FedEx Cup Playoffs: How it works
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The FedEx Cup playoffs feature a new point structure and start this week at the Northern Trust: Find out how it all works
Last week’s Wyndham Championship marked the end of the regular PGA Tour season, leaving just 125 players with full playing rights for next year and a spot in the first event of the FedEx Cup playoffs.
This year, the playoffs are different than they have been in the past: Rather than three events followed by the Tour Championship, the number of events has been reduced – and the final event is radically different than in years gone by.
The Northern Trust, which takes place at Liberty National GC in New Jersey, will feature the top 125 players in the FedEx Cup finals with an increased purse and much higher points awarded to the winner than in the regular season events.
After that, the top 70 will head to the BMW Championship at Medinah CC in Illinois, before the top 30 in the standings battle for the top spot at East Lake.
There is a prize fund of $9,250,000 available and 2000 FedEx Cup points on offer at the first two events, making it more likely that current leader and Wyndham Rewards winner Brooks Koepka can be caught.
At the Tour Championship, the previous way of points allocation – meaning someone could potentially win the tournament but not the FedEx Cup as Tiger Woods did last year – has been done away with. Instead, it becomes a regular event but with a staggered leaderboard from the outset, effectively giving a head start ‘under-par’ in descending order to the leaders, called ‘starting strokes’.
The purpose is to do away with the complex scoring and dual winners, meaning that whoever wins the tournament will also be crowned the FedEx Cup Champion.
Read on below to see how it works.
FedEx Cup Finale: How to new points system at Tour Championship works
The FedExCup points leader after the first two Playoffs events will begin the TOUR Championship at 10-under par.
The No. 2 player will start at 8 under. The No. 3 player starts at 7 under; the No. 4 player starts at 6 under; the No. 5 player starts at 5 under. Players 6-10 start at 4 under; players 11-15 start at 3 under; players 16-20 start at 2 under; players 21-25 start at 1 under; and players 26-30 start at even par.
At the TOUR Championship, the player with the lowest aggregate score over 72 holes when combined with his FedExCup Starting Strokes will win the TOUR Championship and also be crowned FedExCup champion.
The TOUR Championship win will be considered an official victory and the FedExCup champion will also earn a bonus of $15 million and a five-year PGA TOUR exemption.
