Schauffele wins Tournament of Champions

GREENSBORO, N.C. – As the 2020-21 FedExCup Regular Season concludes this week with the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club, a bonus pool of $10 million will be awarded to 10 players through the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10. Earning a top 10 spot in the standings entering the FedExCup Playoffs is an important goal for players looking to position themselves for a run at the FedExCup trophy. The Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 emphasizes player performance by rewarding the top players in the FedExCup standings at the end of the FedExCup Regular Season. The current ‘super season’ schedule features 50 official FedExCup tournaments, the most in a season since 1975 (51). “We are proud to recognize the incredible accomplishments of this year’s FedExCup Regular Season winners as part of the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10,” said Eileen Diskin, CMO, Comcast Business. “Through our strategic partnership with the PGA TOUR, we’re able to not only spotlight the best players in the game but showcase our shared commitment to excellence and performance on and off the course. We’re looking forward to an exciting finish to this year’s FedExCup Regular Season and wish all the players on the leaderboard the best of luck!” The current standings are as follows, which includes projected bonuses for the 10 players currently among the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10: • Louis Oosthuizen (8) is the only player in the Wyndham Championship field that can overtake Collin Morikawa and claim the No. 1 spot in the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10. • The following players are in the Wyndham Championship and can move inside the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 with a good finish this week: Jason Kokrak (12), Hideki Matsuyama (14), Patrick Reed (22). “Finishing in the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 is the result of exceptional performance throughout the FedExCup Regular Season,” said PGA TOUR President and EVP Tyler Dennis. “The PGA TOUR’s ‘super season’ of 50 events hasn’t disappointed and has highlighted the importance of every event and every shot. We look forward to honoring the players that finish in the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 following the Wyndham Championship.” In 2019, Brooks Koepka earned the top spot in the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10, while Justin Thomas garnered the honor in 2020 on the strength of three FedExCup Regular Season victories.

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PARAMUS, N.J. – The question was a simple one, and it was put to contestants at THE NORTHERN TRUST at Ridgewood Country Club, the first stop of the highly anticipated FedExCup Playoffs: Is the PGA TOUR Player of the Year race already over? FedExCup No. 3 Brooks Koepka has two majors (U.S. Open, PGA Championship) and two runner-up finishes. Clearly, he’s in pole position. “You win two majors, you’ve got it,â€� 11-time PGA TOUR Player of the Year Tiger Woods said in his press conference at Ridgewood on Tuesday. “It’s not real complicated.â€� Well, yes and no. Since the 1990 inception of the PGA TOUR Player of the Year Award, Nick Price (1994), Mark O’Meara (1998), Woods (four times), Padraig Harrington (2008), Rory McIlroy (2014) and Jordan Spieth (2015) have had multiple-major-winning seasons and won POY. The only player to win two majors and not win it was Nick Faldo in 1990. Although he easily could’ve cited himself as Exhibit A, B, C and D, Woods went back to the example of Mark O’Meara, who won the Masters and Open Championship in 1998. “It was very similar to what DD (David Duval) went through in ’98,â€� Woods said, “with Marco (Mark O’Meara) winning two major championships. I think that trumps — what, DD won four times that year? (He did.) I think two majors trumps it.â€� The big difference, though, is that was before the FedExCup Playoffs were born in 2007. And that’s why most of the players interviewed at Ridgewood refused to call the POY race early. What if a guy gets hot like Billy Horschel did in 2014, or Camilo Villegas in 2008? Three-time winners Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson could make it interesting if they add to their totals at THE NORTHERN TRUST, Dell Technologies Championship, BMW Championship and TOUR Championship, the four corners of TOUR’s post-season. Then there’s Francesco Molinari (Open Championship, Quicken Loans National), with whom Woods went head-to-head at The Open at Carnoustie, and Masters champ Patrick Reed. Spieth, the 2015 PGA TOUR POY, agreed with Woods that Koepka has already wrapped it up, no matter what the Playoffs have in store for chasers like his friend Thomas. “I think he would tell you the same thing,â€� Spieth said. (Actually, no, but more on that later.) Keegan Bradley admitted that Koepka probably has it wrapped up, but added a caveat: The right player, someone immediately behind Koepka, could get red-hot in the Playoffs. “They’d have to win a couple,â€� Bradley said. “Two, I think.â€� Tommy Fleetwood and Jamie Lovemark seconded that. “Two majors out-weighs three wins,â€� Fleetwood said, “but one of them could win the next four.â€� “Maybe Patrick Reed wins the next three,â€� Lovemark said with a laugh. Even realistically, some maintained the POY race remains undecided. “It’s not over,â€� James Hahn said. “Three tournament wins versus two majors? I’ll take the two majors. But four or five tournaments plus the FedExCup? I’ll take that guy.â€� Others echoed that sentiment. “I would go with five wins and a FedExCup,â€� said Jason Kokrak, “because that’s technically six trophies and a lot more money. I don’t think it’s over.â€� Marc Leishman agreed. “I don’t think it’s over,â€� he said. “There’s a lot of golf left, and big tournaments, too.â€� Talk to enough players and you’ll hear all sorts of different opinions, which was how it came out that a small minority wouldn’t give the POY Award to Koepka even if the season ended today. “Right now I’d go with Dustin Johnson, because he’s averaging $430,000 a start, so throw that in your mix,â€� Ryan Palmer said. “Somebody did the math and told me.â€� Palmer’s source corrected him: It’s $460,000 a start after Johnson’s recent win at the RBC Canadian Open. Three total wins. Two seconds. Two thirds. FedExCup No. 1. And $7.3 million. So it’s Dustin, then. Or is it Justin? Anirban Lahiri said he would give the nod to Thomas, who is a scant 83 points behind Johnson in his bid to become the first repeat FedExCup winner since its inception in 2007. Lahiri’s reasoning: Thomas’ ability as a front-runner, plus his excellence on different types of courses, from Firestone South to PGA National to Nine Bridges. “I’m not saying Brooks is a one-dimensional player,â€� Lahiri said. “He’s not. But I can’t give a guy Player of the Year based only on his performances at 7,600-yard courses.â€� (Koepka finished second at the Charles Schwab Challenge at smallish Colonial Country Club.) Ryan Armour was succinct in explaining how Koepka could be caught. “One of the multiple-tournament winners has to go on and win the FedExCup to have any sort of legitimate argument,â€� Armour said. “It would be a toss-up at that point, but I think if Francesco got hot and won the Cup, it would maybe lean his way.â€� Finally, the question was put to defending FedExCup champion Thomas as he made his way from the practice putting green to the short-game area at Ridgewood. Is the Player of the Year race already over? Thomas stopped, furrowed his brow. “It’s not over, no,â€� he said. “Why would it be over?â€�

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