How the 'Big Five' fared in first round at East Lake

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Will Tiger Woods win the FedExCup this week? He's off to a good start in Atlanta.

Sep. 25, 2009
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents

ATLANTA -- If the leaderboard for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola were to look like it did after Thursday's first round on Sunday evening, Sean O'Hair would win the FedExCup.

Top-seeded Tiger Woods, though, is lurking one shot off O'Hair's lead in a three-way tie for second with Padraig Harrington and Stewart Cink. Make that a two-way deadlock, and Woods would overtake O'Hair for the $10 million bonus.

Of course, there are still 54 holes to be played at East Lake before the FedExCup champion -- and TOUR Championship winner -- are determined. But the scenario described above shows just how close the competition really is.

Woods, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson and Heath Slocum are the players who can determine their own destiny. A TOUR Championship win by any of the top five seeds and he wins the FedExCup.

Here's a look at how the "Big Five" is doing.

TIGER WOODS: Woods, not surprisingly, is in the driver's seat after shooting 67 in the first round at East Lake. The world No. 1 has won this tournament twice, once on Bobby Jones' home course, and all three of his runner-up finishes have come at East Lake.

After he made bogeys at No. 6 and 8, though, Woods trailed O'Hair by six strokes. But he got up and down for birdie from left of the green at the par-5 ninth and shot 32 on the back to climb up the leaderboard.

"Well, 1 under, and then I made two quick bogeys there," Woods recalled. "It's one of those things where ... I felt if I shot under par for the day, I'd be fine. There aren't going to be a lot of guys under par. Luckily I birdied 9 and then kind of got it going on the back nine.

"I accomplished my goal of shooting under par for the day."

And he's right back in contention -- just like Woods was a week ago when he made the BMW Championship his sixth win of the season to regain the No. 1 spot in the FedExCup standings.

STEVE STRICKER: Stricker, who won the Deutsche Bank Championship, is among seven players tied for ninth after shooting an even-par 70 on Thursday. He hit 12 of 14 fairways to tie for first in that category but the normally steady Stricker managed just 10 greens in regulation in the second round.

Stricker, who entered the week seeded second, doesn't have to win THE TOUR Championship to win the FedExCup. He has a shot with a finish of sixth or better but Woods' presence up ahead complicates the equation.

Stricker is currently projected No. 3. He has now played all 45 rounds in Playoffs history, dating back to 2007, and still leads in sub-70 rounds with 29. His best finish at East Lake came in 1998 when he tied for fifth.

JIM FURYK: Furyk, who needs to finish fourth or better to have a shot at the $10 million bonus, finds himself well back in a five-way tie for 21st after shooting 72. He turned in 1 under after making a 4-footer for birdie at No. 9 but struggled on the back.

He gave the stroke he gained at the par-5 ninth back immediately with a bogey at No. 10. Furyk righted the ship briefly when he made a 2-footer for birdie at No. 12, but closed with three bogeys, including one from the left greenside bunker at the par-3 18th.

Furyk started THE TOUR Championship seeded third after jumping 15 spots with his tie for second at the BMW Championship. He's now projected fifth after O'Hair and Padraig Harrington have jumped into the top five.

ZACH JOHNSON: Johnson, who is currently projected at No. 6, felt like he got about as much out of his round as he could. The two-time winner in 2009 made the turn 1 over but shot 34 on the back with two birdies sandwiched around a bogey at the 13th hole.

"I three putted once from like 50 feet and hit a poor chip on one hole, made two bogeys and two birdies, and quite honestly, I would have had to make a pretty lengthy putt to get under par," Johnson said. "I'm not saying it evened out, but I couldn't have done a whole lot better, maybe 2, 3 or 4. I think 4 under today is a heck of a round. I played pretty steady, never took myself out of the hole, and hit some quality shots. Even my bogeys, I hit good shots.

"I'm encouraged, I've just got to settle down and make some more putts tomorrow and see what happens."

Johnson matched Stricker in fairways hit and was tied for fourth in greens in regulation, missing just five. He can finish no lower than third to have a chance to win the FedExCup -- depending on how the rest of the dominos fall.

HEATH SLOCUM: Slocum's putter wasn't very cooperative on Thursday, and he consequently found himself in a three-way tie for 26th after shooting 73. The winner of The Barclays needed 34 strokes on the green and made four bogeys and one lone birdie.

Slocum, who had jumped from 124th to third with his win at Liberty National, needs a two-way tie for second or better to have a chance to win the FedExCup. He's currently projected in seventh and needs three good rounds to get back into contention.