William John "Billy" Horschel (born December 7, 1986) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour."

A lot of people have read that Wikipedia sentence this morning, because they first read this sentence: "By adding the $US1,440,000 ($1.55 million) winner's cheque for the Tour Championship to the $US10 million ($11.1 million) bonus for being the FedEx Cup season-long points leader, Horschel reaps $US13,477,333.33 ($14.6 million)."

To many sports fans, more familiar with the names Scott, Woods and McIlroy being associated with golf, the Floridan is representative of the anonymous mysteries of the PGA golf tour. How could some guy we've never heard of win $14 million?

Horschel had won only one tournament before the play-off series kicked off a month ago, and had only one auspicious showing in a major – fourth place at the 2013 US Open. His next best results in the tournaments casual fans notice: 37^th and 58^th.

He turned pro in 2009 after a storied college career, and had to fight back through qualifying school after breaking his wrist. His coach says he has had to fight for everything he has got. He carries four tees and a 1936 quarter in his right-front pocket. He read all four Twilight books in two weeks and believes in BigFoot and UFOs. His favourite food is steak and he is six foot tall exactly. His first child is due any day, but his wife insisted he play las weekend, with $10 million on the line. He wore crazy octopus pants at the 2013 US Open. On his Twitter profile he writes "Travel the world and play golf. Wouldn't change a thing!" He is pictured there wearing his cap backwards.

Feel like you know him yet?

The Tour Championship field consists of the best-performed players of the year – he beat the current best of the best.

But a closer look at the FedEx tour scoring system reveals that it takes more than a consistent season to make the big bikkies. You need to peak at the business end of the season.

During the PGA season, tournament wins count for 500 points. Majors like the US PGA, US Masters and British Open are worth 600 points. But since 2007, at the end of the season, the top 125-ranked players are eligible for a "play-off series" consisting of four tournaments, the winner of which earns 2500 points.

To us, the Masters is at least five times as important as the Tour Championship or The Barclays, but under this system the winners of the season-enders are awarded five times as many points as a mere major.

Of course, one has to have played well enough to make that top 125 to be eligible for the riches. At each play-off event, the fields are progressively cut – The Barclays in New York features 125 players; the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston fields 100 players; and the BMW Championship in Denver features 70 players. Only the remaining top 30 players compete the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

These four tournaments offer $32 million in prizemoney, and the bonuses available are $35 million.

The points-scoring is skewed so heavily towards the four play-off events that a reasonably well-performed journeyman can leap to the top of the standings.

Horschel won two tournaments and had five top 10 finishes for the year. Rory McIlroy won two majors, three tournaments in all, and finished in the top 10 12 times, both season highs. He even finished in a tie for second, three shots off the lead, in the Tour Championship. Yet he was 1600 points adrift of the winner.

McIlroy is the world's No.1 ranked player: Horschel is ranked 23.

But Horschel's two wins came in the final two FedEx play-off events. He had a reasonable year, then burnt very hot at its completion, having started the play-offs ranked 69. Previous play-off winners have been ranked no lower than 19th entering the last four events.

FedEx winners are always fine players. Tiger Woods won it twice, Henrik Stenson won it last year.

It is an interesting attempt to manufacture a climax to the season. But such is the nature of golf that most of the top 150 players are so good they can win a tournament. Win twice, at the right time, like Billy Horschel, and you go from wealthy to rich.

These days, only wins in the traditional major earn a golfer glory.

The FedEx Cup, with vast amounts of money, and a unique play-off structure, aims to emulate some of that respect and build a climax into the season.

Perhaps in decades to come journeymen will make Horschel their hero, and craft campaigns centred around the BMW and Tour Championship wins, rather than green jackets and claret jugs.

Horschel admits that earlier this year he dreamt that he would hold up the FedEx Cup.

We have included a picture so you know what it looks like.