In this season of change, we have one more hurdle to clear: the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Revamped once to avoid processional golf by someone deserving of a winner's procession, the end-of-season fruit machine now lands on three events rather than four, beginning with The Northern Trust. We'll save the TOUR Championship's absurdness for another day.

Reducing the Playoffs by one has a clear and immediate impact. Most will know by now that only the top 125 in FedEx Cup points have been invited, of which three have politely declined, but where 100 would have progressed last year, now only 70 can. By Sunday night, the PGA Tour will have slashed the number of potential Playoff winners almost in two.

For the man in 125th, Pat Perez, that means something like a top-10 finish at Liberty National is likely to be required if he wants to continue (which, as it's Perez, isn't a given), with all those in-between him and number 70, Matthew Wolff, facing their own unique calculations.

Of course, all this won't have much of an effect on the denouement at East Lake. It's rare for a player to progress from outside the top 100 to inside the top 30, and unprecedented for anyone to go all the way from saving their card to landing a $10m jackpot. But in the here and now it's what makes this tournament unique, and it may even impact the way those down at the bottom of the rankings attack this golf course.

Remember, those like Perez, Kelly Kraft, Sebastian Munoz and Jonas Blixt have just kept their cards for next season in sneaking through to The Northern Trust. That means for the first time this year, they are not playing for their status next year, and combined with the mountain they now must climb, I wonder whether there will be some who benefit from playing with the handbrake off.