Tiger, Rory, Furyk in the Rain and Haas From the Pond: 10 Memorable FedEx Cup Champs
Those were the days …
Phil Mickelson stood on the first tee at East Lake for the 2002 Tour Championship while playing partner Tiger Woods was introduced. As the starter began to dutifully list Tiger’s many notable accomplishments, Mickelson pretended to be annoyed (are his acting skills really that good?) and interrupted by saying, “All right, all right …”
Everyone laughed, even Woods. Well, that Tour Championship moment was five years before PGA Tour geniuses hatched the FedEx Cup, originally a series of four tournaments (now three) that ended with an overall points champion who claimed a $10 million payday.
The FedEx Cup turns 15 this year. It’s still a year away from being old enough to get a driver’s license. Meanwhile, The Ranking decided to rate the most memorable FedEx Cup finishes based on a variety of complex algorithms and scientific metrics including drama, quality of play, historical significance and an analytic known as, “Because I said so, that’s why.”
Long live the Tour Championship …
10. Rory McIlroy, 2020
Welcome to the PGA Tour’s Head Start Program. The FedEx Cup format was changed to handicap—yes, handicap!—the finale. So Justin Thomas, ranked No. 1, started the event at 10 under par before he hit a shot. McIlroy, seeded fifth, began at 5 under and had to make up five shots on Thomas. It was no problem, it turned out. McIlroy shot a closing 66, won the FedEx Cup handily and would’ve won the title even without the staggered start. But everyone missed Steve Sands on Golf Channel working a white board and showing off his math skills as he kept updating the FedEx Cup points race.
9. Billy Horschel, 2013
After managing only two top-10 finishes all season and missing the cut in the opening FedEx Cup playoff event to fall to No. 82 in the point standings, it wasn’t looking good for Billy Horschel. Then he got hotter than Atlanta in July. Horschel left Rory McIlroy and Jim Furyk in his wake as he shot his 12th straight round in the 60s and rolled to victory. “I’m not sure life can get better than this,” Horschel said after his third tour victory. Well, it could have but Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson passed him over as a wild card choice for the U.S. team that went to Scotland and lost.
8. Rory McIlroy, 2016
Anyone remember who was in this four-hole playoff with Rory? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Well, McIlroy sank a 15-footer for birdie to beat Ryan Moore in the playoff after both men shot closing 64s. The forgotten third member of the playoff was Kevin Chappell, who was eliminated on the first hole. McIlroy and Moore were stars of the Ryder Cup a few weeks later. That Ryder Cup in Minneapolis was noteworthy for a rare happening—the U.S. won.
7. Vijay Singh, 2008
The Ranking was sorely tempted to make this event No. 1 because it suffered a classic glitch. Camilo Villegas established himself as a bright new star by winning the BMW Championship in St. Louis, the third leg of the FedEx Cup race. Upon further review, however, calculations showed that Vijay Singh had clinched the FedEx Cup. All Singh had to do was show up at the Tour Championship and not get disqualified in order to pick up his $10 mill. By the time officials did the math, Singh had already left for the airport and couldn’t be reached, not that he was the king of the media room anyway. In other words, golf had a new FedEx Cup champ and … Vijay has left the building.
6. Patrick Cantlay, 2021
The man known as “Patty Ice” showed why, once again. Cantlay had a one-shot lead going to the Tour Championship’s final hole and was in a tense duel with Spain’s Jon Rahm, ranked No. 1 in the world. Cantlay delivered a 215-yard 6-iron shot to 12 feet to ice his second straight playoff win and secure the FedEx Cup and the giant payoff. “It felt like a huge win,” Cantlay said. His victory comment was just as concise and accurate as his final approach shot.
