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By Helen Ross
PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents

ATLANTA -- First, Tim Clark got in under the wire. Now, he's flying under the radar at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, and that's just the way the young South African likes it.

Tim Clark could only smile at his record-tying round on Thursday. (Streeter Lecka/WireImage)

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

TIM CLARK IN 2007

Category Total Rank Driving Distance 279.1 yds. 170 Driving Accuracy 69.20% 20 Greens in Regulation 59.72% 179 Putts per Round 28.02 1 Sand Saves 63.83% 1 Scoring Average 70.10 24 FedExCup Points 95,425 27 Money Leaders $1,826,495 31

• Tim Clark's Player Page

Clark secured his position in the final event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup with a 67 at Cog Hill on Sunday. He tied for seventh in the BMW Championship, as a result, and moved from 33rd to 27th in the FedExCup standings.

Clark came to East Lake like 23 others in the elite field of 30 -- with no mathematical chance to win the FedExCup and its $10 million bonus. Instead, he's focused on THE TOUR Championship and its $1.26 million first prize.

Clark put himself in prime position, too, when he tied the course record of 62 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead over Padraig Harrington. Only 10 players completed the rain-delayed first round, which will resume at 8:00 a.m. on Friday.

"Maybe that's a good thing for me that the attention is somewhere else," Clark said. "I don't have a chance to win the FedExCup, so really about me, it's about this tournament right now. The guys out there fighting for the FedExCup have probably got a lot more on their minds than I do right now."

Clark didn't even play a practice round at East Lake, but he took the good vibes from Sunday with him to Atlanta. The former North Carolina State All-American made six birdies and an eagle while dropping no shots to par in his career-best round.

"I think just overall throughout the round I played well," Clark said. "Having a good Sunday round last week I had a bit of confidence. You know, I didn't play a practice round this week, I've just sort of shown up and come to play, and I guess it worked out.

"I didn't expect much, but I went out and got the speed of the greens really early and was able to make some putts."

Clark had hovered on the bubble for THE TOUR Championship throughout the Playoffs. He started the four-event series ranked 36th and tied for 17th at The Barclays to move to 31st. That missed cut at the Deutsche Bank Championship, though, added a sense of urgency last week.

"For me it was all about getting here this week, and I think once I was here, a bit more relaxed, and that's probably why I've been able to shoot the round I did today," he said.

Clark was in the second group off the tee and he wasted precious little time setting the tone for the day with a string of three straight birdies beginning at No. 2. His putts came from 18, 11 and 18 feet.

The catalyst, though, may have been his par save at the ninth hole. Clark drove into the rough, pitched out and still had a wood for his third shot. He couldn't even reach the green and eventually had to make a 20-footer for par.

"That was obviously a big momentum boost," Clark said. "That's the sort of thing that can kickstart a round again like it did for me heading into the back nine."

Clark was in the middle of the 12th fairway when play was halted by the approaching thunderstorm. He wasn't sure how he'd do when the round resumed three hours and three minutes later -- but an approach that landed 2 inches from the pin eased any doubts.

A 10-footer for birdie at the 14th hole was followed by a chip-in for eagle at the next. Clark had pulled his 3-wood left of the green on the par 5 but holed the chip from 60 feet -- raising both arms into the air in jubilation when the ball dropped.

"Just a little bit lucky," Clark said with a smile. "It had a bit of speed on it when it hit the hole and probably would have gone by about a good eight feet. That's one of those fortunate things to happen on a day when I was 6 under at the time was pretty nice."

Clark said he briefly thought about the Holy Grail of 59 on the 16th tee. Three pars, though, gave him a share of the course record with Bart Bryant and his eighth score in the 60s in 11 Playoff rounds.

"I kind of knew if I birdied the last three holes, but unfortunately they're not birdie holes," he said. "I was certainly trying, but I hit a few loose shots coming in. Overall, I knew if I parred the last few holes I was going to be pretty happy with the round."

Pretty happy, indeed.