FedExCup Final 30 preview: No. 8 Scott Verplank

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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

SCOTT VERPLANK: Eighth in FedExCup points (1,000 after reset)
Verplank is a good example of a player getting hot at the right time. Two of his six top-10 finishes this season came in the first two events of the PGA TOUR Playoff for the FedExCup. The five-time PGA TOUR winner never reached higher than 49th in the FedExCup standings during the Regular Season. A tie for ninth at The Barclays moved him from No. 57 to No. 37. The following week, Verplank capped a spectacular back nine with a birdie on the 18th hole to finish at 16-under and nearly found himself in a playoff with eventual winner Steve Stricker, who finished at 17 under. With his tie for second, Verplank moved from No. 37 to fifth in the standings. This will be the ninth time that Verplank has played in THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. His best finish was third in 2005. Verplank has finished in the top-10 in his last five appearances at THE TOUR Championship.

Quick analysis

He'll be looking for his first win in two years at East Lake. He came close at the Deutsche Bank Championship but his good friend -- and frequent dining partner -- Steve Stricker overtook him with birdies on his last two holes. That tie for second was Verplank's fifth top 10 in his last nine starts, though, and he knows he can play well at East Lake with a tie for fifth in 2007. -- Helen Ross

How Verplank 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
8	-3	BMW Championship	T38	150	2,416	4,780
5	32	Deutsche Bank Championship	T2	1250	2,266	3,339
37	20	The Barclays	T9	375	1,016	3,365
57	-3	PGA Championship	CUT	0	641	2,790
54	-4	World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational	T51	17	641	2,460
50	-1	Buick Open	CUT	0	624	1,927
49	1	RBC Canadian Open	T8	68.5	624	1,435
50	13	John Deere Classic	T9	67.833	555	1,496
63	6	Travelers Championship	T9	77.5	487	1,387
69	-6	St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx	T59	9	410	1,199
63	2	Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial	T34	34	401	1,197
65	-4	HP Byron Nelson Championship	CUT	0	367	1,158
61	5	Valero Texas Open	T24	43.5	367	1,158
66	-5	THE PLAYERS Championship	T49	19.5	323	1,108
61	-2	Zurich Classic of New Orleans	T42	26	304	1,046
59	8	Verizon Heritage	T21	48	278	1,072
67	6	Shell Houston Open	T31	35	230	1,060
73	46	Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard	T4	108.75	195	1,009
119	39	The Honda Classic	T13	54.222	86	1,090
158	24	Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun	T15	27	32	1,144
182	0	Northern Trust Open	T64	5	5	711

Previous Playoffs results

Year	Barclays	Deutsche Bank	BMW Champ.	TOUR Champ.	Final FEC Position
2008	T12	T63	T28	DNP	48th
2007	T35	DNP	T30	T5	14th

Previous results at THE TOUR Championship

Year	Finish	Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Total	To par	Money won
2007	T5	66	68	67	68	269	-11	266,000
2005	3	67	66	69	69	271	-9	461,500
2004	T7	74	67	68	67	276	-4	198,000
2003	T9	71	71	69	68	279	-5	163,650
2001	T5	67	65	68	71	271	-13	202,500
2000	14	71	70	67	70	278	-2	116,000
1998	T5	70	70	71	69	280	Even	146,666
1988	T8	69	70	72	74	285	-3	55,800