What will it take to grab the final Playoffs spot?

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Aug. 10, 2011
By PGATOUR.COM staff

The top 125 players in FedExCup points after next week's Wyndham Championship will advance to the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

Considering that two-time FedExCup champion Tiger Woods enters this week's PGA Championship outside the top 125 -- he currently ranks 129th -- it will be interesting to see whether he can accrue enough points at the Atlanta Athletic Club to secure his spot in the Playoffs. This will be Woods' last chance, since he will not be in the field at Wyndham.

Two years ago, the 125th player in the standings after Wyndham had 354 points. Last year, that total was 380 points.

Woods currently has 318 points. To get to the 2009 level, he would need 36 points, which would be a solo 35th-place finish this week. To get to the 2010 level, he would need 62 points, which would be a solo 14th-place finish.

Of course, there is no way to pinpoint right now exactly how many points he will need. The 125th position in the last two years at this point were at higher point totals than the 320 points that this week's 125th player -- Camilo Villegas -- has going into the PGA Championship (see chart below).

Point total for 125th player in final few weeks
Year After WGC-Bridgestone After PGA Champ. After Wyndham
2009 324 points 329 points 354 points
2010 366 points 366 points 380 points
2011 320 points ?? ??

So there's a remote possibility that Woods could squeeze into the playoffs even if he does finish outside the top 35; it simply depends on how the rest of the field shakes out this week and at Wyndham.

Trying to guess what the final point total is difficult. Over the course of this year, the point total for the 125th player trended slightly lower for most of the year but picked up in June before falling well below the 2010 level at the end of July (see chart below).

Point level for 125th position in last three years of FedExCup
Year After Jan. After Feb. After March After April After May After June After July
2009 19 69 113 167 216 265 306
2010 17 67 111 159 212 260 345
2011 21 59 110 152 197 268 308

So what's it all mean? That Tiger Woods, and any player outside the top 125 hoping to make a move this week, shouldn't leave anything a chance.

There are, however, two things we can guarantee:: 1) a win by any TOUR member at this week's PGA Championship will get 600 points, more than enough to make the Playoffs, and 2) Woods -- and any other player currently outside the top 125 -- will not make the Playoffs if he doesn't make the cut this week and doesn't play next week.

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