The top 15 moments in FedExCup Playoffs history

The FedExCup turns 15 this year. To celebrate that milestone, here’s one man’s opinion on the 15 most memorable moments in the history of the FedExCup Playoffs:

1. TIGER’S TRIUMPH: You didn’t have to actually be there, like yours truly, when “all hell broke loose” -- as Tiger Woods described the scene on the final hole of the 2018 TOUR Championship -- to remember the moment for the rest of your life. Woods was en route to his first PGA TOUR victory in five long years. His improved play throughout the season was building to this remarkable achievement. He built such a lead that everyone knew on site and around the world that Tiger was going to complete his comeback from another series of serious injuries to win again. The gallery at East Lake Golf Club couldn’t contain its enthusiasm to celebrate along with Tiger. So they stormed through the ropes and escorted him down the fairway to his 80th career victory. It was among the most exciting moments in PGA TOUR history. I bet you remember where you were that day, too.

2. WATER WORLD: There’s drama any time a PGA TOUR player wades into the water to play a shot out of the hazard. Then add the pressure of a sudden-death playoff. For the 2011 TOUR Championship. The FedExCup. And $10 million dollars. Bill Haas was facing Hunter Mahan when his approach shot on the second extra hole at East Lake trickled into the water. With Mahan assured a par, Haas had no choice but to try to pull off a miracle shot. Not only did he splash it out onto the green, but the ball checked next to the hole for a tap-in. With his father and TOUR stalwart Jay Haas watching and his brother Jay, Jr., carrying his bag, Bill made another clutch par at 18 to win the FedExCup. The Haas up-and-down from the water will live forever among golf’s greatest all-time recovery shots.

3. RORY’S ROAR: Thirty-eighth in the FedExCup is a successful season. Unless you’re Rory McIlroy. He turned things around quickly in 2016 with a victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship. McIlroy had come so close to winning it all in 2012 (2nd) and ’14 (3rd) and he seemed on a mission during the final round of the TOUR Championship. As top-ranked Dustin Johnson faltered, Rory holed a wedge shot from 137 yards for a surprise eagle at the 16th hole and birdied the last to force a playoff with Ryan Moore and Kevin Chappell. McIlroy let out a savage scream in triumph when another birdie at the fourth hole of sudden death earned him his first FedExCup. Unfortunately, the moment of victory was overshadowed a few hours later by tragedy when the golf world was devastated to learn that Arnold Palmer had passed away.

4. DJ’S DOMINANCE: Due to the COVID pandemic, the 2020 FedExCup playoffs were in jeopardy of staying on the schedule. No player was more grateful that they were played than Dustin Johnson. DJ blistered TPC Boston to win the first Playoffs event by 11 shots. He was on “57 watch” after playing his first 11 holes of the second round in 11 under, but finished with 7 consecutive pars to shoot 60. Scottie Scheffler did shoot 59 that week, but nobody could keep up with Johnson. His 11-shot win was a Playoffs record and propelled him to the top spot in the rankings. Two weeks later, he used his “starting strokes” advantage at the TOUR Championship to win his first FedExCup and the $15 million top prize.

5. OLYMPIAN EFFORT: Johnson’s historic run in the 2020 Playoffs included a dramatic putt on the 72nd hole at the BMW Championship to force a playoff with Jon Rahm. Olympia Fields was playing particularly difficult (4 under made the playoff), and DJ faced a 43-foot putt… with about 20 feet of break. The putt was so challenging that when Johnson made it, the normally stoic DJ even gave a big fist pump. However, on the first extra hole, Rahm was staring at a similar putt on the 18th green… except it was significantly longer and called for even more break. So, of course, he holed it. Rahm stood toe-to-toe with DJ, and took the heavyweight down with a haymaker of a putt.

6. BILLY’S BEST: Billy Horschel can be a streaky player. No streak in his career was better than the way he finished off the 2014 season. He entered the Deutsche Bank Championship at No. 82 in the FedExCup after missing the cut the week prior. Then he got hot. A runner-up finish in Boston jumped him up to No. 20. Then he got really hot. A victory at the BMW Championship at Cherry Hills in Denver moved him to No. 2. Horschel won it all another victory the following week at the TOUR Championship.

7. SOMETHING BORROWED: Every golfer has that fantasy that one club will turn our game around. Jim Furyk went looking such for a magic weapon when he was searching through a used club barrel at a sporting goods store near Boston. He bought a used “Yes!” putter and put it in the bag for the remaining two Playoffs events. At the 2010 TOUR Championship, he was protecting a one-shot lead when he was bunkered at the final hole. In a steady drizzle, Furyk hit a stellar bunker shot from the soggy sand to about 3 feet, but it wouldn’t mean anything unless his new, old putter came through. When Furyk holed the clutch shot and gave out a dramatic scream, it was easy to see how much this championship meant to the players.

