GREENSBORO, N.C. --  The PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup will be missing five major champions as well as one former PLAYERS champion when The Barclays begins on Thursday.

Angel Cabrera, who has two majors on his resume, as well as former British Open champs Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton and PGA winners Rich Beem and Shaun Micheel, won't be participating after missing the cut at the Wyndham Championship.

All came into the week ranked outside the top 125 in the FedExCup standings and didn’t earn any points as a result. Other notables on the sidelines are Henrik Stenson, who won the 2009 PLAYERS Championship; Rocco Mediate and Boo Weekley.

MORE FEDEXCUP: Standings | Inside the FedExCup | No. 1 Watch | Movers | Bubble Watch

By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM

With two weeks remaining until the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup get under way, the pressure is on players to gain or maintain their positions inside the top 125.

If the season were to end today, 14 players in the PGA Championship field -- including Ernie Els, Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington -- would be on the outside watching the Playoffs begin at The Barclays. Three others -- Camilo Villegas, Heath Slocum and Arjun Atwal -- are ranked between 120th and 125th in the standings. Those three, especially Villegas at No. 125, are anything but safe in their quests to make the Playoffs. Villegas is just fractions of a point ahead of Els, the 2010 regular season points leader who could leap frog the Columbian this week at Atlanta Athletic Club.

Others on the outside looking in are 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen (145th), Paul Casey (147th) who finished sixth in last season’s Playoffs race, two-time major winner Angel Cabrera (150th) and 1991 PGA Champion John Daly (199th). Click here for more on the FedExCup bubble and to see how many points separate these players from the 125-man cut line.

LOOKING SAFE: Two players moved across the 125-man cut line last week, and both are now in good position to make it to the Playoffs.  Scott Piercy, who won the Reno-Tahoe Open was the week’s biggest mover as he jumped inside the top 100 and Steve Flesch, who tied for third in Reno, made his way to 115 ^th -- 32 points ahead of Villegas and Els. Being pushed out were William McGirt and Dean Wilson, who check in this week at Nos. 127 and 128 respectively.

NO. 1 ON THE LINE: The battle around the 125th position will not be the only FedExCup point of interest this week at the PGA Championship. Nick Watney, the current FedExCup No. 1, has 11 players chasing him with the potential to move atop the standings with a victory.

Among them are Jason Day, who has two runner-up finishes in majors already this season and Bubba Watson, who lost the PGA Championship in a playoff last year. Phil Mickelson and David Toms, who dueled at Atlanta Athletic Club a decade ago, are also within striking distance. Mickelson, Watson and PLAYERS Champion K.J. Choi could move ahead of Watney with a runner-up finish while No. 3 Luke Donald and No. 2 Steve Stricker are each less than 100 points shy of Watney.

CHAMPIONS PROJECTIONS: Three former major championship winners -- Woods, Harrington and Ben Curtis -- are Nos. 129 through 131, respectively in this week’s standings. Here is what the three needs to do to qualify for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup:

Woods likely needs a 14th-place finish or better at the PGA Championship to qualify for the postseason since he has indicated he is unlikely to play the Wyndham Championship. Harrington needs a 12th-or-better showing at the PGA to secure his position. Ben Curtis isn’t playing in the PGA Championship and, based on projections, will need an 11th-place-or-better performance at the Wyndham Championship to guarantee his spot.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

CROMWELL, Conn. -- With heavy rain now soaking the course -- and thunder and lightning in the area -- it will likely be a while before play resumes. Six players, however, were fortunate enough to finish their rounds before the horn sounded.

Your leader in the clubhouse at the moment? Kris Blanks, who carded a 2-under 68 that included an eagle on the par-4 15th, which is also this week’s Kodak Challenge hole. Blanks drove his ball short of the green on the 275-yard hole, then chipped in for the eagle from just inside 54 feet.

Ben Curtis, meanwhile, is one back after a 69. Curtis has a history of playing well here with four career top-15s in the event, including a pair of top-5s.

Others already done for the day are: Graham DeLaet (70), Scott Stallings (71), Steve Elkington (71) and Paul Goydos (72).

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Playing early on a Saturday means that you haven't exactly been at the top of your game during the first two rounds.

Today at the Memorial Tournament, though, it may be a blessing in disguise. That's because the weather conditions are expected to worsen as the day progresses.

A cold front will move into the area in the afternoon with scattered thunderstorms developing -- possibly with large hail, damaging winds and heavy rain. Already the winds have kicked up, storms are forming to the south and a gray haze has settled over Muirfield Village.

Winds in the morning were in the 5-10 mph range. By 3 p.m., though, the wind will be gusting to 20 mph which will make an already challenging layout even more so.

Mark Leishman is among those taking advantage of his early tee time. He just made the turn in 5 under and is four strokes off the lead. Ditto for Ben Curtis, who made the cut on the number and is 4 under through 16 holes.

Here is the live interview schedule for players speaking in the media center this week, which will be streamed live on PGATOUR.COM:

Tuesday, May 31
11 a.m. – Jack Nicklaus
2 p.m. – Justin Rose
3 p.m. -- Jose Maria Olazabal
4 p.m. -- Ben Curtis

Wednesday, June 1
10 a.m. -- Luke Donald
11:45 a.m. – Keegan Bradley 
Noon -- Charl Schwartzel
3:30 p.m. -- Fred Couples

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM Site Producer

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The first round of THE PLAYERS Championship is under way and Ben Curtis isn’t wasting any time taking advantage of his early tee time.

