PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Jeff Maggert withdrew from THE PLAYERS Championship on Wednesday afternoon, citing "family matters."

He was replaced in the field by Kevin Chappell, the first alternate. “Thank you Jeff Maggert” Chappell tweeted at 3:29 p.m. ET.

Chappell, a rookie from Fresno, Calif., finished tied for second at the Valero Texas Open earlier this year and currently ranks 76th on the FedExCup points list.

Chappell will replace Maggert in the 9:11 a.m. tee time slot on Thursday off No. 1, and will play with Nick O'Hern and Tommy Gainey.

MORE FEDEXCUP: Complete standings | Weekly Leaders As the wild west fades into the TOUR’s rear view mirror for now, the players shift time zones to Florida where they will be wandering into the “Bear Trap.” PGA National, the TOUR’s toughest non-major track in 2010, greets the field at The Honda Classic. This tough challenge comes two months into the season where players are jockeying for position in the season-long race for the FedExCup. BEST NEW ARRIVAL: Last week’s winners, Luke Donald and Johnson Wagner, debuted in this week’s FedExCup standings at Nos. 9 and 31 respectively. Donald won the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship after missing the cut in his first start of the year. Wagner, after a pair of missed cuts, won the Mayakoba Golf Classic in his third 2011 start. BIGGEST MOVERS: A solo fourth place finish at the Mayakoba Golf Classic moved Chris Stroud up 74 spots from 188th to 114th in the FedExCup standings. 2010 Nationwide Tour graduate Bobby Gates and David Toms each made 40-plus-spot jumps after strong showings in Mexico. Gates moved up 48 spots from 186th to 138th while David Toms went from 149th to 106th after last week’s action. Robert Karlsson, however, was the second-biggest mover, moving up 52 spots from 184th to 132nd in the FedExCup standings. NOTABLE DROPS: Last year’s Nationwide Tour Player of the Year, Jamie Lovemark, dropped out of the top 200 in the FedExCup standings after last week’s events. Lovemark, who has missed three cuts and withdrawn once in his five starts, has 11 FedExCup points courtesy a T58 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open. Jeff Maggert (133rd to 154th), Jason Gore (135th to 156th) and Trevor Immelman (138th to 160th) were among the golfers falling further away from the coveted 125th position in the standings. Speaking of that bubble, here’s an all too early look. Sean O’Hair jumped up to 124th after his T33 at the Accenture, while Tag Ridings to 125th. Each of the aforementioned players will be in the field this week at The Honda Classic. MORE ON LAST WEEK’S WINNERS: Donald debuted in ninth place in the FedExCup standings with his vicory at the Accenture Match Play Championship. A victory this week could vault him to No. 2 in the standings – a big boost compared to where he was last year. Donald entered the 2010 PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup at No. 22 in the standings, but climbed to No. 3 by the end of the run on the strength of two second-place finishes. Johnson Wagner, who won in Mexico, hasn’t made the Playoffs since 2008, when he finished 60th. While his victory (and 250 FedExCup Points) don’t guarantee him a spot in the Playoffs, only one winner who made more than 15 TOUR starts has ever failed to make the top 125.

Jeff Maggert, who came into The Barclays as the bubble boy ranked 100th, has withdrawn from the tournament due to a shoulder injury.

Maggert shot 79 in the first round and was 6 over through 11 holes on Friday when he decided to withdraw. At that pace, he would not have made the cut which is projected to come at even par and include 73 players.

Therefore, it’s a virtual certainty Maggert will not advance to the Deutsche Bank Championship. He’s three points ahead of No. 102 Kevin Streelman, who currently stands solo third.

The points distribution for 73rd would be 4.7 points.

Jeff Maggert, who is this week’s bubble boy at No. 100, has some work to do if he wants to play another event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

The Texan opened with a disappointing 79 at Ridgewood on Thursday. His round of 8 over included six bogeys, two double bogeys and just two birdies.

Despite the fact that Steve Stricker holds a commanding five-stroke lead here in the final round of the John Deere Classic, there’s still plenty to play for -- most notably a spot in the Open Championship.

The top finisher among the top 5 at TPC Deere Run who is not already eligible for the Open will get a spot in next week’s field. Right now, that battle is between Jeff Maggert and Paul Goydos. Both began the day at 21 under, though Goydos just birdied the fifth hole to move one shot ahead of Maggert.

If they end in a tie for second, the tie-breaker would go to whoever had the lower third round (since they began they day in a tie, too). That would be Maggert, who shot 63, which will obviously leave Goydos wishing he’d shot that 59 Saturday instead of Thursday. -- Brian Wacker

Jeff Maggert’s bogey-free 65 in the second round puts the Texan at 11 under and within shouting distance from the top of the leaderboard. If only the rest of his 2010 season had been as easy.

“I had a really good start to the year, played pretty solid, and had kind of a shoulder injury I've been battling,” he said after his round on Friday. “That's what happens when you're 46 and been doing it for 25 years. Those little aches and pains catch up to you.”

Maggert was forced to withdraw from both the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial earlier in the season, citing the recurring shoulder problems. And since April, he’s missed the cut in seven tournaments, playing into the weekend only once at the St. Jude Classic (T67).

But it’s been a different story for the three-time TOUR winner at TPC Deere Run.

“My putter has been pretty good this week. It hasn't been very well all summer, so it was kind of surprising to make so many putts the last two days,” he said. “I wouldn't say my ball-striking is just fantastic, but today was better. I hit a lot more shots closer to the pin and had some opportunities to make a few more birdies.”

Maggert’s made 12 birdies so far and is averaging only 1.57 putts per green in regulation, good for fifth among the field this week.

“I've been struggling putting the ball for the last few months, and for some reason all of a sudden everything is going in the hole,” he said. “That's a good problem to have.”

Maggert is looking for his first win on TOUR since his victory at the 2006 FedEx St. Jude Classic.

The low numbers continue to pour in at TPC Deere Run. The latest player to go low? Jeff Maggert, who is 5 under through his first 13 holes and 10 under for the tournament.

Maggert has missed just one fairway and two greens in regulation while taking only 19 putts, which is certainly an improvement on his last three months. Over his last nine starts, Maggert has missed the cut six times and withdrawn twice. The only tournament he did make it to the weekend on? The St. Jude Classic presented by Smith & Nephew … where he tied for 67th after shooting a final-round 81. Maggert’s best finish this season was a tie for sixth at the Shell Houston Open. -- Brian Wacker

Jeff Maggert has withdrawn due to a shoulder injury. Maggert shot 72 in the first round and was 1 over for the tournament after a double bogey on the 14th hole when he made the early exit.