The Reshuffle List: Looking Ahead to the Third Reshuffle

As the golf world continues to wrap its head around whether Patrick Reed is a top-5 golfer, the Reshuffle List players are jockeying for positions as they prep for the third reshuffle following the Shell Houston Open. Only two events remain, and here's how the golfers stand:

Graduated

Chesson Hadley - Hadley is the only Reshuffle List player to win on the PGA Tour this year, capturing the Puerto Rico Open. He shot a Friday 65 and backed it up with consistent play, with both weekend rounds coming in at 67. That win did not get him into the Masters, however, and he will be ruing a Sunday 79 at Bay Hill that has temporarily derailed his quest to get to Augusta. Nevertheless, the Reshuffle List member and PGA Tour rookie has to be happy with the two-year exemption and lifted burden that a PGA Tour win provides. By the way, Hadley is seventh on tour in greens in regulation from 125-150 yards, a prime scoring distance.

Top Gainers (if the Reshuffle happened today):

Danny Lee, +21 spots - 27th on the list if the reshuffle occurred today, Lee finished second in Puerto Rico with solid and consistent rounds of 67-68-66-68 to help garner his best career finish on tour. While he missed the cut in Tampa he bounced back with a T31 finish at Bay Hill, showing that his game is coming around. He is hoping a second-place finish in Puerto Rico does for him what it did for Jordan Spieth last year, who used a T2 in the Caribbean to lead to one of the best rookie seasons the PGA Tour has seen in years. Lee is 40th in driving accuracy and 42nd in greens in regulation.

Ben Martin, +7 - Martin's bump is virtue of a third-place finish in Puerto Rico, where he was aided by a Sunday 66. It was Martin's second top-20 finish of the season with the other coming in the season opener when he finished T16 at the Frys.com Open. Martin, 10th if the reshuffle happened today, is 23rd in total driving.

Troy Merritt, +6 - Merritt falls into the "nowhere to go but up" category. Formerly a member of "The Nothing Men" and entering the third reshuffle period in 43rd place, a T46 finish at the Honda Classic was his first made cut of the year and the first time he shot two rounds in the 60s all year. While it must be encouraging to finally make the weekend, the hard truth is that Merritt will need an extremely strong finish in whatever few opportunities he gets on the PGA Tour to have any chance of keeping his card for the 2014-2015 season.

Billy Hurley III, +5 - Hurley has had a quietly strong season, accumulating 256 FedEx Cup points and putting himself more than halfway to keeping his card for next season. Aiding him over the last five events is his fifth-place finish from the Honda Classic where he shot 67-69 over the weekend in very tough conditions at PGA National. He's 18th in driving accuracy and ninth in sand save percentage on the PGA Tour.

Also: Wes Roach, Sean O'Hair and Daniel Chopra, +5

Biggest Losers

Brice Garnett, -8 - When you're a Reshuffle List player, it's all about opportunities, and Garnett may be ruing his most recent. He replaced Tiger Woods in the Arnold Palmer Invitational field when Woods withdrew. Brice was unable to capitalize, however, missing the cut after rounds of 73-78. He does have a top-20 finish this season - T19 at Pebble Beach - but has gone T75-T72-MC in his three playing opportunities during the third reshuffle period. He would fall to 17th if the reshuffle happened today.

Troy Mattesson, -6 - As we noted last month, the wraparound season has done Matteson no good at all. He had a hot start - with finishes of T5 and T40 in 2013 - but has yet to make a cut in 2014. He entered the third reshuffle period 16th on the list and is destined to fall farther. And his ranking in the three stats we mentioned last month have only gotten worse: he's 171st in driving accuracy, 147th in greens in regulation and 172nd in strokes gained-putting.

Scott Gardiner, -5 - Gardiner's fall is mainly from not playing. He's only competed once during this reshuffle period and in that appearance he missed the cut in Puerto Rico. He would be 26th if the reshuffle occurred today. He ranks 149th in strokes gained-putting.

Heath Slocum, -5 - Outside of a T20 at the Sony Open, 2014 has been a year to forget for Slocum. He's missed the cut three times since the calendar turned and finished 79th at the Honda Classic, his only start during this reshuffle period. He would fall to 20th if the reshuffle happened today. He ranks 170th in driving distance, 136th in strokes gained-putting and 128th in all-around ranking.

The Nothing Men Update

The following players are no longer members of this list, having made a cut and accumulated FedEx Cup points in the first portion of the third reshuffle period: Edward Loar, Merritt and Chopra.
That leaves Patrick Cantlay, Alex Prugh, Mark Anderson and Benjamin Alvarado as the only Nothing Men left.

The "Will They Ever See A Tournament?" Update

This is an update of the golfers profiled in our initial 2013-14 Reshuffle List column, and how the new system and its flaws - specifically with placement on the Reshuffle List following the Web.com Tour Finals - might have decided some of their fates before the season even started (ranks are where they started this season).

35. Alex Aragon, -7, eight starts, one made cut (T77)
43. Mark Anderson, -3, four starts, four missed cuts
44. Kevin Tway, +14, nine starts, two made cuts (T40, T37)
45. Kevin Foley, +10, four starts, two made cuts (T72, T35)
47. Will Wilcox, +20, five starts, three made cuts (T8, T64, T43)
48. Benjamin Alvarado, +0, no starts on PGA Tour, has played two Web.com Tour events