[Brocktoon]

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Everyone is reseeded before the first event so that the top seed has something like a 15,000 point advantage over #144. Since winning an event gives 50,000 points, you do have to play to win.

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No event gets you near 50K points as the winner. 50K represents the TOTAL points given out to the players in the playoff events. you win 9K for winning one of the 3 playoff events preceding the Tour Champoinship and 10,300 for the final event.

Also, the points are "reset" after this week with the #1 seed receiving 100K points and a sliding scale of decreasing points down to 84,700 for the 144th seed. Why the don't just award 0 to 15K points I have no idea, I guess they think bigger numbers create the illusion of more action or something (kind of like how they kept doubling the starting chips in the NBC HU poker but also doubling the blinds, effectively changing nothing but the number of chips in play as the tourny progressed).

Finally, yes, it is possible to win the Fed Ex Cup and not win the Tour Championship, its a points race. It doesn't hinge on the result of just the final event. That said I believe it is mathematically impossible to sit it out as the #1 seed and win. However, you could easily sit one or even two out provided you win the other 2 or 3 you play.