The Daily Wrap-up, Round 1: THE TOUR Championship

ATLANTA -- Paul Casey won't be going to the Ryder Cup. He wouldn't mind a $10 million consolation.

First-round coverage

MOTIVE ENOUGH: Ryder Cup snub Paul Casey has a replacement in mind for his trophy case -- the FedExCup. Column RIGHT ON TIME: Geoff Ogilvy had his struggles in 2010 after winning the year's first event, but he's back in contention once again in the Playoffs. Column ROUND 1 REPORTS: Take a glance at how each of the 30 players in the field at THE TOUR Championship fared Thursday. More FEDEXCUP WRAP-UP: Four of the top five in the FedExCup standings struggled Thursday, leaving the door wide open for a number of players to chase the FedExCup. Story

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Round 1 Scores
Round 2 Pairings
Live Report
Transcripts
Round 1 Notebook
Scorecard: Casey
Scorecard: Ogilvy
Scorecard: Donald
Photos: Round 1

Casey was the only player among the top five in the FedExCup standings to break par Thursday, running off three straight birdies around the turn at East Lake for a 4-under 66 and a share of the lead with Geoff Ogilvy and Luke Donald in THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

It was the seventh time Casey has shot in the 60s in the nine rounds since European captain Colin Montgomerie left him off the Ryder Cup team. Whether that's motivating him to play well, the Englishman isn't saying.

A different kind of cup does have his attention.

At stake in this playoff finale is a $10 million bonus to the FedExCup champion. The top five in the standings -- Casey got to No. 5 with his runner-up finish two weeks ago at Cog Hill -- can claim golf's biggest payoff by winning, no matter what anyone else does.

"I've got an opportunity to accomplish one of the goals which I set for myself at the beginning of the year," Casey said. "I'm just trying to put myself in that position to win and then tick off that goal, which would be a huge goal. I'm not getting wrapped up in any sort of extra motivation. I don't need extra motivation. I'm motivated enough."

Breaking par was hard work on a difficult course in steamy conditions. The fairways are fast and more narrow than ever, and only nine players in the 30-man field broke 70.

One of them was defending champion Phil Mickelson, who has an outside chance to win the FedExCup and a better chance to replace Tiger Woods at No. 1 player in the world. Woods did not qualify for THE TOUR Championship for the first time in his career.

Mickelson had two eagles in a span of four holes, including a shot he holed from the fairway on No. 12. Not so good was making bogey after both eagles, along with consecutive bogeys after his first birdie of the tournament. He shot 69, not a bad start.

"It's a better position than I started last year," said Mickelson, who opened with a 73 and went on to a three-shot victory. "Could have been better, could have been worse, and it was an interesting day."

Jim Furyk had a 67, while K.J. Choi was at 68. The group at 69 included Hunter Mahan, Jason Day, Kevin Na and Mickelson.

Updated standings

The final event in the 2010 PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup is under way. To see the latest FedExCup points projections, click here.

Matt Kuchar, the top seed in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, whose golfing career is rooted in Atlanta, chipped in for eagle on the 15th hole. That wasn't enough to offset for four bogeys in his round of 72, including a tee shot into the stands on the par-3 18th.

Dustin Johnson, the No. 2 seed, struggled off the tee on his way to a 73, while Steve Stricker (No. 4) also had a 74. Charley Hoffman, part of the top five from his victory at the TPC Boston, had a 71.

It only helps Casey and his bid to win the FedExCup when the four players ahead of him are behind him on the leaderboard, and he took notice of that when he glanced at video screens around East Lake.

"The big screens they have out there never go past the top 20, and I wasn't seeing anybody in the top five (in FedExCup standings) in that top 20," Casey said. "There is a very long way to go, though."

And he has enough company under par to remind him of that. Donald, who had a runner-up finish at the Deutsche Bank Championship to get to No. 7 in the standings, had six birdies in his round of 66.

Donald was among the three captain's picks for Europe and is hopeful of building some momentum, along with the winning the tournament, before heading over to Celtic Manor in Wales.

It was awkward for Donald when Casey was left off the Ryder Cup team for the first time since 2002, particularly because Donald's brother is Casey's caddie. Still, he didn't see a correlation in Casey's recent form to any Ryder Cup snub.

Even though Casey hasn't won a tournament this year, he is No. 7 in the world ranking. That wasn't an accident.

"You expect him to play well," Donald said.

The best news for Ogilvy, an Australian, is that he's starting to expect himself to play well. Ogilvy has not won since the season-opening SBS Championship at Kapalua, and he didn't so much as contend until the TPC Boston. That helped him get to THE TOUR Championship, even entertain thoughts of winning the FedExCup as the No. 12 seed.

"You can't come out and say, 'Hey guys, I'm going to play well in the next few weeks,' because it doesn't quite work like that," Ogilvy said. "But I think I get a pretty good feel for when it's coming around. But I don't know why."

So does he feel his game coming around? Ogilvy smiled.

"I think so," he said.

Player Reports: Round 1

Player (FEC rank) Score Comment Geoff Ogilvy (12) 66 Birdied his last three holes on the front side, and two of the last three on the back Luke Donald (7) 66 Rolled in long-range putts from 45 feet, 30 feet, 19-1/2 feet and 13 feet. Paul Casey (5) 66 Of his 13 rounds in this year's Playoffs, 10 have been in the 60s Jim Furyk (11) 67 In typical Furyk fashion, he hit 16 of 18 greens en route to Thursday's only bogey-free round K.J. Choi (23) 68 Fresh off T3 at BMW, he's still sizzling; rolled in 26-foot putt for first birdie Kevin Na (20) 69 Answered bogeys at 5 and 6 with birdies at 7, 8 and 9; other than that, all pars Hunter Mahan (15) 69 He and Ogilvy had best front nines on the day, but Mahan couldn't sustain it Phil Mickelson (10) 69 Had two eagles (the 12th and 15th); last time he did that came during his Masters win Jason Day (6) 69 No one hit more fairways than Day's 12; that's saying something with the narrow cuts Kevin Streelman (29) 70 Three bogeys in first five holes; Settled down to hit eight greens on back nine Ryan Moore (26) 70 First two bogeys came after he found fairway bunker; ranks 131st on TOUR in sand saves Tim Clark (21) 70 Didn't make first par until 7th hole; three birdies, two bogeys and a double in first 6 holes Robert Allenby (27) 71 Eagle on par-5 15th saved his round; his second shot landed 4 feet from the pin Nick Watney (28) 71 Fairly uneventful round; made just one putt outside five feet Ben Crane (22) 71 Opened with 11 straight pars, then doubled the 12th when he found two bunkers Retief Goosen (17) 71 One of just three players to finish his round with a birdie at the par-3 18th Ernie Els (8) 71 Rolled in 21-foot putt on first hole; the next seven putts he maded totaled roughly 12 feet Charley Hoffman (3) 71 Waited until the par-4 17th before making his first birdie Matt Kuchar (1) 72 The FedExCup points leader's only bright spot was an eagle at the par-5 15th Camilo Villegas (25) 73 Disappointing finish with bogeys on 16 and 17; three-putted twice on back nine Dustin Johnson (2) 73 Suffered double-bogey at the 5th when he found the rough/fringe with four straight shots Bo Van Pelt (30) 74 Didn't post first birdie until 15th hole, then went bogey-double bogey next 2 holes Zach Johnson (19) 74 Ranks ninth on TOUR in driving accuracy but hit just 7 of 14 fairways in first round Ryan Palmer (16) 74 Hit just four of 14 fairways and 9 of 18 greens; four bogeys in last seven holes Justin Rose (13) 74 Second consecutive 74, going back to Sunday at BMW; bogeyed Adam Scott (14) 74 Did not hit a fairway on the front side, but was more accurate on back side Steve Stricker (4) 74 With six bogeys and one double, it's not exactly a scorecard he's used to seeing Jeff Overton (24) 75 Rollercoaster back nine included triple bogey at 10, eagle at 15, double bogey at 16 Bubba Watson (18) 75 Messy scorecard with six bogey and one double; needed 35 putts to complete round Martin Laird (9) 75 Suffered two double bogeys, including at No. 6 when he found the water

East Lake: Round 1

EASIEST HOLE TOUGHEST HOLE The par-5 15th hole was the easiest with a Thursday scoring average of 4.400. EAGLES: 4 BIRDIES: 12 PARS: 12 BOGEYS: 2 OTHERS: 0 The par-3 6th hole was the toughest with a Thursday scoring average of 3.467. EAGLES: 0 BIRDIES: 2 PARS: 16 BOGEYS: 8 OTHERS: 4