Zurich Classic feels like a win for several FedEx Cup hopefuls
By Bill Felber
The Zurich Classic title went to Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer on Sunday afternoon, but several close contenders were still able to chalk up their own kind of win.
Hank Lebioda didn’t win the Zurich Classic Sunday. But you couldn’t blame him if he felt like he did.
Lebioda and teammate Curtis Luck shot 268 to tie for fifth place in the tour’s only team event. That total was six strokes off the winning pace set by the team of Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer.
Lebioda and Luck began the day four strokes off the leaders’ pace but shot 71` in Sunday’s alternate shot format. Superficially, that doesn’t sound like Lebioda – or Luck for that matter – had a very good day.
But consider this. With his tie for fifth, Lebioda picked up enough FedEx Cup points to leap 28 positions in the standings, from his previous 149th to 121st. That puts him, for the time being, at least, inside the magic 125 who qualify for the season-ending big money playoff.
He was one of five players who used the New Orleans event to move into the top 125. Luck made an even larger, 29-position jump. But he entered the event 165th in the FedEx standings, so moving up to 136th still left him outside the top 125.
Falling where it does, about two-thirds of the way through the FedEx Cup qualifiers, the Zurich Classic is a vital event for players in the lower reaches of the standings. There are a couple of reasons for this.
The first is the schedule going forward. Sixteen events remain where FedEx Cup Series qualifying points can be earned. But three of those are majors and a fourth is the WGC St. Jude, all of which have qualifying standards that will exclude many of those on the FedEx Cup borderline. Two others are alternate field events, one played opposite The Open and one opposite the WGC. Those alternate field competitions do award FedEx qualifying points, but on a reduced basis.
For many players on the borderline, that leaves just ten events to pick up a normal dose of points – assuming they can even qualify for entry into those ten.
The second reason the Zurich Classic is a major opportunity for borderline qualifiers is the relative lightness of the field. Only Brooks Koepka among the FedEx top 10 and only four members of the top 20 were in the field. Between now and the start of the FedEx Cup Series in August, only the Wyndham – played on the final qualifying weekend – may feature fewer of the FedEx Cup elite.
Those facts brought out a host of players whose search for FedEx Cup points may be approaching the desperate stage. Of the 154 players in the field, 127 began the tournament ranked outside the FedEx top 50 and 91 were outside the top 100.
Several joined Lebioda in taking advantage of the opportunity those facts presented. Twenty-four players made a double digit move up those standings, including five who leaped across that magic 125 spot.
Those five were:
Player Finish Projected Started Gained
- Matt Every T-3 102 137 +25
- Hank Lebioda T-5 121 149 +28
- Roberto Castro T-5 112 138 +26
- Seamus Power T-3 117 141 +24
- Nick Watney T-9 120 135 +15
Not everybody, of course, grabs their opportunity. Four other players came to Zurich hoping to improve their borderline FedEx Cup standing only to miss the cut and drop outside the top 125. Those four were Nate Lashley (from 123rd to 129th), Harris English, from 121st to 128th, Johnson Wagner, from 124th to 132nd, and Shane Lowry, from 125th to 135th.
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Lebioda, a 25-year-old second year Tour pro, needed the boost. He spent 2018 on the Web.com Tour, and was making his 13th PGA Tour start of the season. His first dozen included four missed cuts and only one top 30 finish, that being a tie for 17th at the Valero Texas Open In April. The approximately 55 FedEx Cup points he will have earned at the Zurich Classic is likely to approximate his total point earnings between Jan. 1 and March 31.