FedExCup Insider: A half-point away from East Lake

MEDINAH, Ill. – Ten years ago, Ian Poulter thought he was headed to the TOUR Championship. Only he wasn’t.

“I was sitting on a plane tied 30th, delighted to go to East Lake – and then being told the plane is going somewhere else,” Poulter recalled Wednesday on the eve of this week’s BMW Championship.

“Yeah, I remember it. It’s only been 10 years.”

In other words, yeah, it still stings.

Those 2009 FedExCup Playoffs were the first under an adjusted points system. Substantial changes were made, including the points structure, with the goal of tightening up the competition and preventing the FedExCup from being decided prior to the TOUR Championship, the Playoffs finale. The year before, Vijay Singh merely had to show up at East Lake to claim his trophy.

The impact certainly was felt at the BMW Championship, played that year at Cog Hill and won by Tiger Woods. Poulter tied for 20th that week. So did John Senden.

That left Senden in 30th place in the FedExCup standings with 1,532.406 points.

Poulter finished 31st with 1,531.954 points.

The difference? 0.452 of a point.

It remains the closest finish in FedExCup Playoffs history between the 30th player advancing to East Lake and the 31st player who didn’t. Senden took 6,745 strokes that FedExCup season to Poulter’s 3,967. One more stroke by Senden or one less by Poulter that season, and Poulter likely would’ve been headed to Atlanta.

Poulter knows he had no one to blame but himself. Starting the final round two strokes worse than Senden on the leaderboard, Poulter opened with four bogeys and a double bogey in his first seven holes. Senden, playing four groups behind, also started slowly, dropping three shots in his first six holes.

Poulter found the water at 18 but got up-and-down for bogey to shoot 75. Senden suffered a late double bogey and shot 77.

Two weeks later, Senden was at East Lake. He was a long-shot to win the then-$10 million FedExCup prize, but at least he had a shot. It was the first of four career appearances for Senden in the TOUR Championship.

As for Poulter? He’s made the Playoffs 12 times, including this season. He’s yet to play the TOUR Championship. Of the 27 players in this week’s field who have never played the TOUR Championship, none have made more Playoffs appearances than Poulter’s 0-for-11 mark. Vaughn Taylor is the closest with eight previous Playoffs without a top-30 trip. (See table below.)

Poulter’s drought is understandable when you consider his tournament results in the Playoffs events. He’s made 31 career starts, has missed nine cuts, and has just five top 10s. With a best tournament finish of T-9, he’s never been able to rack up those big points that come with a top-3 result.

“If you don’t play great in the Playoffs, you’re going to go backwards,” Poulter said. “I don’t think I’ve played great in the Playoffs, and therefore I’ve gone backwards. It’s a simple process.

“It hasn’t bothered me. It means I’ve had an extra week off. So I don’t mind those extra weeks off. I play a big-enough schedule during the year. I play two tours, and I’m busy. It really hasn’t bothered me – and that’s the honest answer to that.”

Due to his commitment to the European Tour, Poulter doesn’t make as many starts on the PGA TOUR as most of his competitors, and thus his opportunities to acquire FedExCup points are limited. For instance, during that 2009 season, Poulter made 17 starts to Senden’s 28. He’s never made more than 20 starts in any FedExCup season.

“It’s not easy,” Poulter acknowledged. “If you break it down and look at it, I don’t play 27 events on the PGA TOUR. So I’m always up against it when you want to go and play against Charles Howell and the guys that play 26, 27, 28 events on the PGA TOUR.

“I have two tour cards. I respect my European Tour card and I play my fair share in Europe, and I always have done and I always will do. But that sacrifice is a financial sacrifice. … Would it be better if I played 27 events here? Yes. Would that be a good thing for the European Tour? No. So I get it. I’ve sacrificed money, but money is not everything.”

Maybe he won’t have to sacrifice it this year, especially with the FedExCup winner’s share boosted to $15 million. Poulter enters this week ranked 43rd in points, so he needs a big week to climb into the top 30. According to the scenarios, a 10th place or better finish might do it.

Given his heroics the last time he was here – the 2012 Ryder Cup when he helped spearhead the European rally – maybe he can tap into his Medinah magic one more time.

“I’d like to get there because apparently the course is one that should suit my game,” Poulter said of East Lake. “I’m 43 [in age as well as points]. I’m in the same position I probably was at Cog Hill where I need to do some work to make it there. This is hopefully a good venue for me.”

And maybe the next time he hops on a plane, it really will be going to East Lake.