Top 10 FedExCup Playoff Events

Editors Note: On the eve of the FedExCup Playoffs 10th anniversary, PGATOUR.com’s Ben Everill takes a look at his Top 10 Playoff events since the concepts inception in 2007.

10. 2008 The Barclays

Ridgewood Country Club, Paramus NJ
Par 71
Winner: Vijay Singh (70,70,66,70 – 276 / -8)

On his way to winning the 2008 FedExCup Vijay Singh opened the Playoffs with an exciting win in The Barclays.

Early on it did not appear likely after he sat eight shots behind Hunter Mahan’s opening 62 and remained eight back of Steve Stricker at the halfway mark. But a more than tidy 66 in round three, helped by three late birdies, closed the margin to one heading into the final round.

Kevin Sutherland set the clubhouse target at 8 under early, a mark Sergio Garcia seemed likely to beat given he birdied the 10th to get there. But a bogey on No. 16 forced him to birdie the next just to get back into playoff territory.

Fiji’s Singh also needed to birdie the 17th to get into extra holes with the American and Spaniard.

Playing the 18th again in sudden death Garcia knocked in a 27-foot birdie with his exuberant celebration including a fist pump and kiss blown toward the television tower where upcoming Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo was sitting in his role as an announcer. The putt knocked out Sutherland.

Singh failed to be rattled, knocking in his own birdie from 26 feet to extend the playoff.

It was Singh’s fourth Barclays title, but first in the Playoffs format.

9. 2009 BMW Championship

Cog Hill Golf and Country Club, Lemont IL
Par 71
Winner: Tiger Woods (68,67,62,68 – 265 / -19)

This one wasn’t close but it was certainly fun to watch.

Tiger Woods claimed his fifth BMW Championship title with a dominant display at Cog Hill in 2009. A course-record 62 in the third round blitzed the field and opened a seven-shot lead, which he increased to eight on Sunday.

The 62 was even more impressive given Woods bogeyed the opening hole. The highlights included a 310-yard approach to 10 feet to set up eagle on the ninth and five birdies in a seven-hole stretch on the back nine.

It was the 71st win of his PGA TOUR career and tied Walter Hagen with a tournament-record five wins at the BMW Championship (1997, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2009). It became the fifth tournament he had won at least five times.

Rookie Marc Leishman was the other impressive performance, pushing himself towards eventual rookie of the year honors with a tie for second. He and Woods were the only players with four rounds in the 60s.

8. 2014 TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola

East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta GA
Par 70
Winner: Billy Horschel (66,66,69,68 – 269 / -11)

Billy Horschel backed up a win at the BMW Championship with another stunning four-day effort at East Lake, staring down and beating Rory McIlroy on the way to the FedExCup title.

Either player was guaranteed the FedExCup should he win the TOUR Championship, and it turned into an old-fashioned shootout on Sunday.

McIlroy was the game’s hottest player after winning The Open Championship, the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA in consecutive starts less than two months earlier. But Horschel took control early on Sunday, making birdie on the fifth hole to take a lead he would not relinquish.

McIlroy made a water-logged double bogey on the tough par-3 sixth and when he notched three bogeys in a row starting at the ninth he was inexplicably out of the fight.

It was left to Jim Furyk to try to put pressure on Horschel. The 2010 FedExCup champ gained a share of the lead with a birdie on the 15th hole but his hopes ended with back-to-back bogeys to close his round.

Horschel sat 82nd on the FedExCup list after The Barclays but after being second at the Deutsche Bank Championship and winning at the BMW Championship and East Lake he walked away with $13,477,333.33 for his last three weeks of work.

“I'm on cloud nine. It's unbelievable. The year I had, I wasn't sure this was going to happen, but I kept believing, everyone on my team kept believing in me and just kept my head up high," said Horschel.