The one-time British Open champ birdied his first four holes on the back nine here at TPC Sawgrass, where the wind is down and apparently so is the scoring.

Three of those birdies came from inside 15 feet while the fourth came courtesy of a 33-foot putt on the par-3 13th.

The streak just ended, however, with Curtis three-putting from just inside 17 feet on the 14th hole, dropping him back to 3 under.

MORE FEDEXCUP: Complete Standings | Weekly Leaders A FIELD DIVIDED: This week, the PGA TOUR will be players will be split between the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun. TOUR pros rated inside the top 66 in the Official World Golf Ranking are in the 64-man Match Play field. Being ranked that high comes with its benefits, as every player in the field at the Accenture Match Play Championship is guaranteed 22.5 FedExCup points – even if they are eliminated in the first round. One match victory will guarantee a player 46.56 FedExCup points, and two wins – a berth in the round of 16 – will net a player a minimum 68.25 points.

Accenture Match Play points breakdown

550 points – Win	101 points – T5 (loss in the round of eight)
315 points – Runner-up	68.25 points – T9 (loss in the round of 16)
200 points – Third place	46.56 points – T17 (second round loss)
140 points – Fourth place	22.50 points – T33 (loss in the first round)

Conversely, those playing in the Mayakoba will have to battle through four rounds to earn any points, with the winner adding 250 to his season total. To get the same 22.5 points guaranteed to all Match Play competitors, a golfer will need to finish solo 26th or better. To exceed the 46.56-point mark, they will need a solo sixth place finish and to beat a 68.25 point showing, they will need a solo fourth place finish. More on FedExCup point distribution can be found by clicking here. BEST NEW ARRIVALS: A pair of major winners (Ben Curtis and Retief Goosen) and one of the world’s best without a major (Paul Casey) made their debuts in the FedExCup standings this week in a tie for 115th with 56 points. The trio finished tied for 12th last week at Riviera Country Club in the Northern Trust Open. Goosen and Casey were making their season debuts while Curtis was playing in his third event after missing cuts at the Farmers Insurance Open and Waste Management Phoenix Open. Louis Oosthuizen and Robert Karlsson made their debuts as PGA TOUR members last week and finished tied for 62nd at Riviera Country Club. With eight FedExCup points each, they enter the standings tied for 184th. Casey, Goosen, Oosthuizen and Karlsson will tee it up at the Accenture Match Play Championship this week. BIGGEST MOVERS: Ryan Moore, who withdrew from his first start in 2011 and tied for 73rd in his second, vaulted 131 spots in the standings from 190th to 59th when he tied for fourth at the Northern Trust Open. In that fourth-place tie and also making a triple-digit leap was Robert Allenby, who moved from 173rd to a tie for 57th (116 spots). Also making large strides were Fred Couples (143rd to 61st), Cameron Tringale (119th to 175th) and Kevin Stadler (149th to 97th). NOTABLE DROPS: Nick O’Hearn and Kevin Kisner, who were both idle last week, each fell 17 spots in the standings dropping from 139th to 156th. Though still early in the season, it’s interesting to note that 10 golfers dropped below the 125-man cutline for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Falling the furthest were idle veterans Stephen Ames and Jesper Parnevik, who dropped from a tie for 124th into a tie for 139th in the FedExCup standings. MORE ON LAST WEEK’S WINNER: With his victory at the Northern Trust Open, Aaron Baddeley moved from 37th to 4th in the FedExCup standings. His best regular season finish in the four-year history of the FedExCup is 18th place. As he continues to get comfortable in his transition from the Stack and Tilt back to his more natural swing, Baddeley has made four cuts in five starts with his last two outings being a tie for sixth at Pebble Beach and a victory at Riviera. Badds is seventh on the TOUR in scoring average and 11th in greens in regulation in spite of the fact that he’s only hitting 53 percent of fairways. Baddeley will look to continue his strong play this week at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

This just in: Ben Curtis badly hooked his drive on the par-4 12th and had to chip out onto the fairway. His approach found the green, but his three-putted for double bogey.

Rose's 12th hole wasn't much better. He also missed the fairway -- again -- and failed to get up and down for his third bogey of the day.

The new leader? Scott Verplank, who shot 64 and is already in the clubhouse at 14 under.

Ben Curtis wasted a gorgeous tee shot on the par-3 11th when his 6-foot birdie putt spun out of the hole. He ended up parring the hole along with Justin Rose, who saved par after a disastrous tee shot that ended up in the front bunker.

The final group has played a collective 22 holes today .. with only one birdie. For whatever reason, Rose's shots have misfired all day, although his short game has bailed him out most of the time.

Scott Verplank chipped in for eagle during our LIVE@ coverage to get to 14 under, just one back of Rose, who is playing the 10th. The eagle was Verplank's second in three holes -- he made a three on the par-5 13th.

Update: Rose missed his par putt on the 10th to fall to 14 under and into a tie for the lead with Ben Curtis and Verplank at 14 under.