2015 FedEx Cup Playoffs explained

2015 FedEx Cup Playoffs
Dates:	August 27 – September 27, 2015
Location:	Plainfield Country Club TPC Boston Conway Farms Golf Club East Lake Golf Club
Tour:	PGA Tour
Field:	125 for The Barclays 70 for BMW Championship 30 for Tour Championship
Purse:	$35,000,000 bonus money
Winners Share:	$10,000,000 bonus money
Champion:	Jordan Spieth
Score:	3,800 points
Previous:	2014
Next:	2016

The 2015 FedEx Cup Playoffs, the series of four golf tournaments that will determine the season champion on the U.S.-based PGA Tour, were played from August 27 to September 27. It included the following four events:

• The Barclays – Plainfield Country Club, Edison, New Jersey
• Deutsche Bank Championship – TPC Boston, Norton, Massachusetts
• BMW Championship – Conway Farms Golf Club, Lake Forest, Illinois
• Tour Championship – East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia

These were the ninth FedEx Cup playoffs since their inception in 2007.

The point distributions can be seen here.

Regular season rankings

Place	Player	Points	Events
1		4,169	21
2		2,459	16
3		2,407	15
4		2,014	20
5		1,742	16
6		1,720	26
7		1,718	17
8		1,593	23
9		1,567	9
10		1,561	32

For the full list see here.

The Barclays

The Barclays was played August 27–30. Of the 125 players eligible to play in the event, five did not enter: Rory McIlroy (ranked 9), Louis Oosthuizen (28), Sergio García (31), Francesco Molinari (99) and Retief Goosen (111).^[1] Of the 120 entrants, 72 made the second-round cut at 142 (+2).

Jason Day won by six strokes over Henrik Stenson and moved from second place to first place in the standings.^[2] The top 100 players in the points standings advanced to the Deutsche Bank Championship. This included eight players who were outside the top 100 prior to The Barclays: Zac Blair (ranked 106th to 45th), Spencer Levin (115 to 80), Jason Dufner (103 to 82), Carlos Ortiz (112 to 83), Mark Wilson (114 to 85), Luke Donald (119 to 87), Johnson Wagner (101 to 92) and Camilo Villegas (123 to 99). Eight players started the tournament within the top 100 but ended the tournament outside the top 100, ending their playoff chances: Pádraig Harrington (ranked 87th to 103rd), Greg Owen (90 to 104), John Peterson (93 to 105), Adam Scott (94 to 106), Adam Hadwin (95 to 107), Charl Schwartzel (96 to 108), John Huh (97 to 110) and Francesco Molinari (99 to 111).^[3]

					FedEx Cup rank
Place	Player	Score	To par	Winnings ($)	After	Before
1		68-68-63-62=261	−19	1,485,000	1	2
2		68-66-67-66=267	−13	891,000	4	41
3		65-68-67-69=269	−11	561,000	3	3
T4		69-68-67-66=270	−10	363,000	45	106
		69-65-67-69=270			5	11
T6		69-67-63-72=271	−9	276,375	23	34
		69-67-65-70=271			33	56
		67-70-68-66=271			40	66
T9		71-64-72-65=272	−8	231,000	24	33
		70-70-67-65=272			6	7

• Par 70 course

Deutsche Bank Championship

The Deutsche Bank Championship was played September 4–7. Of the 100 players eligible to play in the event, Sergio García (ranked 43) and Will Wilcox (89) did not play.^{[4] [5]} Of the 98 entrants, 75 made the second-round cut at 145 (+3).

Rickie Fowler won by one stroke over Henrik Stenson and moved into third place in the standings.^[6] The top 70 players in the points standings advanced to the BMW Championship. This included four players who were outside the top 70 prior to the Deutsche Bank Championship: Hunter Mahan (91 to 52), Keegan Bradley (71 to 63), Jerry Kelly (94 to 65), and William McGirt (88 to 68). Four players started the tournament within the top 70 but ended the tournament outside the top 70, ending their playoff chances: Marc Leishman (61 to 72), Jim Herman (64 to 74), Kevin Streelman (65 to 75) and Boo Weekley (70 to 76).^[7]

					FedEx Cup rank
Place	Player	Score	To par	Winnings ($)	After	Before
1		67-67-67-68=269	−15	1,485,000	3	22
2		67-68-65-70=270	−14	891,000	4	4
3		67-63-76-67=273	−11	561,000	6	17
T4		71-65-70-70=276	−8	311,025	9	11
		67-67-68-74=276			33	57
		69-73-64-70=276			52	91
		68-67-67-74=276			38	66
		72-67-67-70=276			10	12
T9		71-66-68-72=277	−7	222,750	65	94
		69-72-65-71=277			20	27
		71-68-70-68=277			26	40

• Par 71 course

BMW Championship

The BMW Championship was played September 17–20, after a one-week break. All 70 players eligible to play in the event did so, and there was no cut.

