The FedEx Cup Playoffs

Well we have run out of majors but Tiger will still be coming out to play in August as the FedEx Cup Playoffs commence this week in Jersey City, with The Northern Trust. It’s all change with the play-offs and we had to read it a few times before we sussed it out. So here’s how it will work..

Enjoy that club thing Tiger the cup is mine, all mine!

Last year Tiger prevailed in the Tour Championship but Justin Rose walked off with the FedEx Cup and a cheque for a cool $10 million.

For starters there are only three events this year rather than four of last year, these being

The Play-off events

The Northern Trust: 8-11 August at Liberty National Golf Club

BMW Championship: 15-18 August at Medinah Country Club

Tour Championship: 22-25 August at East Lake Golf Club

Qualifying critreia

The top 125 players in the FedEx standings qualify for the Northern Trust and so for some, the season is pretty much over. Those not making the cut include Zach Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Jason Dufner, Jimmy Walker, Luke Donald and Alex Noren.

There are enhanced FedEx points up for grabs at the play-off events and after the Northern Trust Event the field is whittled down with only the top 70 in the standings proceeding to the BMW Championship.

Following the BMW, only the top 30 go forward to the Tour Championship and this is where it is all change. In previous years you could have a different winner of the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup – no more!

Shiny, shiny

The Tour Championship

The Tour Championship is to be decided on an adjusted stroke play basis and the field will kick off on the following scores

No 1 ranked player         10 under par

No 2 ranked player         8 under

No 3 ranked player         7 under

No 4 ranked player         6 under

No 5 ranked player         5 under

6-10 ranked players        4 under

11-15 ranked players        3 under

16-20 ranked players      2 under

21-25 ranked players       1 under

26-30 ranked players      even par

The players will play the 72 hole event and the player on the lowest adjusted acore at the end of the event will be the winner of both the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup.

So a double bogey at the first and the advantage all those FedEx points gave you over the guys behind you on the list go down the drain! Brutal and it may well make for an interesting result come the final day.

Prize Money

And there is more dosh on offer too. The winner will pick up a cheque for a cool 15 million bucks, with second taking $5 million, third $4 million and so on all the way down to $395,000 for thirtieth.

Who will win?

It is likely that the winner will come from the top 5 in the standings which are currently

Brooks Koepka

Rory McIlroy

Matt Kuchar

Xander Schauffele

Gary Woodland

However, lurking outside the top 5 are the likes of Patrick Cantlay, Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson and our tip, from the outsiders, Paul Casey.