This article is part of our The Reshuffle List series.
Although we're four events into the 2016 portion of the 2015-16 PGA Tour season, we're halfway through the second reshuffle period, as no Reshuffle List player can make it into the winners-only Hyundai Tournament of Champions. With that in mind, here's how things would look if the reshuffle, which will take place after the Northern Trust Open, happened today.
TOP GAINERS
Robert Garrigus, +17 spots - Garrigus is a tale of how when you're way down on the Reshuffle List, non-sexy finishes can be very effective. Garrigus' 17 spot gain from 41st to 24th if the reshuffle happened today is on the back of finishes of T33-T49-T49. While not flashy, it's crucial as that would give him a much better shot at much needed playing opportunities going forward. He's just 144th in the FedEx Cup points list and ranks a disappointing 204th in strokes gained-putting and 125th in strokes gained-total. Needless to say, he needs every additional spot and start he can get.
Luke List, +16 spots - List's rise from 32nd to 16th if the reshuffle happened today is on the back of one finish, and only his second inside the money result all season: a T6 at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He came in off missing three straight cuts and missed one last week at the Farmers, but sometimes it's that one good week that in the end can make all the difference. He shot two weekend rounds of 66 in the desert, and for the week ranked T3
Although we're four events into the 2016 portion of the 2015-16 PGA Tour season, we're halfway through the second reshuffle period, as no Reshuffle List player can make it into the winners-only Hyundai Tournament of Champions. With that in mind, here's how things would look if the reshuffle, which will take place after the Northern Trust Open, happened today.
TOP GAINERS
Robert Garrigus, +17 spots - Garrigus is a tale of how when you're way down on the Reshuffle List, non-sexy finishes can be very effective. Garrigus' 17 spot gain from 41st to 24th if the reshuffle happened today is on the back of finishes of T33-T49-T49. While not flashy, it's crucial as that would give him a much better shot at much needed playing opportunities going forward. He's just 144th in the FedEx Cup points list and ranks a disappointing 204th in strokes gained-putting and 125th in strokes gained-total. Needless to say, he needs every additional spot and start he can get.
Luke List, +16 spots - List's rise from 32nd to 16th if the reshuffle happened today is on the back of one finish, and only his second inside the money result all season: a T6 at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He came in off missing three straight cuts and missed one last week at the Farmers, but sometimes it's that one good week that in the end can make all the difference. He shot two weekend rounds of 66 in the desert, and for the week ranked T3 in greens in regulation.
Martin Piller, +10 spots - Piller, who was 38th entering this reshuffle cycle, had a poor fall, with a best finish of T62. In the new year he's got himself his first top-25, a T24 at the CareerBuilder, before falling victim -- like so many -- to the insanely tough Sunday conditions at the Famers Insurance Open and finishing T63. At the CareerBuilder he beat his season average in almost every statistical category, finishing T20 in driving accuracy, most notably. He's gotta keep playing like that to get himself into contention more on the weekend as the season wears on.
Kyle Stanley, +9 spots - Stanley entered this reshuffle period 21st and would go to 12th if the reshuffle happened today, using finishes of T13 at the Sony Open and T25 at the Farmers Insurance Open (sandwiched around a missed cut in the desert) to help his cause. What's made the difference? Take the Sony Open finish, for example. He ranked 17th in strokes gained-tee to green, way ahead of his season rank of 65th, and improved 84 spots on his season-long greens in regulation mark. Play like he did at the Sony and this former PGA Tour winner should be back in the Sunday hunt soon again.
Andrew Loupe, +9 spots - When Johnny Miller compliments your game, you know you're doing something right, and that's what happened to Loupe at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He tied for third there, including an impressive 68 while under the Sunday heat at the difficult PGA West TPC Stadium Course. It was his third top-10 of the season -- he's now 12th in the Reshuffle List standings and would move to third if the reshuffle happened today -- and at 264 FedEx Cup points is over halfway to clinching his playing privileges for next season. Ranked 24th in driving distance, it's that prowess that caught Johnny's eye and combined with a 20th rank in strokes gained - putting, makes him a potential lethal player on the PGA Tour.
Bud Cauley - Cauley, the upstart from several years ago who has been out of the spotlight for a while due to shoulder surgery, is playing on a major medical exemption…While Reshuffle List players who have an injury while on the list stay on the bottom of the list, they have a slightly situation. In Cauley's case he basically has a whole season to earn the equivalent FedEx Cup points necessary to No. 125 to keep his card. This season he's moving in the right direction with a T14 and T25 finishes in his last two starts.
TOP DROPPERS
Sung Kang, -11 spots - Kang would fall 11 spots from 26th to 37th if the Reshuffle happened today because he's missed the cut in all three events he's played in this reshuffle period. Why the trouble? Well first of all he's not shot better than 68 in that stretch and currently ranks 138th in strokes gained-tee to green, and 109th in strokes gained-putting. Put on top of that that he's 101st in greens in regulation, and Kang needs to improve his play fast if he wants more playing opportunities as the spring portion of the 2015-2016 PGA Tour season rolls on.
Miguel Angel Carballo, -11 spots - Carballo, who entered this period 25th, would fall to 36th if the reshuffle occurred today. Like Kang, he's missed all his cuts in 2016; in fact, he hasn't cashed a check since his first start of the year at the Frys.com Open in October, missing the cut or withdrawing from his six subsequent starts. The issue stems from his accuracy: he's 206th in driving accuracy, and 187th in proximity to the hole for his approach shots. Those are all not good numbers and must change immediately.
Steve Marino, -9 spots - Marino, back on the PGA Tour after a long absence, would drop nine spots from 23rd to 32nd because of his poor finish in his only start during this period thus far, a T67 at the Famers Insurance Open where the tough conditions hurt him too, going 78-80 over the weekend.
Sam Saunders, -9 spots - Saunders hasn't quite regained his stride after the playoff loss at the Puerto Rico Open last March - though he did play well enough in the Web.com Tour Finals to retain his card - missing the cut in all three of his starts so far in 2016, with only one round in the 60s. What's holding him back is, well, everything, as he's 117th in driving accuracy, 147th in greens in regulation, and 142nd in strokes gained - putting. Further troubling is that his rankings for those last two categories last season were 125 and 136, respectively. So improvement is needed there, and fast.
Roberto Castro, -8 spots - Castro would go from third to 11th, a fairly small drop when compared to others in terms of impact. (He won't lose that many starts in the spring if this continues, for example.) Conversely, his 162 FedEx Cup points, a number that's largely held steady since last fall after a T56 finish and a missed cut in his first two starts of 2016 isn't going to get him very far so an improvement in his putting -- he's 167th in strokes gained - putting at the moment -- would benefit him greatly. Castro is 70th in the FedEx Cup points list and ranks 24th in greens in regulation.
THE NOTHING MEN UPDATE
Dicky Pride and Rod Pampling have made a cut and earned FedEx Cup points since the last reshuffle, leaving the only players who have not yet made a cut and thus have not earned any points or money for the 2015-16 PGA Tour season to be Abraham Ancer and Andrew Landry.