Jason Day won by six strokes over Daniel Berger.^[8] The top 30 players in the points standings advanced to the Tour Championship. This included four players who were outside the top 30 prior to the BMW Championship: Daniel Berger (46 to 9), Scott Piercy (44 to 20), Kevin Na (34 to 27), and Harris English (32 to 30). Four players started the tournament within the top 30 but ended the tournament outside the top 30, ending their playoff chances: Daniel Summerhays (26 to 31), Russell Knox (29 to 34), Ben Martin (25 to 35) and Jason Bohn (28 to 40).^[9]

					FedEx Cup rank
Place	Player	Score	To par	Winnings ($)	After	Before
1		61-63-69-69=262	−22	1,485,000	1	1
2		65-64-70-69=268	−16	891,000	9	46
3		67-65-67-70=269	−15	561,000	20	44
T4		69-66-66-69=270	−14	341,000	3	3
		70-65-67-68=270			17	19
		68-65-67-70=270			11	17
T7		71-62-68-70=271	−13	257,125	7	8
		72-63-70-66=271			15	16
		72-64-69-66=271			36	55
T10		65-66-70-71=272	−12	206,250	27	34
		71-63-71-67=272			4	4
		65-70-72-65=272			5	5

• Par 71 course

Reset points

The points were reset after the BMW Championship.

Place	Player	Points	Reset points	Events
1		6,680	2,000	19
2		4,392	1,800	24
3		3,958	1,600	20
4		3,632	1,440	15
5		3,609	1,280	18
6		2,464	1,120	24
7		2,454	960	20
8		2,364	800	27
9		2,320	640	30
10		2,205	480	26

Tour Championship

The Tour Championship was played September 24–27. Of the 30 golfers qualified for the tournament, only Jim Furyk (wrist injury), did not play.^[10] There was no cut.

Jordan Spieth won the tournament and the FedEx Cup, beating Danny Lee, Justin Rose, and Henrik Stenson by four strokes.^[11]

					FedEx Cup rank
Place	Player	Score	To par	Winnings ($)	After	Before
1		68-66-68-69=271	−9	1,485,000	1	2
T2		69-72-69-65=275	−5	618,750	9	19
		70-68-71-66=275			8	12
		63-68-72-72=275			2	4
T5		65-70-71-70=276	−4	302,500	13	22
		69-72-71-64=276			7	7
		70-71-68-67=276			5	5
T8		68-72-68-69=277	−3	255,750	14	17
		66-70-71-70=277			6	6
T10		69-71-70-68=278	−2	228,525	3	1
		71-70-69-68=278			19	21

• Par 70 course

Final leaderboard

Place	Player	Points	Winnings ($)
1		3,800	10,000,000
2		2,307	3,000,000
3		2,290	2,000,000
4		1,838	1,500,000
5		1,680	1,000,000
6		1,450	800,000
7		1,360	700,000
8		1,235	600,000
9		1,123	550,000
10		992	500,000

For the full list see here.

Table of qualifying players

Table key:

