FedExCup Notes: AT&T Classic, Round 3

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Stewart Cink (Getty Images)

Stewart Cink, 3rd, 9,449 pts

• Cink would pass Mickelson and move to second in the standings with a solo third or better finish.

• A win moves Cink within a victory of catching Woods for first place in the standings.

Ryuji Imada, 18th, 5,931 pts

• Imada could move to third with a win this week, and into the top 10 with a top 3 finish.

• Imada was the 55th seed in the Playoffs last year, but has already exceeded that point total this year.

• Imada earned over half his FedExCup points at this event last year.

D.J. Trahan, 20th, 5,528

• Since winning the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic earlier this year, Trahan has not really had a quality start with his best finish being a T17 earning him 338 points at the Verizon Heritage.

• A win here would move Trahan into the top five, but he could crack the top-10 with a solo third or better.

Briny Baird, 36th, 4,103

• Baird's solid play at last week's PLAYERS (4th) moved him from 53rd to 36th in the standings.

• Another top-five finish this week and Barid could find himself inside of the top-30 in the standings.

Brian Gay, 38th, 3,920 pts

• Last year, Gay finished the Regular Season with 4,345 points, good for 76th seed. With a 16th or better this week, he'll reach that total for 2008.

• Gay can move into the top 10 in the FedExCup standings with a victory.

Kevin Sutherland, 43rd, 3,644 pts

• Sutherland would move into the top 10 in the FedExCup points standings with a win this week.

• Sutherland is the model of consistency -- he is averaging 304 points per start this year, compared to 295 last year, and he earned 375 points at the 2007 AT&T Classic. Overall, he is within 120 points of where he was last year at this point in the season.

Steve Elkington, 44th, 3,609 pts

• Elkington was the 90th seed last year in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, but has already earned more points this year than in all of last year.

• With his T16 finish here last year, Elkington earned 375 points, just ahead of his current season average of 328 points per start.

Kenny Perry, 56th, 3,174 pts

• Perry could move into the top 10 with a victory this week. He has nine wins in his career - the only player in the field with more is David Toms, with 12.

• Among players who've won since the beginning of 2005, Kenny Perry is 10th in wins, with nine.

Retief Goosen, 59th, 3,083 pts

• Goosen's points per start average (343) should put him in the top 35 in the FedExCup points standings, but he has only 9 starts prior to this week, versus the average of 12 starts for the top players at this point in the season.

Troy Matteson, 62nd, 2,963 pts

• Matteson's best finish this season is a six-way tie for second at the PODS Championship, for which he earned 1,390 FedExCup points.

• One stroke would have been worth 1,310 extra points, because he would have finished second alone, earning 2,700 points.

• With those extra points, he'd be 34th in the standings right now, rather than 62nd.

John Mallinger, 63rd, 2,867 pts

• Mallinger is just about exactly on track with last year's pace, when he finished the Regular Season as the 68th seed and averaged 219 points per start. This year, he's 63rd, with 220 points per start.

• He's gotten here by way of a very different path, however -- last year, he had two 3rd place finishes but eight missed cuts by this point in the season. This year, he has made 9 of 11 cuts, but has only one third place finish. (His next best finish in 2008 is a T7).

Charles Howell III, 69th, 2,657 pts

• Howell is well off his pace from last year when he entered the playoffs in the eighth position. He will have to earn almost 10,000 points between now and the end of the season to equal last year's total.

• A win would go a long way for Howell as it would move him into the top-15 in the standings.

Steve Flesch, 74th, 2,468 pts

• A win this week would move Flesch into the top-15 of the standings.

• Last year Flesch earned zero FedExCup points in the state of Georgia. This year he has already earned 1,004 from his finish at the Masters.

Matt Kuchar, 76th, 2,448 pts

• Kuchar's average of 188 points per start is "middle of the pack" -- it would have been 85th best in 2007 -- but he's averaging 272 points when he makes the cut. If he can avoid missing cuts for the remainder of the year, that average would get him into the top 50.

Jonathan Byrd, 77th, 2,414 pts

• Byrd could move to 11th with a win this week, and into the top-30 with a solo second

• A player to watch in the second half of the season. Byrd was 82nd entering last year's AT&T Classic, but had a strong second half -- including a win at the John Deere Classic -- and entered the playoffs in 26th position.

Heath Slocum, 79th, 2,220 pts

• Slocum is well behind last year's pace, when he average 340 points per start and finished the Regular Season as the No. 23 seed. This year, he's averaging only 185 points per start.

Zach Johnson, 84th, 2,065 pts

• Johnson averaged over 700 points per start in the Regular Season last year, versus only 172 this year.

• Even excluding his two victories in 2007, he was playing solidly -- he averaged 228 points per start excluding wins.

Camilo Villegas, 89th, 1,967 pts

• Villegas was the big mover in last year's playoffs, as he was the lowest seeded player (52nd) to reach the TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

• Last year Villegas earned 25 percent of his total points for the regular season in Atlanta.

Parker McLachlin, 93rd, 1,872 pts

• McLachlin missed the playoffs last year, finishing 158th in the FedExCup standings. This year, he's nearly tripled his average points per start -- from 62 to 170 -- largely by dramatically reducing his missed cuts.

• Last year, McLachlin missed over half his cuts. This year, including this week, he has made 9 of 12.

David Toms, 126th, 1,124

• Slowed by injuries, Toms has really only had one quality start this year -- earning 350 points for a T17 at the Wachovia Championship

• A win in Atlanta moves Toms into the top-25 in the standings, and if he is fully recovered from his early season injuries he could be a factor in the second half of the season.

Jay Williamson, 142nd, 794 pts

• Williamson nearly won the Travelers Championship last year, which would have been the only time in the short history of the FedExCup that first place points wouldn't have been awarded in a FedExCup season event -- he wasn't a PGA TOUR member at the time.

• This year, a first place finish would be worth the full 4,500 points for Williamson, and move him into the top 30 in the standings.

Craig Kanada, 167th, 442 pts

• Kanada has made 5 of 7 cuts, but has only one top 25. To move up strongly in the FedExCup Standings, he needs a very solid finish.