The 2009 FedEx Cup Playoffs, the series of four golf tournaments that determined the season champion on the U.S.-based PGA Tour, began on August 27 and ended on September 27. It included the following four events: The Barclays — Liberty National Golf Club, Jersey City, New Jersey Deutsche Bank Championship — TPC Boston, Norton, Massachusetts BMW Championship — Cog Hill Golf & Country Club, Lemont, Illinois The Tour Championship — East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia
For the second time in the three-year history of the playoffs, Tiger Woods won the FedEx Cup.
These were the third FedEx Cup playoffs since their inception in 2007. Substantial changes were made to the point structures, playoff reset of points, and field sizes for 2009.
The point distributions can be seen here.
Regular season rankings PlacePlayerPointsEvents1 Tiger Woods 3,341 132 Steve Stricker 2,155 183 Zach Johnson 2,019 214 Kenny Perry 1,943 205 Lucas Glover 1,742226 Phil Mickelson 1,630 147 Yang Yong-eun 1,621 198 Geoff Ogilvy 1,603 169 Brian Gay 1,540 2110 Sean O'Hair 1,474 19
The Barclays The Barclays was played August 27–30. Of the 125 players eligible to play in the event, only one did not enter—Paul Casey (18), due to a rib injury. Of the 124 entrants, 77 made the second-round cut at +5.
Heath Slocum, who only made the top 125 and the tournament field by two FedEx Cup points, won by sinking a 20-foot (6 m) par putt on the final hole, putting him one shot ahead of a distinguished group consisting of Ernie Els, Pádraig Harrington, Steve Stricker, and Tiger Woods. The top 100 players in the points standings advanced to the Deutsche Bank Championship.
FedEx Cup rankPlacePlayerScoreTo parWinnings ($)AfterBefore1 Heath Slocum 66-72-70-67=275 −9 1,350,000 3 124T2 Ernie Els 72-68-70-66=276 −8 495,000 11 47 Pádraig Harrington 67-75-67-67=276 14 66 Tiger Woods 70-72-67-67=276 1 1 Steve Stricker 69-70-68-69=276 2 2T6 Nick Watney 68-73-69-67=277 −7 260,625 7 13 Freddie Jacobson 66-72-68-71=277 48 1078 Webb Simpson 66-68-72-72=278 −6 232,500 41 85T9 Scott Verplank 73-70-68-68=279 −5 202,500 37 61 Ian Poulter 67-72-70-70=279 21 34 Paul Goydos 65-71-68-75=279 33 49
Deutsche Bank Championship The Deutsche Bank Championship was played September 4–7. Of the 100 players eligible to play in the event, only one did not enter—Paul Casey (27), due to a rib injury. Of the 99 players who entered the tournament, 73 of them made the 36-hole cut at one-under-par. Steve Stricker won by one stroke over Jason Dufner and Scott Verplank and took the lead in the FedEx Cup standings. The top 70 players in the points standings advanced to the BMW Championship.
FedEx Cup rankPlacePlayerScoreTo parWinnings ($)AfterBefore1 Steve Stricker 63-72-65-67=267 −17 1,350,000 1 2T2 Jason Dufner 66-69-68-65=268 −16 660,000 9 57 Scott Verplank 65-68-68-67=268 5 37T4 Ángel Cabrera 65-69-70-65=269 −15 310,000 22 38 Pádraig Harrington 67-67-67-68=269 7 14 Dustin Johnson 68-65-70-66=269 10 207 Geoff Ogilvy 66-68-70-66=270 −14 251,250 8 12T8 Jim Furyk 63-67-73-68=271 −13 217,500 18 18 Retief Goosen 65-67-68-71=271 17 17 Sean O'Hair 66-64-70-71=271 16 16
BMW Championship The BMW Championship was played September 10–13. Of the 70 players eligible to play in the event, only one did not enter—Paul Casey (36), due to a rib injury. With a field limited to 70, and 69 actually playing, there was no cut. The top 30 players in FedEx Cup points after this event advanced to the Tour Championship and also earned spots in the 2010 Masters, U.S. Open, and (British) Open Championship.
