2011 FedExCup champion: Bill Haas

The 2011 PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup came to a thrilling conclusion with the first-ever sudden death playoff for the FedExCup. With a trio of pars, including a brilliant save out of a greenside water hazard on the second playoff hole, Bill Haas defeated Hunter Mahan to win the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola and the FedExCup. Haas, who had lost two playoffs earlier in the season, broke through to claim his first win of 2011 on the TOUR's most pressure-packed stage. The 29-year-old Wake Forest graduate headed to Atlanta for his first appearance in the TOUR Championship at No. 25 in the standings and left a FedExCup champion. Here's a look at Haas' season and how he won the FedExCup:

CHAMPIONS: '07: Woods | '08: Singh | '09: Woods | '10: Furyk | '11: Haas | '12 Snedeker | Archive 
2011 TOURNAMENT VIDEO RECAPS: Barclays | Deutsche Bank | BMW Champ. | TOUR Championship

Haas' reaction to winning the FedExCup

• On when he realized he had won the FedExCup: "We went up and did some TV interviews up in the grandstands there on 18 and both trophies were there and there was no other player, (laughter), so I kind of assumed and I looked at my wife and she was there, and she nodded her head. So that was when I realized." • On not knowing the FedExCup was on the line in the playoff: "I knew if I won, that was the only way I could win the FedExCup. If I finished second, I knew I couldn't win the FedExCup. So in theory I knew I was playing for it. I'm not going to sit there and say, well, it's not a million on the line here, there's $11 million, let's put some more pressure on it, because it's not worth it. It's not worth that stress. I was just trying to win that golf tournament ... I was just trying to hit each shot, and now it just fell that way. It's awesome." • On overcoming adversity down the stretch: "I can't say the word fortunate or lucky or whatever enough. I hit horrendous shots. I just fortunately hit really good recovery shots. I wish I wouldn't have been in that situation, I wish I could have hit a good tee shot on 16 in regulation and made par, and I wish I could have made the putt from 10 feet on 18 in regulation, and all this wouldn't be we'd still be talking here, but it would be not nearly as cool, I guess, or not nearly as exciting for the fans. That's not the reason I did it, but yeah, I don't know." • On his blast from a greenside water hazard on No 17: "You play it like a bunker shot, for those of you that want to know, if there's a little bit of water, if you don't mind getting your feet dirty, and then blast it out of there. It came out perfect. Lucky." • On what he will do with the $10 million bonus: "I think I need to think about it long and hard, but I do need to give myself some sort of reward, some sort of toy or whatever it may be, I'll reward myself. Me and my wife are maybe in the process of building a house. We've got plans, got land and all that stuff, and this goes right towards it. That's huge. That would be a big chunk. I'll try not to think about it too much. Just the next tournament we play, everybody is even, and I've got to go out and grind it out again."

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Season in review

Bill Haas One "All-or-nothing shot" from Bill Haas on the second playoff hole at East Lake Golf Club transformed his 2011 season from "What might have been" to "One for the ages." Haas, who was winless in 2011 with a pair of playoff defeats, hadn't been inside the FedExCup top 10 since February when he surged from 25th to 1st at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola. The 29-year-old got off to a quick start, notching three of his seven 2011 top 10s in his first three starts, including a playoff loss in his Bob Hope Classic title defense. Haas flew under the radar for much of the summer, emerging for a playoff appearance at The Greenbrier Classic and a T12 at the PGA Championship in Atlanta. He entered the Playoffs at No. 15 in the FedExCup, giving up 10 spots with finishes of T24, T61 and T16. After a closing 78 at Cog Hill, Haas rebounded with four rounds in the 60s at East Lake en route to winning the FedExCup. As a bonus, two days after claiming the trophy, Haas was selected by U.S. Captain Fred Couples for his first Presidents Cup appearance.

How Haas got here

Breaking down the FedExCup points won and rank after each start in 2011

Rank Change in rank Tournament Finish Points earned Points for year Points behind 1 24 TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola 1 2500* 2,760 25 -1 BMW Championship T16 262.5 1,788 3,473 24 -6 Deutsche Bank Championship T61 35 1,525 3,186 18 -3 The Barclays T24 217.5 1,490 2,201 15 0 Wyndham Championship CUT 0 1,273 633 15 2 PGA Championship T12 62.286 1,273 633 17 -5 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational T63 7.5 1,210 634 12 10 The Greenbrier Classic P2 245 1,203 595 22 -1 British Open Championship T57 11.5 958 840 21 -1 AT&T National T34 35.5 946 852 20 0 U.S. Open T23 45 911 544 20 -1 the Memorial Tournament T45 23.5 866 566 19 1 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial T8 82.5 842 541 20 -1 THE PLAYERS Championship CUT 0 760 623 19 3 Wells Fargo Championship 4 135 760 599 22 -1 The Heritage T30 38.5 625 582 21 -3 Masters Tournament T42 28.5 586 575 18 -3 Arnold Palmer Invitational CUT 0 558 603 15 -1 Transitions Championship CUT 0 558 528 14 -4 WGC-Cadillac Championship T31 38.5 558 517 10 -2 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship T33 22.5 519 536 8 -3 Northern Trust Open T12 55.889 497 512 5 0 Waste Management Phoenix Open T29 38.5 441 567 5 -1 Farmers Insurance Open T9 72.5 403 269 4 4 Bob Hope Classic P2 245 330 204 8 0 Hyundai Tournament of Champions 8 85 85 415

* - points after reset

Playoffs results

Year Barclays Deutsche Bank BMW Champ. TOUR Champ. Final FEC Position 2011 T24 T61 T16 1 1st 2010 T47 T22 T30 DNP 31st 2009 T24 T15 T10 DNP 41st 2008 T55 T69 DNP DNP 73rd 2007 T48 DNP DNP DNP 126th

Results at The TOUR Championship

Year Finish Rd. 1 Rd. 2 Rd. 3 Rd. 4 Total To par Money won 2011 1 67 67 69 68 272 -8 1,440,000