- FedExCup Points: 50,000
- Purse: $7.0 million
- Winning Share: $1,260,000
- Yards: 7,547
PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents
LEMONT, Ill. -- Three weeks down, one to go. The starting field of 144 has now been trimmed to just 30 players for the finale of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.
As those 30 come to the East Lake Golf Club to play in THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, though, only five remain in the running for the $10 million bonus that goes to the winner of the FedExCup.
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Tiger Woods made sure he was in that mix when he won the BMW Championship on Sunday to reclaim the top spot in the rankings. The victory was the 60th of his career, sixth of the season and fourth at Cog Hill.
Steve Stricker, who won the first Playoff event, tied for ninth in the second and finished third at Cog Hill, trails Woods by 3,133 points. He's followed by Phil Mickelson in third, Rory Sabbatini in fourth and K.J. Choi in fifth.
A victory by either Woods or Stricker at East Lake would give them the inaugural FedExCup. The same goes for Mickelson, who took the week of the BMW Championship off, as long as Woods doesn't finish in second alone.
Either Sabbatini or Choi could also win the FedExCup with a victory in Atlanta, but neither controls his own destiny.
In Sabbatini's case, Woods must finish 14th or lower, while in Choi's situation, the game's No. 1 player must be lower than 22nd. Points earned by Stricker and Mickelson could also figure into the equation in either of those scenarios.
Woods, though, isn't one to do the math.
"You just go play," said Woods, who will be paired with Stricker in the final group on Thursday at East Lake. "You try and win the golf tournament. As I've always said, winning takes care of everything, so you don't have to worry about it if you win."
No one else has a chance to win the $10 million, although the FedExCup distributes a total bonus pool of $35 million to the 144 players who made the Playoffs. The players who finish in the top 5 will make at least $1 million.
"If you would have asked me before this whole playoff system started and say that I would have a chance to win the FedExCup going into the last one, I would have taken it," Stricker said. "But I'm very excited about next week. I'm excited the way I'm playing, and I'm looking forward to it. "
Unlike the last two weeks, when a birdie on the 72nd hole meant someone advanced to the next round, Stewart Cink, Tim Clark and Camilo Villegas had some breathing room when they finished their rounds. The three were the only ones to play their way into the field at East Lake Sunday.
Cink moved up eight spots to 24th with a 65 in the final round that left him in a tie for seventh with Villegas. The talented player from Colombia shot 67 and moved six spots to 28th while Clark matched that round of 4 under and moved from 33rd to 27th.
"It was a good day," Cink said. "I went out there with a goal in mind. Not to shoot a number, but a goal to play my best, and I did. I got a lot of birdies. I made a few putts. I accomplished the main goal, which is to move on to the next round."
| RELATED |
• VIDEO: Round 4 highlights
• VIDEO: Shot of the day
• PODCAST: Round 4 analysis
• STATS: Final BMW numbers
• FEDEXCUP: Updated standings
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All three played extremely well on the front nine Sunday, although neither could quite carry the momentum through the entire 18 holes. Clark shot 29, Cink 30 and Villegas had a 33 and the fast start proved to be enough.
"Today I knew exactly what I had to do," Villegas said. "The goal was to get to THE TOUR Championship. I knew I had to finish seventh or eighth. Even though I hit some bad shots on the back nine, I battled hard, and made some great par saves.
"It's nice to be playing well. I am feeling great with my caddy right now. Both of us have been doing a great job and hard work has paid off, let's put it that way. I'm looking forward to next week and taking a little time off after that."
Clark agreed, but he did admit to a few anxious moments on the back nine.
"I am a little disappointed today about how I finished today for this tournament, but obviously, the big goal was to get in next week's tournament which I've done so I'm very happy about that," he said.
"I got off to such a good start, it was all about trying to finish high in this tournament. Come the end, though, after bogeying a few, then it kind of got back in my mind that I needed to finish well enough not to lose my position."
As was the case with the first three Playoff events, a total of 50,000 points will be available at East Lake. Due to the limited field, though, first place is worth 10,300 rather than 9,000 and the man who finishes last gets 395.
Not to mention, the purse for THE TOUR Championship is $7 million with $1.26 million going to the winner.
Oh, and the top 30 players in the FedExCup standings have now earned invitations to play in the Masters Tournament next year. Ditto for the top 30 on the PGA TOUR money list at the end of the seven-event Fall Series.
