The Reshuffle List: Fallout From the Fourth Reshuffle

After merely four events -- running from the Masters through the Wells Fargo Championship -- the fourth reshuffle has come and gone, with some players having more secure status for the 2014-15 season while others are still in a difficult plight. Here's the update (stats through the Wells Fargo).

Top 5 (all have clinched PGA Tour cards for 2014-15):

1. Will MacKenzie - 880.400 points
2. Russell Knox - 711.566
3. Ryo Ishikawa - 667.000
4. Brendon Todd - 568.917
5. Ben Martin - 462.500

Bottom 5 (non-medical):

42. Matt Bettencourt 5.500
43. Alex Aragon 1.830
44. Bobby Gates 0.790
45. Patrick Cantlay 0.000
46. Benjamin Alvarado 0.000

Graduated:

Seung-Yul Noh - Well overdue, Noh finally got his first PGA Tour win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He joins Chesson Hadley as the only Reshuffle List members to win this season. Noh is 17th in the FedEx Cup standings, and with a ticket into the rest of the year's majors, he can now focus on getting that elusive first major title. Noh is 15th in greens in regulation this season.

Biggest Gainers

Andrew Svoboda, +14 spots - Svoboda's 14-spot jump came courtesy of a tie for second at the Zurich Classic and was backed up with a tie for 44th in Charlotte. He's now sixth on the list, and with 418.500 points, has probably clinched his PGA Tour card for the 2013-14 season. (Quick refresher: this season contains the most FedEx Cup points ever available, making the card-clinching number an unknown. Fellow golf stats watcher Shoshana Agus-Kleinman thinks it'll be around 390-400.) Now he can work toward getting his first PGA Tour win, something that doesn't seem so far off for the player who ranks 13th in greens in regulation from inside of 100 yards.

Bud Cauley, +13 - Cauley, who in 2011 joined an extremely exclusive list of PGA Tour players to earn their cards by strictly going through PGA Tour events, has failed to break through in his first couple seasons on tour. This season wasn't headed in a good direction either, as he had six missed cuts in his first nine starts. However he turned it around recently with finishes of T11-T38 in the most recent reshuffle period. At 22nd on the list he should be in line for a couple extra playing opportunities, which he must convert into strong finishes to avoid a trip to the Web.com Tour Finals in August. Part of the reason for his struggles: he doesn't rank better than 73rd in any key statistical category.

Mark Anderson, + 11 - When we last wrote about Anderson a couple weeks ago, he had finally left the Nothing Men and had cashed his first check of the season. Well, he kept the good vibes going one week later and nabbed a T17 finish at the Zurich Classic. Sitting 35th on the Reshuffle List with just 54.088 points to his name, he will continue to need strong finishes if he hopes to lock up his playing privileges for next year without having to visit the Web.com Tour Finals.

Kevin Kisner, +9 - Nearly contending for victories will always help your position on the Reshuffle List, and that was the story for Kisner as he was up on the leaderboard for most of the weekend at the Wells Fargo Championship before eventually tying for sixth. It was the culmination of a strong reshuffle period, where he finished T38-T34-T6 in his three events.

Ben Martin, +7 - As we covered in our last piece, Martin nearly won the RBC Heritage and backed that up with a tie for 15th in New Orleans and a T50 at Quail Hollow. Now with 462.500 FedEx Cup points, Martin is assured to be on the PGA Tour for the 2014-15 season and can now focus on getting his first PGA Tour win. At 25th in total driving and 35th in all-around ranking, that accomplishment doesn't seem far off.

Biggest Losers

Jim Renner, -5 - Renner, 11th in the standings, saw himself drop five spots on the list for two reasons. First, he had finishes of MC-T70-T69 in his three starts in the last month. And second, he was passed by guys like Martin and Svoboda who had quality periods. For Renner, the problem is his putting. In New Orleans he ranked 63rd in strokes gained-putting, improving only 20 spots to 43rd at the Wells Fargo.

Trevor Immelman, -4 - Immelman, the only Reshuffle List player to participate in the Masters, played in all four events in the lastest reshuffle period and struggled, going MC-T74-MC-MC. He fell four spots to 14th, though at 265.973 FedEx Cup points he's probably only two strong finishes away from clinching his card. Immelman is 181st in strokes gained-putting, certainly hurting his plight.

Tyrone Van Aswegen, -4 - Van Aswegen dropped to 19th after this most recent reshuffle. He missed the cut in his three events during the period, hurt by poor iron play and putting. He ranks 107th in greens in regulation and 133rd in strokes gained-putting. At just less than 200 FedEx Cup points he still has a very viable shot at keeping his card, but will need to take advantage of his scoring opportunities.

Chad Collins, -3 - Collins, who contended earlier this year at the Humana Challenge before finishing eighth, missed two of three cuts during the most recent shuffle period. Collins' iron play seems to be part of the problem, as in his best finish of the stretch -- a T45 at New Orleans -- he was T71st in greens in regulation.

Tim Wilkinson, -3
Jamie Lovemark, -3

The Nothing Men Update

The Nothing Men are down to two: Cantlay and Alvarado.

For Alvarado, the good news is that he's finally getting into events, and just needs to make a cut to get off this list and increase his chances of being eligible for the Web.com Tour Finals.

Cantlay is a different story, however. Tim Rosaforte of Golf Digest reported in the May 5 edition of Golf World that the injury he's been suffering from since last season is a hairline fracture in his L5 Vertebrae. According to a conversation Rosaforte had with his coach, Jamie Mulligan, Cantlay is getting closer to returning, but, as Rosaforte writes, "there's no timetable for Cantlay's return." It sure looks like a major medical exemption might be in his future.

The "Will They Ever See A Tournament?" Update

This is an update of the golfers profiled in our initial 2013-14 Reshuffle List column, and how the new system and its flaws - specifically with placement on the Reshuffle List following the Web.com Tour Finals - might have decided some of their fates before the season even started (ranks are where they started this season).

35. Alex Aragon, -8, 10 starts, two made cuts (T77, T71)
43. Mark Anderson, +8, see above
44. Kevin Tway, +13, 13 starts, four made cuts (T40, T37, T48, T65)
45. Kevin Foley, +12, seven starts, three made cuts (T72, T35, T42)
47. Will Wilcox, +22, eight starts, five made cuts (T8, T64, T43, T34, T57)
48. Benjamin Alvarado, +2, two starts, two missed cuts