How to Read PGA Standings

The PGA tour took a lesson from NASCAR in an effort to breathe new life into the end of the PGA tournament season. In the past, players were listed on the PGA tour in order of the amount of money won throughout the year ("Money List"). Some players would get so high on the money list that they didn't need to play in additional tournaments to improve their standings. The system to set standings has changed to become more competitive. It's easy to read PGA standings and understand the new system.

Instructions

1. Keep track of the regular PGA tour season and the playoff season. The first 33 tournaments count as the regular season on the PGA tour. The last four events make up the PGA tour playoff season.

2. Note that normal golf tournaments are worth a total of 25,000 points each. World Golf Championship events are worth 26,250 points and the four Majors are worth 27,000 points each.

3. Tally points based on a player's finish and the type of tournament played (normal, World Golf or Major). For example, winning a normal event is worth 4500 points (4950 for a Major) and coming in second is worth 2700, with third providing 1700 points. The gap in points and amount of points earned dwindles down according to finishing positions of each tournament.

4. Add the points from each tournament to find out who is in first place on the PGA tour. A player with a 15,000-point lead over second place will stay in first place even if the second place golfer wins three tournaments in a row during the regular season. In that case, the first place golfer doesn't even have to show up for the three events.

5. Watch the points reset at the end of the regular season. The first-place player's points reset to 100,000 points and second place gets 99,000 points. The amount of points steadily decreases to 84,700 points for the last player eligible to make the playoffs (144th place in points).

6. Notice how points change during the PGA tour playoffs for the first three events. First place receives 9,000 points, second gets 5,400 and third gets 3,400 with points dwindling according to position. The last playoff event gives 10,300 points to the winner, 6,200 for second and 3,900 for third.

7. See the champ end the playoffs with the most points.

Tips & Warnings

• It is still possible to create a significant lead in points by winning golf tournaments. In 2007, Tiger Woods was able to win the FedEx cup even though he missed one of the playoff tournaments.

• Read the standings at the end of each event to find out who is in first and who is in striking distance.

• The field of players gets smaller with each playoff tournament, from 144 down to 30.