Main Event Showdown!
Playoffs? Playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? Even Jim Mora can get behind this event.
Unlike the sandpaper underwear chafing from the rounds and rounds of the NBA, MLB, and NHL playoffs, the PGA Tour crowns their season-long champion over three events.
A quick history of the FedEx Cup:
- Started in 2007, originally four events to wrap the season
- Went from four events down to three in 2019, still wraps with the Tour Championship
- Until 2019, the FedEx Cup champ didn’t need to win the Tour Championship
- Lucrative wrap to the season that pays the winner $15M, up from the original $10M payout
- Winner of the FedEx Cup receives a 5-year exemption
The points allocation and march from the first event to East Lake has undergone more changes than Tiger’s knees and back. Switch this, cut that, move those around...you know, the overall identity of this has really, really been altered.
In addition to crowning the PGA Tour’s season-long champion, we have been witness to some pretty spectacular shots. There’s been many holes-outs, aces, and general artistry over the years. The list is too long to list, but surely we can all reminisce about:
- Bill Haas’ unreal up and down from a lake in 2011
- Rory holing out for eagle on #16 during his last round charge in 2016
- Jon Rahm outdoing DJ’s crazy 45 footer (with 20 feet of break) in last year’s BMW event
There has also been some pretty cool moments that go beyond shots that have been unearthed during the FedEx Cup:
- Heath Slocum winning in 2009 as the #124 player (one guy away from DFL in the field)
- Jim Furyk shooting 59 in 2013 at Conway Farms
- Tiger ends a 5-year drought in 2018 with fans engulfing him on East Lake’s 18th fairway
- Dustin Johnston on “57 watch” in 2020 (he went 1st, 2nd, 1st in the 3 playoff events)
While the FedEx Cup has always tried to steer clear of its manufactured drama, there is no doubt that this three-event boat race to the finish line does a solid job of identifying golf’s best.