7. 2015 TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola

East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta GA
Par 70
Winner: Jordan Spieth (68,66,68,69 – 271 / -9)

Jordan Spieth’s four-shot win in the 2015 TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola was an impressive one that ultimately capped off a sensational year.

Spieth came to East Lake with four wins, including the Masters and U.S. Open, as well as a tie for fourth at The Open Championship and second at the PGA. So it seemed almost impossible that he was in a battle for Player of the Year honors.

But he was after Jason Day claimed the RBC Canadian Open, the PGA, The Barclays and the BMW Championship in a late season blitz to go with his earlier Farmers Insurance Open title. Day had not only overtaken Spieth for wins on the year but also wrestled the world No. 1 spot from his grasp.

Spieth’s win did not come easy. After an opening 68 he sat five shots adrift of leader Henrik Stenson but after a 66 on Friday he pushed up to second place, just three behind the Swede.

Spieth led by one after the third round, leaving a Sunday shootout on the cards.

When Spieth bogeyed Nos. 5 and 6, he and Stenson, who won the FedExCup in 2013, were tied. But the American prodigy grabbed a two-stroke lead and was never headed when he birdied No. 8 and Stenson made bogey. Spieth eventually won by four.

Spieth became the youngest winner of the FedExCup and of the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola at the age of 22 years, 2 months and it was his sixth PGA TOUR win in his 83rd PGA TOUR start. He became the sixth player since 1980 to win five or more times in a season, as well.

With $12,030,465, Jordan Spieth broke the PGA TOUR record for most money won in a season (not including the $10 million bonus). Vijay Singh (2004) held the previous record with $10,905,166, a difference of $1,125,299.

6. 2007 Deutsche Bank Championship

TPC Boston, Norton MA
Par 71Winner: Phil Mickelson (70,64,68,66 – 268 / -16)

It didn’t take long to get a thrilling duel between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the Playoffs. In just the second event of the new system the two were paired together in the penultimate group in the final round to give the fledgling FedExCup the firepower it promised to deliver.

The duo was actually paired over the opening two rounds with Mickelson getting the edge with rounds of 70-64 to Woods’ 72-64. After being separated in round three they were back together for the final round where Brett Wetterich led at 13 under and Arron Oberholser was a shot back.

The real interest, though, was with Mickelson at 11 under and Tiger at 10 under. They both birdied the second to pull within one and two of the lead, respectively, before Mickelson hit the gas pedal.

Back-to-back birdies on Nos. 4 and 5 gave Lefty sole possession of the lead, with a three-shot buffer on Woods. Mickelson led Oberholser by three and Woods by four at the turn, but his double bogey on the 12th reinvigorated the chase.

Woods applied the head with a birdied at No. 14 and another on the par-3 16th. Mickelson however would not be denied, sticking his own tee shot even tighter there and matching Woods’ birdie to maintain his two-shot buffer.

Both finished par-birdie, enough for Mickelson to grab the glory. Oberholser stayed within one with his own birdie on No. 16 but couldn’t make birdie on the 17th and needing an eagle on the last could only manage par.

5. 2009 The Barclays

Liberty National Golf Club, Jersey City NJ
Par 71
Winner: Heath Slocum (66,72,70,67 – 275 / -9)

In one of the ultimate ‘upsets’ in the early history of the Playoffs, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington and Steve Stricker were among those bested in the final round by Heath Slocum.

Slocum, who had two TOUR wins, barely found his way into the Playoffs at 124th on the FedExCup list. But in a classic ‘you’ve got to be in it to win it’ moment he surged home with a 67 to take out the bigger names on the leaderboard.

Slocum hit his stride in the final round with an eagle hole-out from 158-yards on the fifth hole. A lone birdie on the back nine came at the 13th to give him the buffer he needed. His 21-foot par putt on the 18th obviously proved critical.

Stricker moved to 9 under with birdie on the 16th and only needed to par home to potentially get into sudden death. But he missed from 10 feet on the 18th to fall one back.

