FedEx Cup: The History of Golf’s Current Playoff System
By Matt Coles
This week sees the start of the 2019 FedEx Cup Playoffs. In three weeks, the FedEx Cup winner will be decided, but how did this all come about?
The idea came about in 2005, and the FedEx Cup was first awarded to the season’s best player in 2007 when the one and only Tiger Woods took the title in convincing style.
Since then, there have been plenty of changes to the scheduling, and the rules around the Playoffs, to try and make it better for the golfers involved.
In February 2008, the changes were designed to allow more golfers a chance to improve their positions on the points list as the playoffs progress.
The changes involved a tightening of the playoff reset points and awarding more points to playoff participants, effectively penalizing those who skip playoff events.
In November 2008, the changes were designed to help ensure that the Championship would not be won until every golfer who qualified finished playing the final playoff event.
This resulted from the fact that Vijay Singh had accumulated enough points through the first three playoff events in 2008 to guarantee that he would win the Cup without finishing the final event.
Then, in 2013, the FedEx Cup standings began to determine the 125 golfers who would retain their PGA Tour cards, along with other exemptions.
And finally, in 2019, the bonus pool was increased from $25 million to a whopping $70 million, with the FedEx Cup Champion taking home a $15 million split.