FedExCup Watch: Canadian Open  PGA TOUR Staff Four weeks left in the regular season. Most of the Top 30 are taking this week off, given that they're likely to be playing six of the seven weeks after this one. For everyone else, however, the next four weeks are crucial to their playoff positioning. For the third week in a row, Tiger Woods is the only player to have locked up a spot in the Top 15. The reason he has clinched a Top 15 spot so much faster than anyone else is the significant gap between his total and Vijay Singh's in second. His three victories and 4 other top 10s put him more than 4,500 points ahead of Singh. To drop another 4,500 points, you need to go down to Charles Howell III, in 7th, and 4,500 more points down is Woody Austin, in 23rd. One more player has clinched a Top 30 spot this week -- Zach Johnson joins K.J. Choi, Woods, Singh and Phil Mickelson with a guaranteed spot in the Top 30 going into the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. A total of 69 players have locked up the opportunity to have at least one start in the Playoffs. Kenny Perry, by virtue of his T5 finish at the US Bank Championship, moved up 4 spots to 69th, making him the final player ensured of finishing in the Top 144 and claiming a berth in The Barclays. The Canadian Open will afford some players the chance to make a dramatic move in the points race. Clearly, the players know time is growing short to get into good position for the playoff run -- 85 PGA TOUR players in the Canadian Open field also played in the previous two weeks. Three people who have put those two weeks to good use are Joe Ogilvie, Jeff Gove and Jason Dufner. Ogilvie of course won the US Bank Championship, and that, coupled with his T57 at the John Deere Classic, moved him from 117th to 66th in the points standings. If he can remain inside the Top 70, he will receive an invitation to each of the first three playoff events, including the no-cut BMW Championship. Jeff Gove has used the last two weeks to propel himself into good position to be in the field at The Barclays by moving from 163rd to 128th with T6 and T46 finishes. He will be looking to use this week to solidify that position. Jason Dufner has moved up to 117th from 140th by finishing T6 at the John Deere Classic and T63 last week. With a spot at The Barclays fairly secure, he can take aim at a Top 70 position with a high finish this week. Former winners of the Canadian Open can be found from the top to bottom of the field. Although Woods, who won the Canadian Open in 2000, is not in the field this week, he can not be caught. Singh, Canadian Open winner in 2004, can come with 29 points of Woods with a win, however. Jim Furyk, currently sixth in the points standings and defending Canadian Open champion, can move into 2nd with a victory unless Singh finishes 20th or better. The 2002 winner is John Rollins who, like Furyk, is in the Top 15 without benefit of a victory so far this year. He or Mark Calcavecchia, who won in 2005, would jump to 5th if either came up with another Canadian Open win. Bob Tway, Billy Andrade and Steve Jones (2003, 1998 and 1997 victors, respectively) all need a victory to jump-start their run to the playoffs. Tway, on the borderline at 142nd, could move to 36th with a win; Andrade could move to 33rd, and Steve Jones, currently 232nd, would get inside the Top 70 by winning. Mike Weir and Stephen Ames are not former winners, but both could use good finishes in their national championship. Ames is 72nd in the points standings, and would get well into the Top 30 (possibly as high as 18th) with a win, and Weir, at 80th, could move to 21st. Both need solid tournaments to assure themselves of playing the first three playoff events. This week, the critical "cut" line is 70. There are 110 PGA TOUR players in the field below 70th in the points standings, any of whom could get well inside the Top 70 with a win. Eighty-five of those players could get into the Top 50 with a win, which, if they maintain that ranking at the reset following the Wyndham Championship, will give them an excellent chance to be in the Top 70 going into the BMW Championship. Of course, a player being in the Top 70 at the BMW Championship doesn't mean he will win the FedExCup, but it does ensure he can play in the no-cut event. Pairings I'd like to see (based on Monday's entry list): Duke -- Elkington On the flip side, two musicians a lot of golfers were into last week: Berry -- Byrne. |
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