Tag: fedex cup

Caddie Cash-In

The winner of the FedEx Cup receives a $10 million annuity. The winner of the Tour Championship receives $1.3 million. Tiger is poised to win both of these today. That means his single-day take home is $11.3 million. That’s a lot of bacon, especially when you consider that he can’t touch the $10 million annuity until the miracle of compound interest has turned it into something like $30 or 40 million.

A caddie may get 10% of a players winnings on a “normal” week. There may be a bonus when his player wins. So, a conservative estimate of what Tiger Woods’ caddie, Steve Williams will potentially earn today is $1.13 million. That’s good pay for carrying a bag for four hours.

FedEx Cup Cheat Sheet

The final event of the PGA Tour’s 2007 season starts Thursday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s also the final even in the FedEx Cup playoff series, the winner of which will be awarded the largest prize in sports – a $10 million dollar annuity.

There are 30 players remaining in the playoffs, but only the top six have a chance to win the FedEx Cup. And, realistically, only the top three have a real chance.

FedEx Cup Rankings:

1. Tiger Woods (112,733)
2. Steve Stricker (109,600)
3. Phil Mickelson (108,613)
4. Rory Sabbatini (103,588)
5. K.J. Choi (103,100)
6. Aaron Baddeley (102,800)

Here’s a link to the PGA Tour’s digest of who could win the FedEx Cup depending on who winds the Tour Championship.

FedEx Cup: Projected Standings

The FedEx Cup is the new end-of-season playoff for the PGA Tour. It is comprised of the last four events of the year and the field is reduced after the second event to 70 players and again after the third event to 30 players for the final event, the Tour Championship. Throughout the season players accumulate points, which are used to establish the rankings for the final four-event playoff series. At the start of the four-event series the points are reset, presumably so that the race is competitive. Woods, who had a large lead before the playoff events commenced, was set to 100,000 points. Second place was set to 99,000 points. A mere 1000 points separating the leaders is insignificant considering that the winning share of points for any of the play-off events is about 9000 points.

What has made the new system especially compelling and more user-friendly are the frequently updated “projected standings.” Instead of waiting until each of the individual playoff tournaments conclude to update the point standing, the online scoreboard and the TV commentators provide updates hole by hole. The projected standings change frequently, but that only lends to the excitement.