Possible to finish Top 90 in FedExCup and outside top 125 on the money list?

[MEfree]

Assumes the format used for the 2011 Tour Season.

Take a look here after you answer.

[MEfree]

As a point of discussion, where would you expect a pro who finished #83 in the Fed Ex Cup playoffs to finish on the money list if he makes the cut in all 4 Fall Series Events including his highest finish of the season?

Another way of looking at it would be to ask if it is desirable to have $ and Fed Ex Cup points distributed differently enough to cause major differences between the two lists?

[B-Con]

Another way of looking at it would be to ask if it is desirable to have $ and Fed Ex Cup points distributed differently enough to cause major differences between the two lists?

As I understand it, The FedEx Cup points were introduced to address shortcomings in the money list as far as determining who the "best players" were for the year. They didn't (or maybe couldn't) want to dictate how prize money was distributed to the players. So they developed the points system to award points to players in a way they thought best represented how they played. They way I see it, the money is designed to reward the players, the points are designed to reflect their abilities. Those are different goals. So, completely hypothetically, for some tournament 1st and 2nd place may have a huge difference in cash earned (because only the winner gets the huge reward) but get a much closer number of points (because finishing a stroke or two better than someone else over 4 rounds doesn't mean you actually played that much better than them). Given that the two systems have different goals, I don't see a point in trying to keep them in sync. It's fine if quirks allow you to be high on one list and lower on the other. If they were supposed to match up perfectly, they wouldn't have two different systems. It makes sense that they would be similar a lot of the time, but compounding the results over many tournaments for a year shouldn't necessarily always produce the same outcome on both lists.

[MEfree]

B-con: Well thought out post that makes a lot of sense!

However, if the goal of the Fed Ex Cup was to reflect who played best, then why didn't Luke Donald win?

He dominated Bill Haas most of the year and was only a shot behind him at the TC?  (I know it wouldn't have been as entertaining, which is something that helps to achieve the financial benefits part of the Tour's mission statement- The mission of the PGA TOUR is to expand domestically and internationally to substantially increase player financial benefits while maintaining its commitment to the integrity of the game. The PGA TOUR events are also committed to generating revenue for charitable causes in their communities.)

[x129]

My understanding is that the fed ex cup does not reflect who played best for the whole year. You need to play well through out the year and playoffs to get a top 5 ranking and then win the championship. For example I am pretty sure that you could win every event of the year up until the final and if you finish the final in 2nd place and still lose if players 2-5 going in finished first. The fed ex cup is more about excitement than picking the best player.

Originally Posted by MEfree

B-con: Well thought out post that makes a lot of sense!

However, if the goal of the Fed Ex Cup was to reflect who played best, then why didn't Luke Donald win?

He dominated Bill Haas most of the year and was only a shot behind him at the TC?  (I know it wouldn't have been as entertaining, which is something that helps to achieve the financial benefits part of the Tour's mission statement- The mission of the PGA TOUR is to expand domestically and internationally to substantially increase player financial benefits while maintaining its commitment to the integrity of the game. The PGA TOUR events are also committed to generating revenue for charitable causes in their communities.)