Top five focused on the win, not the FedExCup standings

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Paul Casey knows that he has to play well over the next two rounds in order to win the FedExCup.

ATLANTA -- Paul Casey was headed straight to the practice range as the shadows lengthened on Friday afternoon.

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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 DREAM OR NIGHTMARE? To sleep to not sleep or to oversleep? That is the question in the 2010 Playoffs. Column

Those bogeys at the 16th, 17th and 18th holes hadn't sat too well with the amiable Englishman. Not when he had entered the second round of THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola tied for the lead. Not when he had the FedExCup dangling from his grasp.

Casey battled his swing during the second round of the finale of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, though. The No. 8 player in the world held it together for the first 15 holes but those closing bogeys in a round of 71 had him placing a desperate SOS call to his instructor Peter Kostis.

"I really don't often go and hit golf balls after a round of golf, but I'm about to," Casey said with a wry smile. "It's that bad."

Casey can still win the FedExCup with a finish of second or higher, depending on how the other stars align, and a win makes it a certainty. Suddenly, though, Casey finds himself in a tie for fifth at 3 under, a distant five strokes behind Luke Donald and Jim Furyk, in THE TOUR Championship and projected to finish sixth in the FedExCup.

And make no mistake, Casey knows exactly what he needs to do over the next two rounds.

"Going and dropping shots, I'm not worried about that," Casey said. "I'm more worried about trying to figure out how to pick up shots. You know, I need to be at least second to pass (Matt) Kuchar, and that's depending on what everybody else does. Really there's only one thing I'm trying to figure out."

Kuchar came to East Lake ranked No. 1 in the FedExCup standings but he bogeyed his last three holes, too, to finish the second round where he started at 2 over. The Georgia Tech grad was projected at No. 2 in the FedExCup when he finished, dropped as low as sixth and ended the day No. 3 with two rounds remaining.

Such fluctations admittedly are hard to decode as the projected FedExCup standings changed more frequently than Lady Gaga did at the recent VMA Awards. That's why Kuchar has but one goal in mind.

"I'm hoping to play well in THE TOUR Championship," he said firmly. "When I finish 72 holes they'll tell me how I do in the FedExCup."

Casey remains the highest-placed among the top five who came to East Lake as the only men who could win the FedExCup with a victory in THE TOUR Championship. But three of the other four made positive moves up the leaderboard that put them within shouting distance of the all-important win with two rounds to go.

The biggest came from Charley Hoffman, who started the week third in the FedExCup after closing with a 62 to win the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Hoffman, who, like Casey and Kuchar, is one of 10 TOUR Championship rookies in the field, fired a 67 that moved him to 2 under for the tournament and into a tie for eighth. The curly-haired blond hit all but three fairways and 17 of 18 greens on Friday to move up five spots on the leaderboard.

At the same time, though, he's tumbled to fifth in the FedExCup. Small wonder that his goals are similar to those of Kuchar, who is one stroke behind him.

"I'm just trying to win," Hoffman said. "Obviously if I win, a lot comes along with it. You really can't think about it. If you're in third place, you make a bogey you drop two spots. You can't really have swings like that. You're just trying to get up there close to the lead and win.

"If you looked at the points every time you made a bogey or made a birdie, all of a sudden you would be second or first or fifth, and you can't really pay attention until it's all said and done."

Steve Stricker, who finished third in last year's FedExCup, figured to be the steadiest of all the players in the top five. After all, the veteran has two wins and 10 other top-10 finishes in the Playoffs since its inception in 2007.

But Stricker opened with a 74 at East Lake that was his highest round in relation to par since he shot 77 in the third round of the U.S. Open in June. He steadied the ship on Friday with a 68, moving up seven spots on the leaderboard, but still finds himself tied with Kuchar a distant 10 strokes off the lead.

Dustin Johnson, who ranked second in the FedExCup as the tournament began, fell three spots on the leaderboard after a 71 that left him 3 over for the tournament. He's currently projected fourth in the FedExCup and knows exactly what he needs to do to earn that check with all those "zeros" he covets.

"I'm going to have to play really good and hopefully something ... " Johnson said, his voice trailing off. "Yeah, I'm going to have to play really good and this golf course is hard. It's hard to shoot low out here. There's not a lot of birdie holes. So I'm just going to have to play some good golf."

Hoffman says that's all any of the top five can do. Yes, they have an edge due to their position. But right now Donald, who is projected at No. 1, and Furyk, who's clocking in at No. 2, are in the driver's seat.

"I think the only chance anybody has really to control their own destiny are the top 5 obviously, but if Luke or Geoff (Ogilvy, who's third) goes out and wins, I have no idea what I need to finish to have a chance," Hoffman said. "You just try and play your own game and let the points system figure itself out when all the points are done."