Harrington birdied Nos. 12, 13 and 14 to move to 7 under but he left his run too late with his last birdie coming on 18.

And what about Woods? He birdied Nos. 14 and 16 to get to 8 under and had a 20-foot chance on 17 and a 7-foot chance on 18 to push to nine deep. But both missed leaving Slocum to reign supreme.

4. 2013 The Barclays

Liberty National Golf Club, Jersey City NJ
Par 71
Winner: Adam Scott (69,66,72,66 – 273 / -11)

Australian Adam Scott pulled off an unlikely victory with a final round 66, posting 11 under around 90 minutes ahead of the final group and watching a raft of chasers falter trying to reel him in.

The reigning Masters champion began the final round a whopping six strokes back of co-leaders Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland but created the biggest comeback in event history to finish one clear of world No. 1 Tiger Woods (69), US Open champion Justin Rose (68), Canadian Graham DeLaet (65) and Woodland (73).

The four bridesmaids all looked like potential winners throughout an exciting Sunday but in the end Scott’s score held firm.

Woods sat 11 under at the turn but made bogeys on Nos. 10, 13 and 15 as his back began to give way. Showing his usual bulldog spirit, though, Woods bounced back with birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 and was within a ball revolution of birdie on the last from off the green to force a playoff.

Rose, meanwhile, three-putted the final green for bogey from 25 feet after trying to take the outright lead with an aggressive first putt. Woodland had 10-footers to join the lead and force a playoff on the last three holes but missed them all.

British Open champion Phil Mickelson (65) set the galleries alight early, climbing to 10 under through 16 holes but ultimately needing birdie on 18, he made bogey to finish two back.

3. 2011 TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola

East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta GA
Par 70
Winner: Bill Haas (68,67,69,68 – 272 / -8)

Points tweaks over the years promised to deliver excitement come TOUR Championship time and in 2011 we certainly got our money’s worth.

While the math showed any player in the 30-man field had a chance to win the FedExCup, it took Bill Haas’ playoff win over Hunter Mahan, which included a stunning up and down from inside a water hazard, to truly prove it.

Haas started the week in 25th place in the FedExCup but rocketed all the way to the $10 million bonus with the biggest win of his career.

With FedExCup front runners Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Webb Simpson struggling the $10 million was truly up for grabs in the final round. Aaron Baddeley and Hunter Mahan held the lead at 9 under while Haas was tied for fifth, three strokes off the pace.

Haas pulled within one with a birdie on the sixth and joined the lead at the turn with another at No. 9, sharing it with Baddeley and Mahan. Further birdies on Nos. 13 and 15 had Haas in control of the tournament, two clear at 10 under before he opened the door again to the challengers with bogeys on Nos. 16 and 18, posting in first at 8 under.

Luke Donald, who came to East Lake ranked fourth and was playing with Haas, could not keep pace but he birdied the last to finish a shot back. In the penultimate group K.J. Choi managed two birdies in his last four holes, but he needed three and was also left a shot back.

Day, who was playing with Choi, was 8 under through 16 holes and had yet to hit his approach on the 17th when he noticed Haas bogeyed No. 18. But he clipped a tree and ended up in a bunker on a downslope and was unable to get up and down.

He gave himself a long look at a tying birdie on 18 and a shot at the big money but ran it past and added insult to injury by missing a short par putt to finish two back.

Bogeys on the 11th and 16th holes proved costly to Baddeley, who regained a shot at No. 17 but missed a long putt on the finale to finish one back. Mahan birdied the 15th to get back to 8 under but couldn’t find another one in the final three holes, forcing a playoff with Haas.

In sudden death both men birdied 18 and then headed to the 17th where Mahan looked set for victory after Haas pulled his approach into the water hazard. Amazingly it stayed in shallow water allowing Haas to attempt a miracle up and down – a miracle he provided to stay alive.

