This article is part of our The Reshuffle List series.
The second reshuffle period is dominated by four events - the Puerto Rico Open, Tampa Bay Championship, Shell Houston Open and Valero Texas Open - where plenty of Reshuffle List golfers should have an opportunity to earn valuable FedEx Cup points and cold hard cash to keep their chances alive for retaining their tour card for the 2013-2014 season. It could very well be this stretch and those four events that determine whether they keep their cards or are headed to the The Finals.
The + or (-) represent spots gained or lost if the Reshuffle happened today:
MOVING POSITIVELY
Darron Stiles, +16, $121,632 - In a Reshuffle period where no one is making any dramatic moves, just one finish - a T13 at the Honda Classic - made Stiles the biggest mover. In fact, the very next week, he missed the cut in Puerto Rico, showing how much of a difference one solid week can make. The other thing helping Stiles: he's 15th in strokes gained-putting this year.
Fabian Gomez, +14, $367,580 - Gomez is probably still upset about his heartbreaking defeat at the aforementioned Puerto Rico Open, which saw him give the tournament away to Scott Brown on the 72nd hole. But it did help him rise 14 spots on the Reshuffle List, and his eventual T2 finish didn't hurt his chances of keeping his card any either, as he's now 84th in FedEx Cup points and a couple nice finishes away from ensuring he has PGA Tour
The second reshuffle period is dominated by four events - the Puerto Rico Open, Tampa Bay Championship, Shell Houston Open and Valero Texas Open - where plenty of Reshuffle List golfers should have an opportunity to earn valuable FedEx Cup points and cold hard cash to keep their chances alive for retaining their tour card for the 2013-2014 season. It could very well be this stretch and those four events that determine whether they keep their cards or are headed to the The Finals.
The + or (-) represent spots gained or lost if the Reshuffle happened today:
MOVING POSITIVELY
Darron Stiles, +16, $121,632 - In a Reshuffle period where no one is making any dramatic moves, just one finish - a T13 at the Honda Classic - made Stiles the biggest mover. In fact, the very next week, he missed the cut in Puerto Rico, showing how much of a difference one solid week can make. The other thing helping Stiles: he's 15th in strokes gained-putting this year.
Fabian Gomez, +14, $367,580 - Gomez is probably still upset about his heartbreaking defeat at the aforementioned Puerto Rico Open, which saw him give the tournament away to Scott Brown on the 72nd hole. But it did help him rise 14 spots on the Reshuffle List, and his eventual T2 finish didn't hurt his chances of keeping his card any either, as he's now 84th in FedEx Cup points and a couple nice finishes away from ensuring he has PGA Tour playing privileges once again in 2013-2014.
Justin Bolli, +13 $168,125 - While everyone was focused on Brown, Gomez and Jordan Spieth in PR, Bolli snuck in with a T4 finish, securing by far his best finish of the year (T51 was his previous high mark) and giving himself a legitimate chance at having a good Reshuffle List position after The Masters. He's also 26th in driving accuracy, which is a good ranking until you realize he's toward the bottom in driving distance at just 274.5 yards per tee shot. Translation: he needs good iron play along with a strong short game to continue to give himself chances for high finishes.
Morgan Hoffmann, +12, $72,562 - T67-missed cut (MC)-MC-MC-T14. I think a trend is developing: Puerto Rico's relaxing feel may also be the turning point for some players' seasons. It was a strong finish there that gave Hoffmann his first bright spot of 2013, as his struggles on the greens (137th in strokes gained - putting) finally subsided for a week. But fantasy owners still need to be wary of Hoffmann, as his 2013 could be turning into an incredibly streaky one, a trait fantasy owners need to avoid.
Shawn Stefani, +11, $184,091 - Stefani's Tampa Bay Championship may not have ended the way he first hoped after an attention-grabbing first-round 65, but the T7 finish was his best of the year, and should give him a couple more starts before the second reshuffle is made following the Valero Texas Open.
MOVING NEGATIVELY
While on the surface it might seem like no one would have fallen that far, it should be noted that in a truncated season like 2013 every single solitary playing opportunity matters, and falling just one or two places could be the difference between keeping your card and losing it.
