The whole lot it is advisable to know in a still-volatile FedEx Cup
MEDINAH, Ailing. — Patrick Reed’s victory on Sunday on the Northern Belief highlighted a really actual fact concerning the volatility of the FedEx Cup playoffs: A single victory is value excess of every other win, together with the key championships.
Reed, 29, gained for the primary time since he captured the 2018 Masters. Languishing in 50th place within the FedEx Cup standings — which means his spot in subsequent week’s Tour Championship was hardly assured — Reed vaulted up the standings together with his 1-shot victory over Abraham Ancer into second place behind Brooks Koepka heading into this week’s BMW Championship at Medinah Nation Membership.
His win was value 2,000 factors — 1,500 greater than J.T. Poston obtained for capturing the Wyndham Championship per week earlier.
To essentially put it in perspective, the victory introduced 200 extra factors than Tiger Woods, Koepka and Gary Woodland earned — mixed — for his or her victories on the Masters, PGA Championship and U.S. Open.
Common-season wins are value 500 factors, with 550 factors going to winners of the World Golf Championship occasions and 600 to main winners. However as soon as the playoffs start, the Northern Belief and BMW present way more alternative for volatility.
One other method to take a look at it: Reed moved one spot forward of Rory McIlroy, who has two wins this yr, together with the Gamers Championship, and 13 top-10s. Reed’s lone victory was Sunday, and he has 4 top-10s.
Though the PGA Tour describes the FedEx Cup as a “season-long race,” getting sizzling proper now makes an enormous distinction. That stated, final yr’s FedEx Cup champion, Justin Rose, gained not one of the 4 playoff occasions (decreased to a few this yr). Meaning being close to the highest of the standings getting into the playoffs can be a profit.
The stakes
Who’s obtained probably the most to lose this week on the BMW Championship?
In years previous, the bridge to the Tour Championship consisted of the occasion outdoors of Boston that was for the highest 100 gamers within the FedEx standings by way of the Northern Belief match, adopted by the BMW. The Boston occasion has been eradicated (it can rotate with the New York-area match as the primary FedEx Cup playoff occasion), which implies the highest 125 from the Northern Belief was pared down on to the highest 70 for the BMW Championship this week.
The no-cut occasion at Medinah Nation Membership’s No. three course (website of the 1999 and 2006 PGA Championships in addition to the 2012 Ryder Cup) will decide the highest 30 who advance to the Tour Championship.
Along with offering the chance to play for immense monetary perks subsequent week in Atlanta ($15 million to the general winner of the FedEx Cup), there’s a large incentive to make the highest 30 for these seeking to get spots in subsequent yr’s main championships.
Qualifying for the Tour Championship assures an invite to the Masters and exemptions into the U.S. Open and The Open. Meaning it is a massive week for the likes of Sung-jae Im (26th), Harold Varner (29th), Andrew Putnam (30th) and Jason Kokrak (32nd). None of these 4 gamers has ever performed within the Masters.
The bubble
Putnam holds down 30th within the FedEx Cup standings, which might give him the ultimate spot within the Tour Championship if he is ready to keep there. Joaquin Niemann secured the 70th and remaining spot within the BMW Championship with a final-round 66 at Liberty Nationwide that moved him right into a tie for 30th and earned him 92.5 factors, edging Adam Schenk by two factors. Schenk made a spirited run of his personal, taking pictures 67 to tie for 24th after beginning the week 84th.
The movers (every method)
4 gamers moved into the 70 on the Northern Belief, with Varner making the most important leap, from 102nd to 29th, due to a tie for third this previous week. Troy Merritt (72 to 59), Wyndham Clark (90 to 58) and Niemann (74 to 70) had been the others.
The 4 who fell out: Sergio Garcia, Danny Lee, Matthew Wolff and Kevin Streelman.
Who’s obtained probably the most to achieve this week on the BMW Championship? And why is Tommy Fleetwood’s caddie eyeballing me like that?!
The lacking
Garcia (72nd) is among the many gamers who noticed his season finish at Liberty Nationwide, as he missed the lower. Others who didn’t advance had been Wolff, Branden Grace, Bubba Watson, Danny Willett and Henrik Stenson (he didn’t play the Northern Belief).
The Ancer
A second-place end on the Northern Belief had Abraham Ancer transfer from simply inside the highest 70 at 67th to eighth within the standings, which assures that he’ll advance to the Tour Championship. That may imply his first look within the Masters. He will even return to the U.S. Open and The Open subsequent yr. Ancer, 28, was bidding to grow to be the primary participant from Mexico to win on the PGA Tour since Victor Regalado in 1978.
The Rahm menace
Jon Rahm had the lead on the again 9 earlier than settling for a tie for third on the Northern Belief, however he has been on a robust run of late. He has 4 straight top-11 finishes on the PGA Tour, together with two third-places. He has moved into fifth place within the standings behind Koepka, Reed, McIlroy and Matt Kuchar.
The Spieth issue
Jordan Spieth’s 67 was his greatest final-round rating of the yr and was aided by one other nice day on the greens. He wanted simply 21 putts, tying his profession greatest. It has been a wrestle for Spieth for a superb a part of this yr, however he has put himself within the combine a number of occasions of late, and his tie for sixth moved him from 69th to 44th within the FedEx standings, a leap of 25 spots. He’ll want one other excessive end to advance to the Tour Championship, which he missed final yr for the primary time in his profession.
There will probably be a NEW chief of the FedEx Cup after this week. Who will it’s?! I am going to let you know.
The Tiger probabilities
Whether or not Tiger Woods is wholesome sufficient to compete at Medinah continues to be to be decided. He withdrew after a first-round 75 on the Northern Belief with a slight indirect pressure however would have been hard-pressed to make the 36-hole lower had he not been hurting. Woods would have wanted a 66 or higher within the second spherical to advance. However any factors would have been useful, and Woods is now paying the worth for a lightweight summer time of golf that noticed him earn factors at solely the Memorial in early June and the U.S. Open.
After his Masters victory, Woods was 13th in factors. He slipped to 28th heading into the Northern Belief after which fell one other 10 spots, heading to the BMW at 38th.
To qualify for the Tour Championship on the BMW — at which all gamers will earn factors — Woods goes to want a superb week. In response to the PGA Tour, Woods is projected to want a solo 11th-place end or higher to advance to Atlanta, the place he gained his 80th PGA Tour title final yr.
The tour initiatives the vary of factors to qualify for the Tour Championship to be 1,280 to 1,365. Woods has 1,003 — or 177 beneath the minimal. If the minimal is all he wants, a top-18 end would make it, however that’s removed from assured.
The format
After this week’s BMW Championship, the highest 30 transfer on to the Tour Championship, by which they may play below a brand new format meant to crown a single champion, the winner of the FedEx Cup.
As a substitute of a factors reset, the chief — now Koepka — will start the match at 10 below par. Whoever is second — at present Reed — will begin at eight below. Each participant may have a “staggered rating” right down to these ranked 26th to 30th, who will begin at even par.
The concept is to make it simpler to observe. As a substitute of attempting to determine what number of factors will push a participant into the highest of the FedEx standings, it is going to be obvious from the scoreboard in relation to par. However there will probably be no separate winner of the Tour Championship, as there was final yr, when Woods gained his 80th PGA Tour title.
The winner of the FedEx Cup will probably be credited with an official PGA Tour victory. However for the needs of Official World Golf Rating factors, the gamers will earn factors based mostly on their 72-hole scores.