FedExCup Final 30 preview: No. 15 Retief Goosen

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Badz/PGA TOUR

Sep. 17, 2009

The top 30 players in FedExCup points have advanced to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola and now have a chance to win the FedExCup. Here's a detailed look at each player and how he made it to East Lake:
FINAL 30 PREVIEWS: Previous | Next | Archive | MORE FEDEXCUP: Points standings | How the reset works

Season in review

RETIEF GOOSEN: 15th in FedExCup points (400 after reset)
Goosen hasn't made it to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola since the event became the finale of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, but his win at the Transitions Championship in March gave him the jumpstart he needed to get to East Lake. Goosen holed a 5-foot, par-saving putt on the final hole to win the Transitions Championship -- his first TOUR victory in almost four years. The win moved him to No. 5 in FedExCup points, and he never fell out of the top 15. Goosen has five career top-10 finishes in five starts at THE TOUR Championship (all pre-FedExCup), including a win in 2004. He will compete in The Presidents Cup for the International Team for a fifth time later this year.

Quick analysis

The quiet man from South Africa has put together an extremely solid season. He won the Transitions Championship and narrowly missed another victory when he lost in sudden death at the RBC Canadian Open. Goosen made another run at the Deutsche Bank Championship, but he couldn't keep pace with Steve Stricker and had to settle for his fifth top-10. -- Helen Ross

How Goosen got here

Breaking down the FedExCup points won and rank after each start in 2009

Rank	Change in rank	Tournament	Finish	Points earned	Points for year	Points behind
15	2	BMW Championship	T23	227.5	2,091	5,105
17	0	Deutsche Bank Championship	T8	400	1,864	3,741
17	-6	The Barclays	T70	4.9	1,464	2,917
11	-1	PGA Championship	T51	18	1,459	1,972
10	0	World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational	T29	39	1,441	1,660
10	6	RBC Canadian Open	2	300	1,402	657
16	0	British Open Championship	T5	110	1,102	957
16	-1	U.S. Open Championship	T16	58	992	624
15	-4	St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx	T29	37.5	934	675
11	0	THE PLAYERS Championship	T22	44.5	897	534
11	-2	Quail Hollow Championship	T11	59.571	852	535
9	-3	Masters Tournament	CUT	0	793	557
6	-1	Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard	T36	33.5	793	411
5	32	Transitions Championship	1	500	759	445
37	-8	World Golf Championships-CA Championship	T66	3.5	259	945
29	-4	World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship	T33	22.5	256	920
25	-5	Northern Trust Open	69	2	233	483
20	94	AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am	3	190	231	435
114	0	Buick Invitational	T26	41	41	606

Previous Playoffs results

Year	Barclays	Deutsche Bank	BMW Champ.	Tour Champ.	Final FEC Position
2008	CUT	CUT	DNP	DNP	108th
2007	T60	CUT	DNP	DNP	89th

Previous results at THE TOUR Championship

Year	Finish	Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Total	To par	Money won
2006	4	68	71	68	67	274	-6	345,000
2005	T4	64	66	69	74	273	-7	283,833
2004	1	70	66	69	64	269	-11	1,080,000
2003	3	69	67	67	69	272	-12	414,000
2002	T9	69	69	72	67	277	-3	146,000