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By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Correspondent

NORTON, Mass. -- In his pre-tournament press conference on Thursday, Tiger Woods had a lot to say about the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

"We have never had this type of system where it's points," he said. "Our TOUR has always been about the money list."

Jason Gore's caddie, Louis Pollard, knows exactly what needs to happen for his man to advance. (Michael Cohen/WireImage)

• All About the FedExCup Playoffs

Tiger said players were still getting used to thinking in terms of points. As that happens, he said guys will figure out the routing of the points and be able to determine where they needed to finish in order to advance in the Playoffs.

There is one group of people who seem to be well ahead of that curve, though.

Take Louis Pollard, for example. Jason Gore's gregarious looper looks like a hockey player or an extra in an old spaghetti western. He isn't shaving during the Playoffs. He isn't even trimming around the edges. He hopes to look completely ridiculous in a couple of weeks.

But Louis knows that his man needs to finish eighth or better to be among the 70 players who advance to the BMW Championship next week. Like most of the other caddies on TOUR, Louis has done the math. He probably did it when he normally would have been shaving.

Coming into the Deutsche Bank Championship, Jason was 83rd in the FedExCup standings. In other words, he needs to pass 13 players this week to advance. For most of us, the points system is still a little confusing. As Tiger said, it will take a little getting used to.

Cliff Kresge has done the math as well. Cliff and his caddy figured out that they would need to finish third alone or better to advance next week. They are both clean shaven -- well, almost. The University of Central Florida graduate is sporting a goatee but that isn't new for the playoffs; Kresge has had it all year.

As you make your way down the driving range or hang around the caddy wagon, you quickly realize that the men who tote bags for the boys on the bubble have calculated every possibility and eventuality. It is a little-known fact that there are more college degrees in the caddy wagon than there are in the locker room.

The caddies have a lot at stake during the Playoffs. While their eyes are on the points list, their more practical side is concerned with the fact that there are four tournaments with $7 million up for grabs in each. More than $1.2 million goes to the winner each week and 10 percent of that goes to his caddy, so there is a lot of scratch at stake.

The final two Playoff events, the BMW Championship and THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, don't have a cut. Every player in the field will receive a check, which means that every caddy will earn a percentage.

The basic formula for caddy percentages is five percent if his player finishes outside the top 10, seven percent if he finishes 10th or better and 10 percent for a win. In a tournament with a $7 million purse, an eight-way tie for 12th will earn the player a little more than $125,000. That is a little more than $6,000 to the looper.

While the new system has changed the way that we quantify good play, certain aspects of professional golf remain unchanged. For the caddies, the business of the game has gotten more inviting but the elements remain the same.

As for the No. 1 player in the world, his approach hasn't changed, either. After he talked about how players are becoming familiar with the system, Tiger added, "but Ws take care of everything."

The caddies will be the first to tell you that there are 9,000 points available to the winner of a Playoff event. They can also tell you where a win would put their player on the points list. Oh, and by the way, a win for Tiger would put him back in first.