8. TIGER’S TALE: There was a lot of hype promoting the first FedExCup in 2007. A win by Tiger Woods would immediately add some credibility to the new competition. As he usually does, Tiger delivered. Woods packaged four stellar rounds no higher than 66 en route to an 8-shot victory at East Lake. He shot 64-63-64 in the first three rounds to post the lowest 54-hole score of his career and his final-round 66 gave him a career-low 72-hole score of 23-under 257. He was the first to have his name engraved on the sterling silver Tiffany FedExCup trophy.

9. GOOD DAY: Jason Day was on a bit of a tear. He had just won his first major: the 2015 PGA Championship. It was hard to imagine he could play better… until he did. He won the first FedExCup Playoffs event. And the third event. Both by six shots. His victory at the BMW Championship pushed Day to No. 1 in the FedExCup standings and No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career.

10. SLOCUM’S UPSET: The 2009 NORTHERN TRUST was the first contested at the spectacular Liberty National, and delivered one of the most spectacular Playoffs fields in PGA TOUR history. In the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, a Who’s Who in Golf squared off looking for the title… and got beat by a Who’s That? Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington and Steve Stricker were beaten by Heath Slocum, the second-to-last man to qualify for the field. Slocum rolled in a 20-foot par putt on the 72nd hole to win by one over that star-studded quartet.

11. TIGER VS. PHIL: The 2007 Deutsche Bank Championship truly had a playoff atmosphere when Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods were paired together for the final round. TPC Boston seemed more like Fenway Park for a Red Sox game against the Yankees. In the penultimate group, the two stars exceeded the lofty expectations: Tiger shot 67, but Phil shot 66 to win by two shots.

12. BRANDT’S BEST: Brandt Snedeker held the 54-hole lead at The TOUR Championship, but instead of dwelling on what winning the FedExCup would mean to him, he spent his Sunday in Atlanta trying to bring joy and comfort to Tucker Anderson. The son of Brandt’s swing coach, Todd Anderson, Tucker was critically injured in a car crash earlier that September. Snedeker said the hospital visit put the competition in perspective. Later that afternoon, Brandt chipped in on the 71st hole to win both the TOUR Championship and the FedExCup. And inspire a friend to get healthy.

13. SINGH’S SWEET SONG: In the 2008 NORTHERN TRUST, Sergio Garcia looked to have the upper hand in a playoff against Vijay Singh and Kevin Sutherland. The Spaniard drained a 25-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole and was probably rehearsing his acceptance speech when Singh did what World Golf Hall of Fame members do: Vijay holed a clutch 20-foot birdie of his own to tie Garcia. The crowd roars were still echoing among the stately oak trees at Ridgewood CC when Singh hit two magnificent shots on the par-5 second playoff hole to seal the win. Singh’s fourth victory in the New York metropolitan area carried him to the FedExCup title.

14. BACK-TO-BACK: Camillo Villegas was the first player to win consecutive Playoffs events in FedExCup history, but not even that hot streak could compete with the roll Rory McIlroy was on to end 2012. Fresh off of winning his second major title – the PGA Championship – by a whopping eight shots, McIlroy entered the FedExCup Playoffs with high hopes and low scores. In Boston, he overcame a three-shot deficit to pass Louis Oosthuizen to win the Deutsche Bank Championship. The next week in Indianapolis, he dominated Crooked Stick. He won by two shots over a leaderboard that featured four players once ranked No. 1 in the world. McIlroy’s tour de force performance sealed the 2013 Jack Nicklaus trophy for the first of his three PGA TOUR Player-of-the-Year titles.

15. KUCHAR CLOSES IT: At the 2010 NORTHERN TRUST, Martin Laird three-putted away a victory at the final green, and Matt Kuchar took advantage of the second chance. Kuchar hit a 7-iron out of the rough on the first extra hole that rolled onto and around the green before stopping a mere foot away from birdie. It proved that the former U.S. Amateur champion, whose career had been derailed by a prolonged slump, was still destined to big things, with a World Golf Championship and PLAYERS Championship in his future.

Tom Alter – VP, Communications – has worked at the PGA TOUR for more than 25 years in television production, programming and promotion. He will be working at all three of this year’s FedExCup Playoff events.