Scott Gardiner, -8, $116,374 - Gardiner's troubles come from the simple fact that he hasn't cashed a check in this Reshuffle period: missed cut at Honda, missed cut in Puerto Rico, missed cut in Tampa and missed cut at the Arnold Palmer last week. So while on the surface his dollar figure and overall placement (he entered the second reshuffle in 14th) aren't so bad, it is glaring that he hasn't given himself a chance to improve his position one bit. Ranking 102nd in strokes gained-putting and 137th in scoring average at 71.688 strokes per round aren't helping his cause either.
Jin Park, -8, $18,004 - Don't feel embarrassed if you don't recognize Park's name because, as the dollar figure shows, he hasn't lit up any leaderboards this year. In fact, his 2013 season goes as follows: MC-MC-T44 (at the Farmers Insurance Open)-MC-MC-MC. That last MC came in Tampa, where an opening-round 74 put him behind the eight ball very quickly. Needless to say, if he gets any more playing opportunities over this next stretch of tournaments, fantasy owners will want to avoid starting Park.
Ross Fisher, -7, $115,312 - Fisher's situation needs to be taken with a grain of salt because he also plays on the European Tour. Fantasy owners will remember that Fisher went to PGA Tour Q-school with nothing to lose, as he had a place to play and just wanted to add some U.S. events to his schedule. So while his situation isn't as dire as that of other players on this list, you cannot mask the fact that because of a pretty full PGA Tour schedule there's ample sample size on him and it's not that positive so far. His game hasn't risen to the level that it needs to contend on the PGA Tour, except for the Farmers Insurance Open, and that's not what fantasy owners are particularly looking for.
Peter Tomasulo (Medical), -7, $65,280 - Tomasulo, about whom we talked following the first Reshuffle, is a different, interesting and complicated case. He now only has four starts remaining to earn $474,242. If he can do that, he'll move from the Reshuffle List-Medical distinction into the "Major Medical" exemption category. A rib injury in 2011 cost him a chance to play a full season on the PGA Tour. When he returned in 2012, he had 12 starts to earn $552,349, and was placed in the medical portion of the Reshuffle list, with his entry into events subject to the same procedure as anyone else on the Reshuffle List. Moving to the "Major Medical Category" would be significant because it would place him four priority-for-entry spots higher than Reshuffle list players. Tomasulo has made all four cuts in the PGA Tour events he's played this year and entered the second reshuffle period 21st on the list, but his best finish is only a tie for 41st at the Sony Open in Hawaii. However, there is a slight caveat because Tomasulo won the United Leasing Championship on the Web.com Tour last season. So if he fails to make the necessary money to stay on the PGA Tour, he still has a place to play the rest of the year, giving him two ways to earn his PGA Tour card back for 2013-2014 - the Web.com Tour money list or The Finals Series.
Lee Williams, -7, $43,501 - It's never good when you've missed more cuts than you've made, and it's even worse when your only check cashed in the current reshuffle period is a mere $7,280 from a 66th-place finish in Puerto Rico. The only two "Performance Stats" that Williams ranks well in are eagles and sand save percentage, which speaks volumes about the state of his game so far this season.
D.H. Lee, -7, $42,760 - Like Williams, Lee also has only one finish in the money in this Reshuffle period, a T57 in Puerto Rico. And like Williams, his only strong statistical ranking is eagles. The trend should be obvious - it takes a complete game to contend on the PGA Tour, and Lee doesn't have that going at the moment.
THE NOTHING MEN
Paul Haley II, Andres Gonzales, Andrew Svoboda, Bobby Gates, Donald Constable - These men continue to make headlines because they have made no money so far this season, and as Kyle Thompson showed last season, it is a hard hole to climb out of if you don't get on the board early in the year. There is a wrinkle, though, this season - just one solid finish could get you into the top 200 in FedEx Cup points after the regular season finishes, which would qualify you for The Finals Series. And once you're there, just one hot four-week stretch is all that's needed to get a ticket back to the PGA Tour for the 2013-2014 season. Pretty crazy, right?