FedExCup Climbers: Travelers Championship
 
Jun. 25, 2007

I know this usually goes in our Wednesday "Number Crunch" feature, but here's a fact that could win you a bet next week:

How many FedExCup points did Jay Williamson get for finishing second in the Travelers Championship?

Cue the Jeopardy music.

None.

You see, Williamson is not a PGA TOUR member. He is a Nationwide Tour member, and only PGA TOUR members are eligible to receive FedExCup points. He does, however, still get the $648,000 in prize money he earned.

If one bet isn't enough for you, here's another fact: The top 14 spots in the FedExCup standings didn't change after points were handed out following the Travelers. That's especially interesting when you consider that third-place Vijay Singh finished fourth at TPC River Highlands and fourth-place Zach Johnson missed the cut.

Now, here's our weekly look at players who made big moves up the standings.

Last Week: Travelers Championship, Cromwell, Conn. | This Week: Buick Open, Grand Blanc, Mich.

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Biggest Mover: Hunter Mahan
He climbed: 70 spots, from 89th to 19th
Because: He won the Travelers Championship on Sunday
Two big weeks for Mahan here. He jumped 15 spots after a T13 finish at the U.S. Open two weeks ago. That's an 85-spot swing in two tournaments. He's also on a string of three consecutive top-20 finishes. He was T17 at Memphis.

Can you say momentum?

He's not in the field this week at the Buick Open -- a fact that may have the rest of the field breathing a sigh of relief. Looking down the line, it may be important to note that Mahan finished T12 in last year Chrysler Classic of Greensboro, which is the final tournament before this year's PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Also, he was T22 at last year's Deutsche Bank Championship, which is the second playoff event this year.

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Welcome to the top 15: David Toms
He climbed: One spot, from 16th to 15th
Because: He tied for sixth in the Travelers Championship
This makes three top-10 finishes in a row for Toms, who has earned 3,583 of his 8,106 points during that stretch. Perhaps more significant is the fact that Toms has yet to miss a cut this season.

That's right -- he's 16 for 16.

Like Mahan, Toms is taking the week off. However, the future does look bright for Toms -- he finished T16 at last year's PGA Championship, T8 at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and T15 at last year's The Barclays, which incidentally is the first tournament in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

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Welcome to the top 50: Nick O'Hern
He climbed: 29 spots, from 71st to 42nd
Because: He finished third in the Travelers Championship
Sure, O'Hern turned in his best finish of the season at TPC River Highlands, but it's also worth noting that O'Hern has made four consecutive cuts, including a grindout T23 two weeks ago at the U.S. Open.

O'Hern best finish this year before the Travelers? A T5 at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in February. In case you've forgotten, he beat some guy named Tiger Woods that week.

O'Hern also leads the PGA TOUR in third-round scoring average, at 68.38.

Moving day, indeed.

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Welcome to the field: Steve Flesch
He climbed: One spot, from 145th to 144th
Because: He finished T67 at the Travelers Championship
For the second week in a row, a player jumps the magic spot from 145th (out of the Playoffs field) to 144th (in). Flesch has made three cuts in his past four starts.

Flesch is in the field this week at the Buick Open. History suggests he may be one of the guys to watch there, as well. In eight career starts at this tournament at Warwick Hills G&CC, Flesch has made seven cuts, most notably a T10 finish in 2002.

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Look out for: Fred Funk
He climbed: 20 spots, from 73rd to 53rd
Because: He finished fifth at the Travelers Championship
Sure, everyone knows he's won on both the Champions Tour and the PGA TOUR this year, but consider that Funk is second on the PGA TOUR in driving accuracy, 13th in scoring average and fourth in third-round scoring average.

Funk, now over the bad back that made the first half of his season a roller-coaster, is in the field at the Buick Open this week. Again consider that the tournament is at a different course this year, but Funk has six top-10s in this event and averaged a shade over 69 in 59 rounds there.