FedEx Cup Playoffs: Break Out Your Calculators

The beginning of the FedEx Cup playoffs means two things: a lot of exciting golf and a lot of math.

Golf fans, start your calculators and spreadsheet formulas. The computational nightmare that is the FedEx Cup playoffs is upon us. The starting line for each of the 125 PGA Tour players who qualified is their individual point total for the entire season.

While golfers were not quite sure what to make of the playoffs when they first began, there’s definitely a favorable opinion of them now.

Take Jason Day’s opinion, for instance.

“I think everyone is starting to realize how important the FedEx Cup is to a career and how much it could change a career,” Day said at media day for The Barclays. “I think down the line, people are going to look at the FedEx Cup and maybe, maybe, if you win that, that will hopefully get you to the Hall of Fame with some certain major wins and certain amount of PGA Tour wins, as well.”

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He said the FedEx Cup represents yearlong consistency. In addition, winning the FedEx Cup, he thinks, might position him for end of year honors, like Player of the Year.

“The biggest thing for me is just try and get into the first [FedExCup] event, focus on trying to win that one,” he explained during the press conference announcing that he would play in the World Cup of Golf. “If I can get off to a good start and win one of the first three, that’ll leave me in a good spot to obviously guarantee — not guarantee, as long as I win, as long as I’m in the top five — and I win the Tour [Championship], it guarantees me the FedEx Cup win.”

The top five positions are important. The top five players after the first three events can guarantee themselves the FedEx Cup with a victory at the Tour Championship, and it’s also possible for them to take it even without a win at East Lake. At the moment, the top five are Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, Russell Knox and Jordan Spieth.

Winning the Tour Championship and/or the FedEx Cup, Day believes, will also put more distance between himself and world No. 2 Dustin Johnson, depending on what Johnson does.

“To be able to be No. 1 in the world and hold that for the year is my goal,” Day added.

Right now, the top ten on the points list have the best shot at winning the FedEx Cup bonus of $10 million, simply because they have the most points to start with. However, the value of a playoff victory is four times that of a regular season victory — 2,000 points instead of the regular 500. So while Jason Day currently has a 734-point lead over fourth-place Russell Knox, Knox could easily turn that into a 1,500-2,000 point advantage for himself with a win this week. Even Matt Kuchar in 20^th place has a chance to leapfrog Day with a victory, depending on where Day finishes.

The points won at The Barclays, Deutsche Bank Championship and BMW Championship are added to the players’ season-long point totals. Then, everything is reset for the Tour Championship with the FedEx Cup on the line.

While the goal for any player is to finish the next three tournaments in the top five, the FedEx Cup winner will be determined by each player’s finish at the Tour Championship. And that’s when the really crazy math occurs — with golfers yo-yoing in and out of the top spot as the final round of the Tour Championship progresses.

Here’s what each top 20 player’s new point total would be with a victory at Barclays:

Next: The Barclays DraftKings Picks

Who do you think will be the FedEx Cup leader after The Barclays? Let us know in the comments, and follow Pro Golf Now on Facebook and Twitter for more FedEx Cup updates.