Harris English didn't have much chance of winning the FedEx Cup, even if he did manage to win the Tour Championship.
Coming into the playoff finale, English was ranked 30th out of 30 players who qualified, so he needed a lot of things to do his way in order to win the season-long points race and its $10 million first-place prize.
Here's the scenario under which English could win the FedEx Cup:
• Wins the Tour Championship
And …
• No. 1 finishes 29th* or worse
• No. 2 finishes in a three-way tie for 6th or worse
• No. 3 finishes T-4 or worse
• No. 4 finishes T-3 or worse
• No. 5 finishes in a three-way tie for 2nd or worse
• No. 6 finishes T-2 or worse
Unfortunately, that scenario is no longer possible. When Louis Oosthuizen withdrew from the Tour Championship after 13 holes on Thursday, that left just 28 players in the original 30-man field. (Jim Furyk pulled out of the event earlier in the week with a wrist injury.) That means, no matter what, Day can finish no worse than 28th, locking English completely out of winning the FedEx Cup.
However, English, who shot 1-over 71 on Thursday, could still finish inside the top three with a comeback win at East Lake. That would earn him the $1.48 million for winning the Tour Championship and a seven-figure sum from the $35 million FedEx Cup bonus pool. Not bad, just not as good as possible.
