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By PGATOUR.com staff

HARRISON, N.Y. -- Steve Stricker made the most obvious jump, but there was plenty of movement throughout the projected FedExCup points list on Saturday during the third round of The Barclays.

No one has improved his points position through three rounds more than Rich Beem, with caddie Bill Heim. (Mike Ehrmann/WireImage)

Stricker's round of 65 lifted him to a one-stroke lead over K.J. Choi in the $7 million event that opens the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. He would also be No. 1 in the FedExCup standings if the tournament had ended after 54 holes.

Stricker jumped 11 spots in the projected points list while Choi climbed three into second. Their moves pushed Tiger Woods, who is taking the week off, down to third -- although a lot can change based on Sunday's final round.

Like Woods, Stricker also plans to take some time off -- but only a day or two between each Playoff event so he can go back to Wisconsin to see his family. He'll compete in all four Playoffs and then represent the United States in the Presidents Cup.

"I just plan to get away, trying to stay fresh," he said. "That's the whole deal because it's the end of the year and playing four tournaments in a row, it's easy to start getting a little uptight if things aren't going your way."

BEEM IS BIGGEST MOVER: Stricker may have risen to the top of the projected FedExCup points, but Rich Beem remained the biggest mover after the third round.

Beem, who fired his third straight round in the 60s on Saturday, is tied with Hunter Mahan for third at 12 under par. He jumped 38 spots to No. 96 in projected points as well.

If The Barclays had ended Saturday, Beem would be the only player from Nos. 121-144 to play his way into the top 120 and earn a spot in the second Playoff event, the Deutsche Bank Championship. He would have displaced Mathew Goggin, who missed the 36-hole cut.

Beem will have his work cut out for him again next week to make it into the BMW Championship field, needing a fourth-place finish or better, assuming he remains tied for third at The Barclays. Only the top 70 in the FedExCup standings are eligible to play at Cog Hill.

Beem also is looking to gain job security on Sunday. He needs to finish in the top 125 on the PGA TOUR money list at the end of the year to keep his card for 2008. Beem entered The Barclays ranked 132nd.

A victory would be Beem's first since the 2002 PGA Championship and the fourth of his career.

"(It's) always exciting being in this position," Beem said. "It's always fun playing good golf. You know, there's a lot of times where you walk off the golf course and you're just, you know, didn't get much out of it.

"But I've got a lot out of my golf game this week and that's always fun. You ask anybody that plays the game, it's always a lot more fun when you're playing well."

HOLMES SETS THE TONE: Westchester Country Club certainly was ripe for the taking Saturday as 25 players shot in the 60s and 17 more bettered par. J.B. Holmes set the tone early when he made eight birdies in his first 13 holes and finished with a 65.

Holmes, who had started the final round in a tie for 59th, shared 19th when the third round was complete. The big hitter from Kentucky, who only hit his favored driver four times on this shotmaker's course Saturday, gained six spots in the projected FedExCup points as well.

"If you're 12 shots back, you don't say, well, I need to birdie every hole to win," Holmes said. "You've got to keep it going. You've still got to play safe. You've got to make birdies when they are there and make putts.

"I wasn't trying to be more aggressive than any of the other days. I just rolled in a few putts and was hitting it close."

POTENTIALLY COSTLY SLIP: Bill Haas, who shot 68s in the first two rounds, lost ground -- and possibly a spot in the Deutsche Bank Championship -- with a round of 1-over 73 on Saturday.

Haas, who double bogeyed No. 1 and played his first five holes in 4 over, dropped from a tie for sixth to a share of 24th after three rounds at Westchester. His projected FedExCup points took a nosedive, too.

After two rounds, Haas had climbed 18 spots to a projected FedExCup rank of No. 107 and well within the 120 that make the field in Boston. Saturday evening, though, Haas' projected rank was No. 122 so he has some work to do in the final round.

SIGNIFICANT MOVES: Other potentially significant moves in the projected standings included Steve Flesch, who jumped 18 spots to No. 63 after a round of 67 that left him tied for eighth at 9 under. Ditto for Arron Oberholser, who jumped 13 spots to No. 59 after shooting a 68 that moved him to 8 under.

The top 70 players in the FedExCup standings gain entry into the BMW Championship, the third Playoff event.

Assuming things stay pretty much the way they currently are, the top 45 coming out of this tournament will be guaranteed to make the BMW Championship. In all likelihood, however, the top 65 or 67 will make it.

While it doesn't look like there will be much movement into or out of the top 120, the same is not true for the top 10. If the tournament ended now, Steve Stricker, Hunter Mahan and Woody Austin would all move into the top 10, displacing Charles Howell III, Adam Scott and Brandt Snedeker.

Howell and Snedeker missed the cut, but Scott still has a chance to move up with a good round today. It looks like everyone in the top 15 will move - here's what's happening to the top 15: