With the alternative points distribution in effect, a few of the potential scenarios it creates are as follows .... »» Players #1 thru # 23 ... JUST WIN, BABY !! »» Players #24 thru #30 Combination of winning Tour Championship (12,000 pts) -AND- Tiger Woods finishing no better than a two-way tie for 2nd (5,700 pts)
The customized alternative Tour Championship points makes the 2009 Fed Ex Cup winning scenarios less complex and
easier to understand. Also, a sense of real urgency to play as well as one can rather than just coasting along is created, especially for the leading players who, in the right scenario, can easily be surpassed by any player in the field. Now, on to the actual 2009 Tour Championship results, which will include the alternative points distribution and the various potential scenarios which have been created by such points. One can compare and contrast both Tour Championship reset and non-reset scores, as well as the final "actual" and "alternative" Fed Ex Cup standings. |
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3 .. The 2009 Tour Championship
.... Actual-fact results, plus alternative points
Phil Mickelson won the tournament with a final round 65. However, Tiger Woods stayed in touch with the leading players, taking the tournament runner-up spot to clinch the Fed Ex Cup. That's the actual story. PURSE: $ 7,500,000 1st Prize: $ 1,350,000 No-Cut Field of 30 30 of 30 finishers Player Finish Scores Tournament FX Points -- -- -- Money Actual Alternative --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phil Mickelson WINNER 73, 67, 66, 65 = 271 $ 1,350,000 2,500 12,000 Tiger Woods 2 67, 68, 69, 70 = 274 $ 810,000 1,500 6,600 Sean O'Hair 3 66, 70, 70, 69 = 275 $ 517,500 1,000 4,800 Padraig Harrington T4 67, 69, 71, 69 = 276 $ 330,000 650 3,600 Kenny Perry T4 72, 66, 64, 74 = 276 $ 330,000 650 3,600 Steve Stricker 6 70, 72, 66, 69 = 277 $ 270,000 500 3,000 Jim Furyk T7 72, 68, 71, 67 = 278 $ 247,500 437.50 2,775 Steve Marino T7 69, 71, 67, 71 = 278 $ 247,500 437.50 2,775 Ernie Els 9 71, 66, 71, 71 = 279 $ 225,000 400 2,550 Lucas Glover T10 68, 71, 72, 69 = 280 $ 202,500 350 2,250 Jerry Kelly T10 71, 67, 71, 71 = 280 $ 202,500 350 2,250 John Senden T10 70, 70, 69, 71 = 280 $ 202,500 350 2,250 Angel Cabrera T13 72, 67, 70, 72 = 281 $ 174,000 288.33 1,800 David Toms T13 74, 66, 70, 71 = 281 $ 174,000 288.33 1,800 Nick Watney T13 70, 69, 71, 71 = 281 $ 174,000 288.33 1,800 Zach Johnson T16 70, 72, 73, 67 = 282 $ 156,000 272.50 1,605 Geoff Ogilvy T16 75, 73, 64, 70 = 282 $ 156,000 272.50 1,605 Y.E. Yang 18 71, 75, 66, 71 = 283 $ 150,000 265 1,560 Heath Slocum T19 73, 68, 71, 72 = 284 $ 144,000 255 1,500 Jason Dufner T19 71, 68, 73, 72 = 284 $ 144,000 255 1,500 Stewart Cink T19 67, 72, 70, 75 = 284 $ 144,000 255 1,500 Scott Verplank 22 70, 71, 74, 70 = 285 $ 138,000 245 1,440 Retief Goosen 23 69, 72, 72, 73 = 286 $ 135,000 240 1,410 Hunter Mahan 24 71, 73, 72, 71 = 287 $ 132,000 235 1,380 Luke Donald T25 70, 71, 78, 69 = 288 $ 127,500 227.50 1,335 Mike Weir T25 72, 72, 70, 74 = 288 $ 127,500 227.50 1,335 Dustin Johnson 27 69, 74, 73, 73 = 289 $ 124,500 220 1,290 Brian Gay T28 72, 72, 76, 72 = 292 $ 122,250 212.50 1,245 Marc Leishman T28 70, 74, 70, 78 = 292 $ 122,250 212.50 1,245 Kevin Na 30 73, 70, 75, 75 = 293 $ 120,000 205 1,200
4 .. Final 2009 Fed Ex Cup Top 30 Standings
-- Actual and Alternative
Phil Mickelson's 12,000-alt point tournament victory overcame Tiger Woods' 6,600-alt point solo 2nd place finish, and this result allowed Mickelson to lay undisputed claim to the alternative-reality Fed Ex Cup title. Among significant alternative-over-actual standings were Sean O'Hair moving up from 5th to 4th, Padraig Harrington moving up from 7th to 5th, Kenny Perry moving up from 9th to 6th, and Steve Marino moving up from 15th to 10th.
-- Actual -- Alternative Fed Ex Cup
Rank Player Points Rank Player Points Bonus Money
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1 Tiger Woods 4,000 1 Phil Mickelson 14,110 $ 10,000,000
2 Phil Mickelson 2,920 2 Tiger Woods 13,796 $ 3,000,000
3 Steve Stricker 2,750 3 Steve Stricker 8,692 $ 2,000,000
4 Jim Furyk 2,438 4 Sean O'Hair 7,424 $ 1,500,000
5 Sean O'Hair 2,200 5 Padraig Harrington 6,233 $ 1,000,000
6 Zach Johnson 2,073 6 Kenny Perry 5,918 $ 800,000
7 Padraig Harrington 2,050 7 Jim Furyk 5,883 $ 700,000
8 Heath Slocum 1,855 8 Zach Johnson 4,636 $ 600,000
9 Kenny Perry 1,450 9 Heath Slocum 4,505 $ 550,000
10 Scott Verplank 1,245 10 Steve Marino 4,456 $ 500,000
11 Jason Dufner 855 11 Ernie Els 4,383 $ 300,000
12 Nick Watney 748 12 Lucas Glover 4,169 $ 290,000
13 Geoff Ogilvy 713 13 Nick Watney 3,970 $ 280,000
14 Dustin Johnson 700 14 Scott Verplank 3,856 $ 270,000
15 Steve Marino 698 15 Jerry Kelly 3,818 $ 250,000
16 Ernie Els 690 16 John Senden 3,782 $ 245,000
17 Lucas Glover 660 17 David Toms 3,751 $ 240,000
18 Retief Goosen 640 18 Geoff Ogilvy 3,731 $ 235,000
19 David Toms 608 19 Jason Dufner 3,724 $ 230,000
20 Marc Leishman 593 20 Dustin Johnson 3,502 $ 225,000
21 Brian Gay 573 21 Retief Goosen 3,501 $ 220,000
22 Jerry Kelly 570 22 Angel Cabrera 3,490 $ 215,000
23 Y.E. Yang 565 23 Y.E. Yang 3,469 $ 210,000
24 John Senden 560 24 Mark Leishman 3,315 $ 205,000
25 Ángel Cabrera 558 25 Brian Gay 3,234 $ 200,000
26 Kevin Na 545 26 Hunter Mahan 3,212 $ 195,000
27 Hunter Mahan 515 27 Kevin Na 3,176 $ 190,000
28 Stewart Cink 505 28 Stewart Cink 3,163 $ 185,000
29 Mike Weir 468 29 Mike Weir 2,966 $ 180,000
30 Luke Donald 458 30 Luke Donald 2,905 $ 175,000
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2009 Fed Ex Cup Playoffs