Field: Top 30 FedExCup Pts. Standings •
Yards: 7,154

Season recaps for each player in Final 30 (cont.)

text size

Sep. 20, 2011

ATLANTA -- Thirty players will compete for the FedExCup title this week at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola. Here's a quick season recap for each one:

PLAYERS 16-30 IN FEDEXCUP STANDINGS BELOW | CLICK HERE FOR PLAYERS 1-15
More Final 30: Winning scenarios for every player | Playoffs Tracker

16. David Toms

A likely candidate for PGA TOUR Comeback Player of the Year, Toms has already had a season to remember. He lost THE PLAYERS in a heartbreaking playoff to K.J. Choi, but rebounded the very next week with a victory at Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Toms entered the Playoffs in ninth place in the FedExCup points. After struggling in the first two Playoff events, he finished T10 at the BMW Championship to earn a spot in the TOUR Championship -- and secure a Presidents Cup berth -- for just the second time since the beginning of the FedExCup in 2007.

17. Jonathan Byrd

No one started his season better than Byrd. After becoming the first player to hit a "walk-off" hole-in-one to win the 2010 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in his final event of last season, Byrd won the first event of the 2011 season with a playoff victory at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. Byrd had an up-and-down season the remainder of 2011 with five top-10 finishes, including a playoff loss at the Wells Fargo Championship, but he also missed nine cuts. After spending most of the year in or close to the top 15 in the standings, Byrd entered the Playoffs in his lowest position of the year at No. 24. A T5 at The Barclays moved him back into the top 15.

18. Bubba Watson

With Phil Mickelson standing one stroke back in the fairway at the 72nd hole of the Farmers Insurance Open, a poised Watson sank a tricky birdie putt to earn his first victory of the 2011 season. Another clutch birdie putt, this one in sudden death against Webb Simpson, propelled Watson into the winner's circle at the Zurich Classic at New Orleans and atop the FedExCup standings on May 1. At the start of the Playoffs, Bubba was in 8th place but dropped further after a missed cut at The Barclays. He bounced back after a chance to win the Deutsche Bank Championship, and climbed up to 12th, but a T53 at the BMW Championship puts him at No. 18 entering the TOUR Championship.

19. Adam Scott

A resurgent Scott has enjoyed a first-, a second- and a third-place finish in 2011. His victory at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, where his new long putter never worked better, ranks as one of the top victories of his career. Scott entered the Playoffs in 13th place in the FedExCup standings, spent some time near the top of the leaderboard in each of the first two Playoff events. Scott, who won at East Lake in 2006, the year before the FedExCup began, will look to win the TOUR Championship for the second time in his career.

20. Keegan Bradley

Bradley enjoyed one of the best rookie seasons on the PGA TOUR in quite some time, winning early in the year at the HP Byron Nelson Championship and later winning the PGA Championship in his first-ever appearance at a major championship, thanks to a thrilling playoff victory over Jason Dufner. Bradley is fortunate to have played well enough to enter the Playoffs No. 5 in the standings. The 25-year-old missed the first two cuts of the Playoffs and now sits at No. 20 entering the TOUR Championship after finishing T16 at the BMW Championship.

21. Hunter Mahan

Despite not winning this year, Mahan has enjoyed a solid season. Mahan has enjoyed eight top-10 finishes, including a second at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. A good barometer of Mahan's solid season is that he currently ranks 5th in the PGA TOUR's All-Around statistic. A top-10 finish at the Deustche Bank Championship helped Mahan secure a spot in his fifth consecutive TOUR Championship, joining Stricker and Mickelson as the only three players to reach Atlanta in all five seasons of the FedExCup.

22. Jason Dufner

The silver lining for Dufner's two playoff losses during the 2011 Regular Season is that the runner-up finishes at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the PGA Championship helped get the Auburn graduate into the TOUR Championship for the second time in his career. Dufner entered the Playoffs at No. 25 in the standings and a T6 at The Barclays helped keep him in the top 30.