	Player	Pre-Playoffs		The Barclays		Deutsche Bank		BMW Champ.		Reset points	Tour Champ.
		Points	Rank	Finish	Rank after	Finish	Rank after	Finish	Rank after		Finish	Final rank
		4,169	1	CUT	2	CUT	2		2		style=background:lime	1	style=background:lime
		2,459	2	style=background:lime	1	1		1	style=background:lime	1	1		style=background:yellow
		2,407	3	style=background:yellow		3		5	style=background:yellow		5		style=background:yellow
		2,014	4		7	CUT	11		13
		1,742	5		8	CUT	13		12		style=background:yellow
		1,720	6		9		12		14
		1,718	7	style=background:yellow		6		8	style=background:yellow		7		style=background:yellow
		1,593	8		12	style=background:yellow		10		10
		1,567	9	DNP	15		17	style=background:yellow		11
		1,561	10		10		14		19		style=background:yellow
		1,559	11	style=background:yellow		5		7		6		style=background:yellow
		1,544	12	CUT	16	CUT	21		25
		1,537	13	CUT	18		18		23
		1,512	14		17	style=background:yellow		6		8
		1,498	15	CUT	22	style=background:lime	1	3	style=background:yellow		3
		1,484	16		19		19	style=background:yellow		17		style=background:yellow
		1,416	17		13		15		18
		1,401	18		11	style=background:yellow		9	WD	16		DNP
		1,389	19		21	WD	24		22		style=background:yellow
		1,374	20		14		16	style=background:yellow		15
		1,305	21	CUT	26	CUT	31		37	–	–
		1,287	22		20	CUT	22		24
		1,281	23		25		27		26
		1,217	24		29		25		35	–	–
		1,208	25	CUT	31	CUT	39		39	–	–
		1,164	26		27	style=background:yellow		20		21		style=background:yellow
		1,127	27		34	CUT	44	style=background:yellow		20
		1,088	28	DNP	38		30		29		WD
		1,087	29	CUT	39		37		44	–	–
		1,062	30		28		34	style=background:yellow		27
		1,051	31	DNP	43	DNP	54		53	–	–
		1,037	32	CUT	44		36		41	–	–
		1,037	33	style=background:yellow		24	CUT	28		40	–	–
		1,025	34	style=background:yellow		23		23		28
		1,012	35		42	CUT	53		51	–	–
		1,007	36		30		35		32	–	–
		987	37		36		45		54	–	–
		986	38		49	CUT	58		63	–	–
		985	39		32	CUT	41		43	–	–
		953	40		37		42		48	–	–
		952	41	style=background:yellow		4	style=background:yellow		4	style=background:yellow		4		style=background:yellow
		932	42		41		32		30
		930	43		48		47		56	–	–
		914	44		35		29		34	–	–
		903	45	CUT	53		67		66	–	–
		899	46	CUT	54		46	style=background:yellow		9
		895	47	CUT	55		60		50	–	–
		892	48	CUT	56		49		47	–	–
		890	49		50	CUT	59		55	–	–
		854	50	CUT	61	CUT	72	–	–	–	–
		849	51		52		61		61	–	–
		847	52	CUT	63		64		58	–	–
		831	53		47		48		46	–	–
		825	54		46		43		45	–	–
		821	55		57	style=background:yellow		33		33	–	–
		817	56	style=background:yellow		33		40		38	–	–
		816	57		51		55	style=background:yellow		36	–	–
		797	58		67		62		64	–	–
		777	59	CUT	69		66		67	–	–
		776	60	CUT	70		76	–	–	–	–
		771	61		65		75	–	–	–	–
		759	62	CUT	71		63		60	–	–
		739	63	CUT	73		71	–	–	–	–
		727	64	CUT	75	CUT	89	–	–	–	–
		723	65	CUT	77		77	–	–	–	–
		720	66	style=background:yellow		40	style=background:yellow		26		31	–	–
		719	67		66	style=background:yellow		38		42	–	–
		715	68		59	CUT	70		62	–	–
		704	69		62		50		57	–	–
		692	70		74		79	–	–	–	–
		690	71	CUT	84		94	–	–	–	–
		678	72		60		56		65	–	–
		670	73	CUT	86	CUT	96	–	–	–	–
		652	74	CUT	88		68		69	–	–
		649	75	CUT	89	DNP	97	–	–	–	–
		649	76	CUT	90		86	–	–	–	–
		648	77	CUT	91	style=background:yellow		52		49	–	–
		645	78		76		83	–	–	–	–
		632	79	CUT	94	style=background:yellow		65		68	–	–
		628	80	CUT	95		91	–	–	–	–
		628	81	CUT	96	CUT	99	–	–	–	–
		627	82		72		85	–	–	–	–
		626	83	CUT	97		98	–	–	–	–
		626	84	CUT	98		78	–	–	–	–
		620	85		78	CUT	90	–	–	–	–
		614	86	CUT	100	CUT	100	–	–	–	–
		610	87	CUT	103	–	–	–	–	–	–
		610	88		81		73	–	–	–	–
		610	89		64	CUT	74	–	–	–	–
		608	90	CUT	104	–	–	–	–	–	–
		602	91		68		57		52	–	–
		595	92		58	CUT	69		70	–	–
		588	93	CUT	105	–	–	–	–	–	–
		585	94	CUT	106	–	–	–	–	–	–
		584	95	CUT	107	–	–	–	–	–	–
		584	96	CUT	108	–	–	–	–	–	–
		565	97	CUT	110	–	–	–	–	–	–
		564	98		79	CUT	92	–	–	–	–
		558	99	DNP	111	–	–	–	–	–	–
		554	100		93		81	–	–	–	–
		551	101		92		87	–	–	–	–
		549	102		101	–	–	–	–	–	–
		546	103		82		88	–	–	–	–
		545	104	CUT	112	–	–	–	–	–	–
		540	105	CUT	113	–	–	–	–	–	–
		538	106	style=background:yellow		45		51		59	–	–
		536	107	CUT	114	–	–	–	–	–	–
		531	108	CUT	115	–	–	–	–	–	–
		531	109	CUT	116	–	–	–	–	–	–
		530	110		109	–	–	–	–	–	–
		519	111	DNP	118	–	–	–	–	–	–
		515	112		83		93	–	–	–	–
		504	113	CUT	120	–	–	–	–	–	–
		497	114		85		95	–	–	–	–
		496	115		80		82	–	–	–	–
		494	116		102	–	–	–	–	–	–
		493	117		117	–	–	–	–	–	–
		490	118		119	–	–	–	–	–	–
		484	119		87		80	–	–	–	–
		481	120	CUT	121	–	–	–	–	–	–
		471	121	CUT	123	–	–	–	–	–	–
		471	122	WD	124	–	–	–	–	–	–
		467	123		99		84	–	–	–	–
		458	124		122	–	–	–	–	–	–
		458	125		125	–	–	–	–	–	–

