The Reshuffle List: Looking Ahead to the Fifth Reshuffle

The road to the next to last reshuffle of the 2014-15 PGA Tour season -- yes, you read that correctly -- is just past the halfway point. With some golfers looking to secure playing privileges for next year, here's how things stand if the next reshuffle happened today.

After the fourth reshuffle, these golfers clinched cards for the 2015-16 PGA Tour season (It took 438 FedEx Cup points to clinch a spot last year ... there's one extra event this year):

No. 1 Daniel Berger, No. 2 Sean O'Hair, No. 3 Justin Thomas, No. 4 John Peterson

Following the first three events of this reshuffle period, these players have now clinched a PGA Tour card:

5. Tony Finau, +1 spot if Reshuffle happened today, 598.933 FedEx Cup Points - Finau, whose game had stalled after a strong fall stretch, seemingly got aided by two weeks off via not qualifying for the Match Play or Players. Over his last three weeks he's gone T16-T19-T10, clinching his card by a large margin and situating himself into 55th on the FedEx Cup points list as the final stretch before the Playoffs commence. With an improved game -- for example last week at the Byron Nelson he ranked seventh in driving distance and T36 in greens in regulation -- Finau could be back on the long-expected path toward his first PGA Tour victory.

7. Zac Blair, 0, 477.184 - Blair, 75th in the FedEx Cup standings, finished T16 last week at the Byron Nelson, clinching his card for the 2015-16 PGA Tour season. That's now seven top-25s for the PGA Tour rookie, who ranks 41st in driving accuracy and second in strokes gained-putting so far this year on the PGA Tour.

10. Jim Herman, +1, 450.582 - This is a great story. Herman has never won on the PGA Tour -- he's never had a second- or third-place finish for that matter and has just four top-10s in his whole career -- and has bounced between the PGA (2011, 2013-current) and Web.com (2008-2010, 2012) Tours. This season has been his best so far, making the most money ($870K), tying for the most top-10s (two) of his career and seemingly playing his best golf at the moment, giving himself the best chance at his first PGA Tour victory. He'll be 38 later this year, and he ranks first in greens in regulation this season.

16. Colt Knost +8, 456.333 - Knost, the 2007 U.S. Amateur Champion (he also won the U.S. Amateur Public Links that year), punched his ticket to stay on the PGA Tour next season via back-to-back T10 finishes at Colonial and the Nelson. He had only one other top-10 on the season in 17 prior starts. The secret? Apparently improved putting. At Colonial he ranked sixth in that category, and was second at the Nelson in the first round, the only one that had ShotLink capability. He's now 79th in FedEx Cup points and is now free to make a run at his first PGA Tour victory as well.

17. Scott Pinckney, +12, 543.503 - Pinckney is a Tour rookie who has been a familiar face on weekend leaderboards since the calendar turned to 2015. He tied for sixth in Puerto Rico, tied for eighth in San Antonio, and made a huge leap on both the Reshuffle List and FedEx Cup points lists with his T2 finish last week at the Nelson. For the season he now ranks 57th in greens in regulation and 48th in strokes gained -- putting, a nice combination which now has him with secured job status and a free run during the FedEx Cup playoffs (he ranks 64th) at his first PGA Tour win.

On the Cusp

18. Jon Curran, +8, 440.010 - While he sits above the threshold that would have gotten him a PGA Tour card last season, the addition of the Barbasol Championship means that to be certain he's safe, Curran needs one more decent finish. He tied for sixth last week at the Nelson, putting him in position to have a successful rookie season on the PGA Tour. He ranks 25th in driving accuracy and sixth in proximity to the hole.

6. Hudson Swafford, -5, 425.300 - Swafford is the first player we've profiled in this column that's actually gone backward during this reshuffle period. That's partly because he's only made two starts in it, missing the cut at Colonial and tying for 66th at the Byron Nelson. The good news is that although he hasn't gone forward, his overall scenario remains the same: one decent result and he's on the PGA Tour for 2015-16. Importantly, even if he ends the season in an overall slump, it just takes one decent finish to punch the ticket and give himself another season to aim for that first victory.

Two Notables Going the Wrong Direction

Two players toward the top of the Reshuffle List would move down seven and six spots respectively if the reshuffle happened today. The first is Andres Gonzales, who has 369.830 FedEx Cup points and is probably about 80-100 points away from a card for next season. He finished T58-T71-missed cut (MC) over the three events so far in this reshuffle period and has seen his ranking in the key stat of strokes gained-tee to green fall to 175th. That needs to change immediately.

Next up is Blayne Barber, who will need little more than 100 points most likely to clinch, as he has 345.143 points. Barber only played once during this reshuffle period -- the Wells Fargo Championship -- and missed the cut. He ranks 143rd in strokes gained-tee to green.

The Nothing Men Update

While Bud Cauley continues to rehab his shoulder injury, we have good news from Richard Sterne: he's no longer on the Nothing Men list! He tied for 39th at the Byron Nelson, earning 29 FedEx Cup points, which moved him up to 218th on the points list. For perspective, Tiger Woods ranks 198th.