5. Tiger Woods, 2007
The Tiger bulldozer was still running at full speed in 2007. That was good because it meant the inaugural FedEx Cup got the champion it wanted, golf’s best player. Like most of Tiger’s wins, there was little drama. And he dominated despite skipping the first FedEx Cup event. How did he do that? He shot a combined 59 under par in the next three tournaments, finishing runner-up in the second event and winning the third and fourth events. At East Lake in the Tour Championship, Woods won by a Tiger-esque eight shots and his 23-under-par total was the third-best 72-hole total in golf history at the time. It was all Tiger, all the time … not that there’s anything wrong with that.
4. Jim Furyk, 2010
The only player to win a PGA Tour tournament while wearing his cap backwards was, of all people, old-school Jim Furyk. It was a rain-induced move. He had a 2-foot par putt on the last hole to win the FedEx Cup’s $10 mill, it was raining so he swiveled his cap around to keep the water from dropping off the cap’s brim onto his ball and his line of sight. He made the putt then dropped his putter and punched the air in exultation, a rare show of emotion from a typically stoic golfer. “At that moment, you’re not really responsible for what happens next,” Furyk said later of his celebration. He earned the moment. He bogeyed 16 and 17 to shrink his lead to one stroke, then dumped his tee shot into the greenside bunker at East Lake’s par-3 18th hole. Was Furyk really going to punt away the $10 mill bonanza to Luke Donald? Nope. Furyk played the shot of the tournament, a brilliant bunker shot that wasn’t easy, to within 2 feet. And then some young punk wearing his cap backwards tapped it in for the win. Cool, dude.
3. Bill Haas, 2011
This was the greatest of all FedEx Cup finishes if you’re a PGA Tour curmudgeon who never liked the confusing and fan-unfriendly points system. Haas and Hunter Mahan went to a playoff to see who would win the Tour Championship. Back at the clubhouse, Luke Donald waited to see if he was going to win the FedEx Cup. At the 17th hole, Haas got up and down from a lake, splashing his semi-submerged ball out of the water and onto the green to save par—the shot of the tournament. He finally outlasted Mahan at the next hole and won the Tour Championship. When Haas received a congratulatory handshake from PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, Haas asked who won the FedEx Cup. Uh, you did, Bill. Haas didn’t know. It was a great finish that showed the complicated points system for what it was—total buzzkill.
2. Tiger Woods, 2009
This was exactly what the PGA Tour envisioned when it drew the FedEx Cup blueprint. The Tour Championship turned into Tiger Woods versus Phil Mickelson, the game’s top two players. Woods returned from his 2008 knee surgery and began stomping fields again. He dominated the playoffs. His finishes in the first three FedEx Cup events were second, first and first, the latter an eight-shot romp at the BMW Championship. Woods had a two-shot lead for the Tour Championship’s final round at East Lake but Mickelson shot a sizzling 65 to beat him by three. Mickelson won the Tour Championship and $1 mill, Woods won the FedEx Cup and $10 mill.
Even when he finally topped Tiger, Phil was still overshadowed by him. They shared some byplay later in which Mickelson pointed out (re: crowed) that he had the Tour Championship trophy (and beat Tiger). Tiger replied (re: shut him down) by pointing out that he had the $10 million check. The trash talk title goes to … Tiger. But nice effort, Phil.
1. Justin Rose, 2018
Sorry, Justin, but your clutch last-hole birdie putt to score the $10 mill and the FedEx Cup is the answer to a trivia question no one will answer correctly. Why? Because Tiger Woods blotted out the sun by making his comeback official. Woods won for the first time in five years, notched victory No. 80 with this Tour Championship and had that made-for-TV Pied-Piper moment when he and Rory McIlroy nervously walked up the 18th fairway while a mass of fans ignored the gallery ropes and swarmed along right behind them. It was great television and one of Tiger’s greatest moments, which is saying a lot. “We thought we’d never see it again,” NBC’s Dan Hicks after Woods tapped in his par putt for the win. Said Woods of winning after a five-year drought: “It’s a pretty damned good feeling.” Said Rose of surviving his $10 million drama: “It felt like a slow death most of the day.” Save it for Trivial Pursuit, Justin. That Sunday remains one of Tiger’s finest hours.
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