Tiger Woods blew away the field in Saturday's third round with a course-record 62 and cruised from there to win by eight shots over Jim Furyk and Marc Leishman. Woods retook the lead in the FedEx Cup standings going into the Tour Championship. Furyk moved from 18th in the standings to third, putting him into position to claim the FedEx Cup with a win in the Tour Championship. Leishman, who only made the field for the BMW Championship by making an eagle on the final hole of the Deutsche Bank Championship, placed himself in the field for the Tour Championship.
The real drama was for the 30th and final spot in the Tour Championship. Brandt Snedeker was in the final 30 until disaster struck on the final hole. Needing only a bogey to secure his place in Atlanta, and on the green of the par-4 hole in three, he missed his par putt from 12 feet and then had his 3-foot putt for bogey lip out. Snedeker then two-putted from tap-in range. That opened the door for John Senden and Ian Poulter, but both seemingly tried to throw away their shots at a trip to Atlanta. Senden badly chucked his approach shot to the par-5 15th, and hit a bunker shot into the water on 17 for a double-bogey, but Snedeker's mistake allowed him to sneak into the top 30 by 0.46 points over Poulter, who hit his approach on the 18th hole into the water.
With the FedEx Cup points reset after the BMW Championship, all 30 remaining players had at least a mathematical chance to secure the season crown, and any of the top five players could claim the FedEx Cup with a win in the Tour Championship.
FedEx Cup rankPlacePlayerScoreTo parWinnings ($)AfterBefore1 Tiger Woods 68-67-62-68=265 −19 1,350,000 1 2T2 Jim Furyk 70-70-67-66=273 −11 660,000 3 18 Marc Leishman 67-69-68-69=273 16 674 Sean O'Hair 70-68-70-68=274 −10360,000 7 165 Zach Johnson 73-65-70-68=276 −8300,000 4 4T6 Sergio García 71-68-68-71=278 −6 260,625 38 55 Pádraig Harrington 68-68-69-73=278 6 7T8 Camilo Villegas 68-74-71-66=279 −5 225,000 42 52 Kevin Na 72-72-65-70=279 18 23T10 Luke Donald 70-69-68-73=280 −4 172,50028 32 Bill Haas 71-68-71-70=280 41 47 Matt Kuchar 71-68-66-75=280 40 46 Brandt Snedeker 69-69-66-76=280 33 42 Mark Wilson 69-66-71-74=280 32 41
Reset points The points were reset after the BMW Championship. PlacePlayerPointsReset pointsEvents1 Tiger Woods 7,108 2,500 162 Steve Stricker 5,692 2,250 213 Jim Furyk 3,108 2,000 214 Zach Johnson 3,031 1,800 245 Heath Slocum 3,005 1,600 266 Pádraig Harrington 2,633 1,400 197 Sean O'Hair 2,624 1,200 228 Scott Verplank 2,416 1,000 239 Kenny Perry 2,318 800 2310 Jason Dufner 2,224 600 25
The Tour Championship The Tour Championship was played September 24–27, after a one-week break. All 30 golfers who qualified for the tournament played, and there was no cut.
Phil Mickelson claimed his first PGA Tour title since his wife and mother were both diagnosed with breast cancer in spring 2009. This was also his second Tour Championship title, as he won the 2000 edition, also held at East Lake. Mickelson entered the final round four shots behind Kenny Perry, but shot 65 while Perry faded to a 74. Three golfers—top seed Tiger Woods, second seed Steve Stricker, and Mickelson—had a reasonable chance of claiming the FedEx Cup entering the final nine holes, but consecutive birdies by Woods on the 15th and 16th holes secured his second-place finish for the tournament, three shots behind Mickelson. Since Mickelson was not among the top five seeds entering the Tour Championship, this was enough for Woods to secure the FedEx Cup and its $10 million prize.
