Harmon Reveals Tiger 'Secrets'

A: Mickelson could have if all the other players in the top five, except Steve Stricker, finished third or worse at Cog Hill. Stricker could have finished fourth and had a remote chance. The point is now moot with Mickelson out of the field.
 
(My opinion: This might even turn out to be a blessing in disguise because the points standings are almost certain to be closer near the top for the TOUR Championship the final week of The Playoffs.
 
Q: What needs to happen for Tiger Woods to pass Mickelson in the FedExCup point standings?
 
A: Second place or better.
 
Q: How many of the 70 remaining players have a mathematical chance to win the FedExCup?
 
A: All of them. No. 70, Bo Van Pelt, will need to win at BMW and Atlanta and have a lot of surprising things happen.
 
Q: How many of the remaining 70 players are guaranteed a spot in Atlanta regardless of how they do at the BMW Championship?
 
A: The top 11 are currently a lock for Atlanta. However, it’s extremely unlikely more than two or three players from outside the top 30 will move in this week. So the top 27 are, de facto, virtually safe. The key to it is this: There are two big gaps between places right now—271 points between (No. 30) Jonathan Byrd and (No. 31) David Toms and 375 points between (No. 32) Stewart Cink and (No. 33) Tim Clark. So if you’re 33rd or lower, you have to jump that 650 point gap, plus the 100 points everybody gets for showing up. Which means Clark needs a 19th place finish at BMW just to get to 30th and that assumes Byrd, Toms and Cink all have bad tournaments.
 
Q: Is it mathematically possible for there to be a tie in the points totals for first place at the end of the TOUR Championship and, if so, how would the winner be determined?
 
A: Yes, it’s possible for there to be a tie at the top after The TOUR Championship. But it’s incredibly unlikely, and because of that, we (The TOUR) haven’t made a provision for it. We may revisit that this week.
 
“But,” says PGA TOUR house FedExCup expert Steve Dennis, “I’m betting my job we don’t need a tiebreaker at the top.”

Email your thoughts to Brian Hewitt
 
Related Links: