Round 2 Notes: THE TOUR Championship

Jim Furyk, No. 11 in the FedExCup Standings, 67-65 -- 132, -8, T1

• Furyk shot the round of the day with a 5-under-par 65 on Friday to tie for the lead with Luke Donald while playing his 50th career round at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

• Furyk is looking for his third victory of the 2010 season. A win would mark the first time in Furyk's career that he has won three events in a single season.

• This is the 18th time in Furyk's career that he has held or shared the second-round lead at a PGA TOUR event. He has gone on to win three times when leading after 36 holes. The last time he led through two rounds was his victory earlier this year at the Verizon Heritage.

• To win the FedExCup:

Jim Furyk must win THE TOUR Championship, and

- Kuchar ties for 6th

- Johnson ties for 4th

- Hoffman ties for 3rd

- Stricker finishes in a 3-way tie for 2nd

- Casey ties for 2nd

Related

Round 2 Scores
Round 3 Pairings
Live Report
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Round 2 Notebook

Second-round coverage

FEDEXCUP TOP 5: What are they focused on this week? Winning THE TOUR Championship, writes Helen Ross. Column PLAYER REPORTS: How did the 30 players competing at THE TOUR Championship fare in the second round at East Lake? More DROUGHT OVER? Luke Donald is looking to end his victory drought at THE TOUR Championship this week. Column

• Furyk has hit 29 of 36 greens which ties for 1st through two rounds this week. Furyk's only round better than 65 at THE TOUR Championship was a 62 during the third round of the 2001 event.

• Furyk entered THE TOUR Championship as the No. 11 seed. He was ruled ineligible for the first Playoff event at The Barclays for missing his Wednesday pro-am tee time. Had he competed at The Barclays, Furyk would have needed a top-3 finish there to have been seeded No. 5 at THE TOUR Championship and a top-45 finish to have been seeded No. 10.

• Furyk is in a five-way tie for second with 7 top-10 finishes at THE TOUR Championship in 12 previous appearances. Vijay Singh leads with 12 top 10s, while Furyk is joined by Davis Love III, Scott Verplank, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els with seven.

Luke Donald, No. 7 in the FedExCup standings, 66-66 -- 132, -8, T1

• In his fourth start at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, Luke Donald shot 4-under-par 66 for the second consecutive day to tie for the lead. Donald enjoyed his best finish at the event in 2006 (T5).

• This marks the sixth time in Luke Donald's TOUR career that he has held or shared the second-round lead. The last time he was atop the leaderboard through 36 holes was the 2007 EDS Byron Nelson Championship. He finished that event second. Donald has yet to carry a 36-hole lead to victory on the PGA TOUR.

• For Donald to win the FedExCup, he must win THE TOUR Championship and ...

* Matt Kuchar finishes in a 3-way tie for 2nd

* Dustin Johnson ties for 2nd

• Donald leads despite hitting just 11 of 28 fairways (T24).

Geoff Ogilvy, No. 12 in the FedExCup standings, 66-67 -- 133, -7, 3rd

• Ogilvy posted a 3-under-par 67 that included seven birdies and four bogeys and is one shot behind the lead in his fourth start at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola (best finish was T16 in 2009).

• Ogilvy was tied for the lead until a bogey on the 17th hole pushed him back one shot. Tournament officials put a new tee box in play on hole 17 on Friday which set the hole approximately 10 yards longer, but required a longer carry off the tee and made a significant different angle for the tee shot. It was the first time this tee has been used in tournament play.

• The seven-time PGA TOUR winner carded his career-low round on TOUR with an 8-under 62 during the third round of THE TOUR Championship in 2007 (finished T17).

• For Ogilvy to win the FedExCup, he must win THE TOUR Championship and ...

* Matt Kuchar finishes in a 3-way tie for 6th

* Dustin Johnson ties for 4th

* Charley Hoffman ties for 3rd

* Steve Stricker finishes in a 3-way tie for 2nd

* Paul Casey ties for 2nd

Paul Casey, No. 5 in the FedExCup standings, 66-71 -- 137, -3, T5

• Currently No. 5 in the FedExCup standings, a victory this week would guarantee Casey (T4) the 2010 FedExCup. Casey and Charley Hoffman (T8) are the only two players who began the week in the top five who are currently in the top 10 on the leaderboard.

• Casey was near the lead most of the day, but bogeys on the final three holes put him five shots off the pace through the second round.

• Casey is one of 10 first-timers at THE TOUR Championship, joining Jason Day (T10), Ryan Moore (T15), Kevin Streelman (T10), Charley Hoffman (T8), Ryan Palmer (T28), Bo Van Pelt (T21), Martin Laird (30) and Jeff Overton (T25). They are hoping to join Chad Campbell (2003) and Bart Bryant (2005) as the only players to win THE TOUR Championship in their first start.

• With a solo second this week, Casey could pass Jim Furyk as the player with the most money earned in a PGA TOUR season without recording a victory.

• For Casey to win the FedExCup:

* If Casey wins THE TOUR Championship, he wins the FedExCup.

* He can finish two-way tie for second and still have a mathematical chance of winning

Retief Goosen No. 17 in the FedExCup standings, 71-66 -- 137, -3, T5

• Goosen, who won THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola in 2004, shot 4-under-par, 66, to move to 3-under for the tournament. Goosen, who played his 26th round at THE TOUR Championship on Friday, has a career scoring average of 68.76 which ranks third among players who have played in 8 or more rounds at this event.

• To win the FedExCup:

Retief Goosen must win THE TOUR Championship and

• Kuchar finishes 11th or worse

• Johnson finishes fifth or worse

• Hoffman finishes fourth or worse

• Stricker, Casey and Day finish third or worse

Matt Kuchar, No. 1 in the FedExCup standings

• Current FedExCup points leader Matt Kuchar is making his first start at THE TOUR Championship. Through 36 holes, Kuchar is 2-over for the tournament at T15.

Phil Mickelson, No. 10 in the FedExCup standings

• Defending champion Mickelson shot 2-over-par 72 on Friday to slide to T13. Tiger Woods finished second in 2000 to record the best finish by a defending champion at THE TOUR Championship. Should Mickelson finish in a three-way tie for second or better this week, he would become the top-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career.

Additional Player and Tournament Notes

• In the 23-year history of THE TOUR Championship, the secon-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win the tournament 10 times, with the last to do so being Tiger Woods in 2007.

• The second-round leader has gone on to win 13 of 39 stroke play events in 2010, the last being Arjun Atwal at the Wyndham Championship.

• Steve Stricker is the only player to have played in all 62 rounds of the PGA TOUR Playoffs. He rebounded from a 4-over 74 on Thursday with a second-round 2-under-par. Stricker is T15.

• Three players have finished inside the top 15 in the FedExCup standings in the first three seasons:

• Four players played their way into THE TOUR Championship via the BMW Championship. Here's a look at their standing through 36 holes and projected FedExCup standing: K.J. Choi (4, 11), Kevin Na (T5, 15), Ryan Moore (T15, 27) and Camilo Villegas (T15, 26).

• Kevin Streelman (No. 102) started The Playoffs outside the top 100 but played his way into THE TOUR Championship at No. 29. After two rounds, Streelman is even par and T10 and projected 22 in the FedExCup.

• Past champions of THE TOUR Championship and their standing through 36 holes: 2000 and 2009 champion Phil Mickelson (T13), 2004 champion Retief Goosen (T5), 2008 champion Camilo Villegas (T15) and 2006 champion Adam Scott (T25).

• Steve Stricker, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan are the only players to reach Atlanta in all four years of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

• Jason Day is the youngest player in THE TOUR Championship field at age 22 years, 10 months and 14 days (Sunday of THE TOUR Championship). He has a chance to become the youngest winner in tournament history, a record currently held by 1999 winner Tiger Woods (24 years, 10 months, 1 day). Day is 2-under-par for the tournament, six shots off the lead.

• Stricker is the oldest player in the field at 43 years, 7 months and 3 days. He has a chance to become the oldest winner in the history of THE TOUR Championship, a record currently held by 1994 winner Mark McCumber (43 years, 1 month, 23 days old).

• Nine (of 30) players managed to break par on Thursday, while 14 broke par on Friday.

Bogey-free rounds:

R1 -- Jim Furyk (67)

R2 -- None

• Scoring Averages at the par-70 East Lake Golf Club:

• Round-by-round scoring averages for THE TOUR Championship at East Lake GC:

*Highest single-round scoring average in tournament history at East Lake Golf Club.

• The par-4 fifth played the toughest on Friday with a 4.267 average. The par-5 15th was the easiest at 4.400.