Young players making their mark on TOUR

ATLANTA -- With 29 of 37 events already in the books, the PGA TOUR Regular Season is in second-half mode entering this week's British Open and Reno-Tahoe Open. One of the pervading storylines this season is the emergence of young, talented players on TOUR who have not only contended on a weekly basis, but have broken through into the winner's circle. Many of these "young guns" could be well positioned to finish in the top 30 of the season-long FedExCup standings, earning a trip to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, Sept. 21-26 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

Entering this week's play, 10 of the 25 (Els 2, Furyk 2, Rose 2, Stricker 2) players to claim victory in 2010 have been in their 20s, higher than the total number of winners in their 20s from the entire 2009 season (7). These winners are: Bill Haas (Bob Hope Classic), Dustin Johnson (AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am), Hunter Mahan (Waste Management Phoenix Open), Camilo Villegas (The Honda Classic), Derek Lamely (Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popluar), Anthony Kim (Shell Houston Open), Rory McIlory (Quail Hollow Championship), Adam Scott (Valero Texas Open), Jason Day (HP Byron Nelson Championship) and Justin Rose (the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley, AT&T National).

Included among this group are three players -- Johnson, Villegas and Kim -- who each collected their third-career PGA TOUR victory in 2010. That threesome joined Scott and Sean O'Hair as the only players in their 20s with at least three PGA TOUR victories. Scott leads the way with seven PGA TOUR victories on his resume.

Among the winners in their 20s are five players -- Haas, Lamely, McIlroy, Day and Rose -- who broke through for their first PGA TOUR victory. These players, should they go on to finish in the top 30 in the FedExCup points list and qualify, will look to join Villegas (2008) as the only players in the last 10 years to earn their first PGA TOUR victory and go on to win THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola the same year.

Another batch of young players have performed well through the first half of the 2010 season but are still in search of their first victory. Rookies Rickie Fowler (21) and Alex Prugh (25) have both enjoyed solid starts to their PGA TOUR careers. Last year Marc Leishman, who went on to claim 2009 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year honors, was the only rookie to qualify for the field at THE TOUR Championship.

The top-30 players in FedExCup points after the BMW Championship qualify for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, the finale of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. FedExCup points are reset prior to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, ensuring a real shootout as all 30 players in the field will have a mathematical chance of winning the FedExCup with a victory at the event. THE TOUR Championship is annually contested at Atlanta's renowned East Lake Golf Club, the formative home of the legendary Bobby Jones. In 2009, THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola made contributions totaling more than $1 million to charities, which primarily benefit the East Lake Foundation and The First Tee. Since 1998, THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola has donated more than $10 million to charity, both locally and nationwide.