23. Vijay Singh

The 2008 FedExCup Champion has struggled with back ailments for most of the last two seasons. A rejuvenated Singh posted his best finishes since a tie for second at the Northern Trust Open in February after a new therapy treatment in Germany this summer. At the Wyndham Championship in August, Singh needed a strong finish just to guarantee his spot in the Playoffs. He responded with a tie for fourth place. Then at The Barclays the following week, he posted a tie for third to jump all the way into the top 10 in the FedExCup standings; he needed the cushion after a missed cut at the Deutsche Bank Championship and a 67th-place finish at the BMW Championship.

24. Geoff Ogilvy

Ogilvy's road to the TOUR Championship was bumpy at times, but after early season injuries, the Australian made the most of a rainy Sunday in Chicago. His third-place finish moved him 45 positions in the FedExCup standings (from No. 69 to No. 24). The 3rd at the BMW Championship not only put Ogilvy in the TOUR Championship, but also secured his spot on Greg Norman's International Presidents Cup Team, which is being staged a few hundred yards from where Ogilvy grew up in Melbourne, Australia. After missing the cut at The Barclays, Ogilvy dropped to No. 91 in the standing. An up and down for par 71st hole at the Deutsche Bank Championship followed by birdie on the 72nd hole moved Ogilvy just inside the top 70 (No. 69) and barely earned him a position at the BMW Championship.

25. Bill Haas

Like Dufner, Haas also lost out at two playoffs during the 2011 season. Haas' near misses came at The Greenbrier Classic and the Bob Hope Classic. Haas played steady but not spectacular in the PGA TOUR Playoffs after his Regular Season resulted in six top-10 finishes. Haas was unable to make the best of his chance to make a major move up the standings at the BMW Championship. He entered the final round tied for third behind Justin Rose, but shot a final-round 78 to finish T16.

26. Charles Howell III

CH3 has quietly put together a strong season in 2011 with four top-five finishes, including a stretch of three consecutive top-fives at the FedEx St. Jude Classic (T3), AT&T National (T3) and the John Deere Classic (T5). In 27 events in 2011, Howell missed only four cuts. Howell finished T4 at the final event of the Regular Season, the Wyndham Championship, to move to No. 26 in the standings. Howell was again steady, but not spectacular, in the PGA TOUR Playoffs with finishes of T18, T31 and T42 to remain No. 26.

27. Aaron Baddeley

Baddeley's 2011 season was highlighted by his third career PGA TOUR victory and his first win in four years on TOUR at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. Baddeley reaches the TOUR Championship for the second time in his career and his first since 2007. As an Australian, he'd desperately love to make an impression on Greg Norman this week in hopes of getting one of his two Captain's Picks.

28. Y.E. Yang

Yang entered the Playoffs at No. 41 in the standings with a season highlighted by a runner-up finish at The Honda Classic and a T3 at the U.S. Open. A T6 at The Barclays and a few clutch putts over the back nine at the BMW Championship gave Yang enough points to qualify him for the TOUR Championship. Yang played the back nine in Chicago with three birdies and six pars to hold off several players and maintain his position in the top 30 in the standings.

29. Fredrik Jacobson

Jacobson won his first PGA TOUR victory at the Travelers Championship this year in his 188th PGA TOUR start. He played just well enough at the three PGA TOUR Playoff events (T42, T32, T32) to hang on to the 29th position in the standings after entering the Playoffs at No. 16.

30. Bo Van Pelt

Van Pelt rounds out the field in Atlanta by reaching the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola for the second consecutive season. Van Pelt needed every point he could get, but the keys to reaching Atlanta were his third-place finish at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and a seventh-place finish in the second Playoff event, the Deutsche Bank Championship. Van Pelt finished just 30 points ahead of Martin Laird (No. 31) to earn the last place in the TOUR Championship field.