Week 16 Verizon Heritage: First-round player notes

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Player: Ernie Els
Rank: 20th
Points: 4,636
Els is currently in 20th place in the FedExCup standings. If he could match his second-place finish here from last year, he would move as high as seventh. A victory could put him in third, behind only Woods and Mickelson. Els had the third-best average points per start, at 691, of all non-winners last year, with a second, two thirds and a fourth.

Player: Brandt Snedeker
Rank: 24th
Points: 4,351
At a Tuesday press conference, Snedeker said "[After the Masters] I got home Sunday night and had dinner with my fiancée and went to bed and woke up Monday and felt great. I drove up here on Monday and realized that I finished third in the Masters as my first time as a professional, got to play in the last group two days in a row, jumped up in the World Rankings, made a bunch of FedExCup points, because my main goal for this year is to get back in that Top 30, get in that playoff system, get in the TOUR Championship. "

To be in the top 30 at the end of the Regular Season, Snedeker probably needs about 2,500 more points -- equivalent to one second-place finish, or a top five and two additional top 10s. Just before the halfway point in the Regular Season this year, he has a top five (third at the Masters) and three other top 10s.

Player: Zach Johnson
Rank: 73rd
Points: 1,886
Zach Johnson had a solid tournament in Augusta, but the difference between this year and last shows the importance of wins and high finishes in the FedExCup race. With a tie for 20th, he moved up two spots in the points standings, from 75th to 73rd. Last year's first-place finish moved him from 68th to ninth.

Player: Aaron Baddeley
Rank: 55th
Points: 2,452
Baddeley had an outside chance to win the FedExCup last year when THE TOUR Championship began, needing a win and some help from others ahead of him, but under the new Playoffs points system, his second at Deutsche Bank and fifth at BMW would have allowed him to control his own destiny at THE TOUR Championship -- a win would secure the FedExCup.

Player: Jim Furyk
Rank: 27th
Points: 3,999
Furyk was the ninth seed in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup last year and is currently 27th in the points standings. But there's no need for concern -- he didn't really heat up last year until June was in sight. From May 27th through the end of July, he earned nearly 12,000 points, which would have been good for ninth seed all by itself.

Player: David Toms
Rank: 143rd
Points: 580
Toms has only 580 points thus far this year due to his on-going issues with his back. His best month last year was June, however, earning nearly 3,600 points in three tournaments. If he can have the same kind of second half in 2008 that he had in 2007, he will still finish among the top-70 seeds going into the Playoffs and, with the revised Playoff points structure, could move up quickly with excellent play.

Player: Matt Jones
Rank: 63rd
Points: 2,122
Matt Jones is having a good year -- fourth among Nationwide Tour and q-school graduates on the FedExCup points list. With great finishes this week and next, or a victory in either week, he would be eligible for THE PLAYERS Championship.

Player: Sean O'Hair
Rank: 9th
Points: 6,476
Sean O'Hair really seems to come alive in the spring. Last year, all seven of his top 25 finishes and both his top 10s in the Regular Season occurred between March 18 and June 3, scoring 85% of his 4,580 total points. This year, he started a little early with a win at the PODS Championship on March 9. Since then, he has added a tie for third and a tie for 14th, earning 6,295 of his 6,476 total from March 9 on.

Player: Boo Weekley
Rank: 33rd
Points: 3,247
Boo's tournaments last year tended to be feast or famine -- he missed nine cuts, but averaged nearly 700 points (a top-10 finish) when he played the weekend. This year, he's only missed two cuts, but he's averaging about a 20th-place finish when he makes the cut.

Player: Anthony Kim
Rank: 82nd
Points: 1,715
Anthony Kim could move into the top 10 in the FedExCup standings with a victory this week.