“I figured, boy, he's in the water. If he hits it within qo feet, it's going to be a hell of a shot, and he hit it two feet, so you've got to tip your hat to him," Mahan said.

When they returned to 18 for a third sudden death hole Mahan failed to get up and down from a bunker, leaving a regulation par enough for Haas to claim the win and the FedExCup -- even though he didn’t realize he was the winner of the $10 million until he saw both trophies waiting for him.

2. 2009 TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola

East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta GA
Par 70
Winner: Phil Mickelson (73,67,66,65 – 271 / -9)

Phil Mickelson overcame a four-shot deficit from Kenny Perry’s lead and leapfrogged Tiger Woods in the process on the way to a famous three-shot win at East Lake in 2009. Given Woods had won the previous Playoffs event by eight strokes it was certainly an impressive feat.

Mickelson also had to overcome a terrible start. With a 3-over 73 in the opening round, including a quadruple bogey 8 on the 14th hole, the World Golf Hall of Famer was seven shots off the round one pace set by Sean O’Hair.

Through two rounds Woods held the lead at 5 under with Mickelson pulling within five strokes. Perry fired a 64 in round three to take the lead at 8 under with Woods second, two shots back, and Mickelson lurking at 4 under after a 66.

The final round began with bogey for Woods and then he began to tread water with eight straight pars to finish the front nine. Mickelson, meanwhile, went to the back nine leading by two after shooting 31 while Perry went out in 37.

Perry essentially bowed out with a double bogey on the 13th hole while Woods left the challenge at No. 13 when his bogey created a four-shot deficit. He managed to birdie Nos. 15 and 16 but Mickelson chipped in for birdie on the 16th to put the result beyond doubt.

The win was Mickelson’s 37th career victory and his second at THE TOUR Championship (2000, 2009). The win made him just the second multiple winner at the event (Tiger Woods – 1999, 2007), but the first to win twice at East Lake Golf Club.

Mickelson may have claimed the trophy but Woods won his second FedExCup in just the third year of its existence.

“Obviously, I'm a little disappointed I didn't win the championship because I was right there. But the FedExCup is something very similar to what you have for Player of the Year. It's a cumulative total and something that you have to be consistent the entire year, and it's something that I was,” said Tiger.

1. 2007 BMW Championship

Cog Hill Golf and Country Club. Lemont, IL
Par 71
Winner: TIGER WOODS (67,67,65,63 – 262 / -22)

The 2007 BMW Championship produced an impressive three-man shootout in the final round as Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker and Aaron Baddeley put on a show for the Chicago area faithful.

It took an ultra-impressive, 8-under 63 from Woods in the final round to overcome his one-shot deficit. Ultimately it would be a stretch of four birdies in five holes beginning at No. 12 that allowed him to shake off the challengers, both of whom held the outright lead at times on Sunday.

It was the fourth time Woods had claimed the title at Cog Hill, but the first time in the Playoff system.

Woods played in the group ahead of Baddeley and Stricker and applied pressure through countless gallery roars. But Baddeley was the first to strike, opening with a birdie to lead by one over Stricker and two from Woods.

Woods pulled within one with birdie on the third, while a bogey from Stricker on the same hole sent him two behind. Stricker rebounded with birdie on the fifth and when Baddeley bogeyed on the sixth all of a sudden there was a three-way tie at the top.

Cue the fireworks.

Woods would birdie Nos. 7, 8 and 9 to apply the pressure but Baddeley and Stricker matched him blow for blow. Stricker then made it four straight with a birdie on No. 10 to take the lead by one at 19 under.

Baddeley joined him a hole later and when Woods knocked in a birdie on the 12th the trio was once again deadlocked. Stricker bogeyed the 12th, though, and Woods surged ahead of Baddeley with a birdie on No. 13.

Woods made another birdie on the 15th, which the Australian matched to stay within one. But Baddeley couldn’t muster any more birdies and Woods went to 22 under at the 16, creating his final two-shot buffer.