FedEx Cup rankPlacePlayerScoreTo parWinnings ($)AfterBefore1 Phil Mickelson 73-67-66-65=271 −9 1,350,000 2 142 Tiger Woods 67-68-69-70=274 −6 810,000 1 13 Sean O'Hair 66-70-70-69=275 −5 517,500 5 7T4 Pádraig Harrington 67-69-71-69=276 −4 330,000 7 6 Kenny Perry 72-66-64-74=276 9 96 Steve Stricker 70-72-66-69=277 −3 270,000 3 2T7 Jim Furyk 72-68-71-67=278 −2 247,500 4 3 Steve Marino 69-71-67-71=278 15 259 Ernie Els 71-66-71-71=279 −1 225,000 16 22T10 Lucas Glover 68-71-72-69=280 E 202,50017 20 Jerry Kelly 71-67-71-71=280 22 29 John Senden 70-70-69-71=280 24 30
Final leaderboard PlacePlayerPointsWinnings ($)1 Tiger Woods 4,000 10,000,0002 Phil Mickelson 2,920 3,000,0003 Steve Stricker 2,750 2,000,0004 Jim Furyk 2,437 1,500,0005 Sean O'Hair 2,200 1,000,000 6 Zach Johnson 2,072 800,0007 Pádraig Harrington 2,050 700,0008 Heath Slocum 1,855 600,0009 Kenny Perry 1,450 550,00010 Scott Verplank 1,245 500,000 For the full list see here.
Table of qualifying players Table key:
PlayerPre-PlayoffsThe BarclaysDeutsche BankBMW Champ.ResetpointsTour Champ.PointsRankFinishRank afterFinishRank afterFinishRank afterFinishFinal rank3,4311121112,1552211232,019344461,993456991,7425CUT91420171,63061012142*1,621761521231,6038CUT12813131,540981317211,47410CUT1616751,45911171715181,39412131919191,3881371112121,28214152123271,2251519CUT2526281,188161818341,16317CUT26CUT3534––341,16118DNP27DNP36DNP52––521,15519201011141,1122031CUT3945––451,06821282429221,0232235CUT4847––471,021232223182699324253228309802524CUT3336––36968262927272996827CUT3822242596328302837––3795729343435––359383023262515937313929302493732424949––4992033CUT433846––469073421CUT3031––3188635CUT505242––4285136404451––5184837474132––328463832CUT4043––4383839363139––3982340CUT525358––5882241CUT53CUT6563––6378742CUT57910117754349CUT5760––6076244CUT62CUT75––––75760455971––––717434645CUT5450––507334711CUT20221672748515861––617254933CUT4354––547035054CUT7059––5969551CUT7080––––8069352584544––4468353695056––5667754CUT725953––53*66955CUT746664––6466756CUT756865––6566257CUT7674––––74657587383––––8364759CUT7881––––81*64560CUT79CUT90––––906416137581063562556269––6963163CUT816968––6861764444233––33611656564WD70––70608661476759967463748––4859868826167––6759769CUT8486––––8659270CUT876355––55590716473––––7358172566066––6658073CUT88CUT93––––935697467CUT84––––8456675CUT9082––––8255776CUT92CUT95––––9555577604640––40*54778CUT93671620*54379CUT9487––––875438077CUT89––––8954281CUT9596––––9653582614741––41*53183CUT9688––––88*531846872––––72*5198541CUT5162––62518868976––––7651287CUT98CUT99––––99*5078891CUT94––––9450189715538––3849990CUT99100––––100492918085––––8549292CUT101––––––1014919363CUT79––––7949194CUT102––––––10248095CUT105––––––105*4699697CUT98––––98*46397CUT106––––––1064529886CUT92––––92*448996677––––7744110010097––––97440101CUT108––––––108433102CUT109––––––109431103CUT111––––––111428104CUT112––––––112425105CUT113––––––113421106CUT114––––––114418107485657––574171088591––––91*414109107––––––107412110116––––––116411111CUT117––––––117400112104––––––104391113CUT118––––––118389114CUT119––––––119386115115––––––115379116110––––––110*379117CUT120––––––120*377118CUT122––––––122*377119103––––––103373120121––––––121*365121123––––––123364122CUT124––––––124363123CUT125––––––12535512413CUT3583541258378––––78 * First-time Playoffs participant
References