This article is part of our The Reshuffle List series.
The FedEx Cup is over, and Brandt Snedeker, by virtue of his victory at the Tour Championship last Sunday, became the 2012 FedEx Cup Champion and is also $11.44 million richer.
So now that the playoffs are over, who won and who lost? Here's a look at how some Reshuffle List players, and another on the cusp of a Tour card, used the playoffs to their advantage, and those who did not.
WINNERS
John Huh - While Huh has technically not been on the Reshuffle List since his breakthrough victory in February at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, he should serve as inspiration for all on the List for what just one victory can mean. First, the win guarantees his PGA Tour card through 2014. The victory also gets him into such big events as the limited-field Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Memorial Tournament, The Players and the AT&T National. He used that victory to help make this year's PGA Championship and played well enough down the stretch to make all four FedEx Cup playoff events. And by qualifying for the Tour Championship, he now has given himself a spot in the first three majors of 2013 and is most likely in the PGA Championship as well. Arguably the biggest perk of making the Tour Championship: even though he finished next to last, he walked away from East Lake with $309,600 in earnings and bonus money!
Bud Cauley - While not technically on the Reshuffle List - he was exempt after getting
The FedEx Cup is over, and Brandt Snedeker, by virtue of his victory at the Tour Championship last Sunday, became the 2012 FedEx Cup Champion and is also $11.44 million richer.
So now that the playoffs are over, who won and who lost? Here's a look at how some Reshuffle List players, and another on the cusp of a Tour card, used the playoffs to their advantage, and those who did not.
WINNERS
John Huh - While Huh has technically not been on the Reshuffle List since his breakthrough victory in February at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, he should serve as inspiration for all on the List for what just one victory can mean. First, the win guarantees his PGA Tour card through 2014. The victory also gets him into such big events as the limited-field Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Memorial Tournament, The Players and the AT&T National. He used that victory to help make this year's PGA Championship and played well enough down the stretch to make all four FedEx Cup playoff events. And by qualifying for the Tour Championship, he now has given himself a spot in the first three majors of 2013 and is most likely in the PGA Championship as well. Arguably the biggest perk of making the Tour Championship: even though he finished next to last, he walked away from East Lake with $309,600 in earnings and bonus money!
Bud Cauley - While not technically on the Reshuffle List - he was exempt after getting his 2012 PGA Tour card by playing late-2011 events and earning enough money equivalent to 125th on the money list - he started this season in the same boat as the Reshuffle golfers: try to finish in the top 125 on the money list and get a card for 2013. Well, not only has Cauley accomplished that goal, he has a really good shot of getting to Augusta National for the 2013 Masters. He has more than $1.7 million in earnings this year and sits 40th on the money list. Why is this significant? The Top 30 on Dec. 31 get the invitation to Augusta, and if you are fortunate enough to be in that lucky group, suddenly a big load has been lifted off you for the start of the 2013 season.
Matt Every, Ken Duke - These Reshuffle players are in the exact same boat as Cauley - more than $1.4 million in earnings and a chance to make Augusta if they play well in autumn - but they have had it one step harder because they are one exemption group lower than Cauley, making it a bit harder to get into some higher-paying, more prestigious events. Things will be easier in the Fall Series as the biggest names use this time for vacation.
Seung-Yul Noh, Sang-moon Bae, Harris English - These three have the exact same thing in common as Cauley, Every and Duke but with one main difference: they have accomplished all of this as rookies. Consider this: you're the fresh face on Tour, everyone has lofty expectations of you and you've never seen any of the golf courses you're playing. To make that amount of money and play that well in just their first nine months on the scene, that's impressive.
Brian Harman - He is the only one of the Reshuffle Seven - the seven players on the Reshuffle List who had a chance to clinch their 2013 PGA Tour cards via the FedEx Cup Playoffs - to actually clinch it. His tie for fifth at The Barclays secured the card, and he successfully made three of the four playoff events, making the cut at the Deutsche Bank Championship and the BMW Championship. Now, with more than $1.1 million made, he can join the golfers mentioned above who are after that loftier goal: the 2013 Masters invitation.
LOSERS
Six of the seven "Reshuffle Seven" - Colt Knost, Troy Kelly, Will Claxton, Roberto Castro, Jeff Maggert and Gary Christian failed to do what Harman did and now have four events to clinch their spots on the PGA Tour in 2013. The only good news is that they will have had six weeks off to work on their games.
While Knost and Kelly are ahead of the others and only a couple tens of thousands of dollars away from the magic number (most likely somewhere in the mid-high $700K range), all six will battle it out beginning next week at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
And on the evening of Sunday, Nov. 11, at the conclusion of the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic, we will know who has made it onto the PGA Tour for 2013, and who will be headed to PGA Tour Qualifying School, looking to regain their place on golf's greatest stage.
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