* First-time Playoffs participant

22 players extended their streak of reaching the FedExCup Playoffs every year: Bill Haas, Jeff Overton, Matt Kuchar, Ian Poulter, John Senden, Ryan Moore, Charley Hoffman, Pat Perez, Nick Watney, Bubba Watson, Jerry Kelly, Luke Donald, Brandt Snedeker, Charles Howell III, Justin Rose, Hunter Mahan, Adam Scott, Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia, Zach Johnson, Rory Sabbatini and Phil Mickelson.^[12]

Eight players failed to advance to the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time: Freddie Jacobson, Brian Davis, Bo Van Pelt, Ernie Els, Geoff Ogilvy, Aaron Baddeley, K. J. Choi, and Steve Stricker.

Nine rookies finished inside the top 125: Justin Thomas (36), Tony Finau (39), Daniel Berger (46), Scott Pinckney (78), Adam Hadwin (95), Nick Taylor (102), Jon Curran (105), Zac Blair (106) and Carlos Ortiz (112).

External links

• Coverage on the PGA Tour's official site

Notes and References

1. Web site: Preview of The Barclays . PGA Tour . August 21, 2014 . Jeff . Shain.
2. News: Jason Day's killer instinct shining through in win . ESPN . Jason . Sobel . August 30, 2015.
3. Web site: Fine line between moving on, going home in FedExCup race . PGA Tour . Brian . Wacker . August 30, 2015.
4. Web site: Preview of the Deutsche Bank Championship . PGA Tour . Jeff . Shain . August 28, 2015.
5. Web site: Wilcox WDs from Deutsche Bank with knee injury . PGA Tour . September 2, 2015.
6. News: Fowler comes through in the clutch for DBC victory . ESPN . Jason . Sobel . September 7, 2015.
7. Web site: FedExCup update: Deutsche Bank, Round 4 . PGA Tour . Brian . Wacker . September 7, 2015.
8. Web site: Dream comes true for Day at BMW . PGA Tour . Sean . Martin . September 20, 2015 . September 21, 2015.
9. Web site: English finally captures spot in finale . PGA Tour . Mike . McAllister . September 20, 2015 . September 21, 2015.
10. News: Jim Furyk (wrist) withdraws from second straight tournament . ESPN . Jason . Sobel . September 22, 2015.
11. News: Jordan Spieth closes with 1-under 69 to capture FedEx Cup, $10M bonus . ESPN . Associated Press . September 28, 2015.
12. Web site: Gore one of record-tying five bubble busters . PGA Tour . Mike . McAllster . August 23, 2015.