By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – A trio of 66s and a closing 68 were enough to get Heath Slocum a victory at the inaugural McGladrey Classic last year. After opening with an even-par 70, there was pressure on Slocum to make a move. He did just that Friday with a 4-under 66, giving the 37-year-old momentum, and a chance to pursue the leaders, as he heads into the weekend. “Well, that was the goal after yesterday,” Slocum said. “I was like, all right, let's just put a good round on the board. I did today, wind or no wind, I don't know what it's going to do this afternoon, but I played good, and that was kind of my goal. Give yourself a chance on the weekend to see if you can't catch them.” Slocum’s bid to make up ground opened with him surrendering shots on his first two holes of the day: Nos. 10 and 11. “It was a little disconcerting to kind of get off to that start,” Slocum said. “That’s not the start I wanted. I knew it was going to be a tough day in the wind and I knew it was going to continue to blow. I made a big putt on 13 for par, and from there, it kind of -- things started turning around, and I made some putts.” That 13-footer on No. 13 gave Slocum the confidence to make six birdies on his way around the Sea Island layout Friday. Three of those putts stretched more than 10 feet, including a 35-footer on No. 18. Slocum admitted the title defense was on his mind, but once he fell to 2 over, he just had to focus executing each shot and getting himself back into contention. “I wasn't worried about anything other than, look, let's just go hit a good tee ball on the next and try and take little baby steps where I can worry about trying to win,” he said. “And I played better.”

By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Here are some odds and ends from the first day at Sea Island: NOT-SO-HAPPY RETURN: Seven of the top eight from last year’s final leaderboard are back at Sea Island for the second year of this event. Charles Howell III is the only one in red numbers at 1 under. Defending champion Heath Slocum is even, along with Robert Allenby, who tied for third last year. The one player missing from the group? Bill Haas, who is doing all right with his TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola and FedExCup trophies. FEATURED GROUP UPDATE: None of the members of our Featured Group were able to take advantage of early conditions at Sea Island. The trio of St. Simons Island residents managed a combined total of even in Round 1. Heading the group with his son Dru on the bag was tournament host Davis Love III with a 1-under 69. Zach Johnson came in at 70 while Brandt Snedeker double bogeyed No. 9 for a 71. ROUGH DAY FOR RICKIE: Fresh of his first professional victory in Korea, Rickie Fowler opened play with a 3-over 73 at Sea Island. The reigning Rookie of the Year, still in search of his first TOUR victory, mustered just one birdie and hit just 11 greens in regulation. Currently tied for 117th, Fowler will need a strong second round to make it to the weekend. CLASS REUNION: Is one year too soon for a class reunion? Not if you’re the q-school class of 2010. The 29-man class has 22 players in the field this week. Half of them are ranked T26 or better with five inside the top 10. Zack Miller, who is tied for the lead at 7 under, highlights the group. But Billy Horschel (-6), Cameron Tringale (-5), Michael Thompson (-5) and Richard S. Johnson (-5) are right on his heels. If the cut were to happen today, 15 of the 2010 graduates would make it to the weekend.

By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Things have not played out the way Heath Slocum had expected, or hoped, this season. The 2010 McGladrey Classic champion looked like a prime candidate to parlay his Fall Series victory into a very successful 2011, but he’s made just 15 of 27 cuts and has yet to post a top 10. Though his TOUR card is secure because of that victory last year, he enters the week at No. 119 on the money list. “This is as deep as I’ve ever been in a year this far back,” Slocum said. “But it’ll definitely make you appreciate the good ones a little better. At the same time, I think I’m going to be a better golfer for it. I’ve tried some things, tried to get better, and it’s taken a little longer than I anticipated. But at the same time, I think everything is starting to round out.” Things have started to work out tee-to-green for one of the TOUR’s premier ball strikers. He’s improved his ranking from 2010 to this year in driving distance (157th on TOUR), accuracy (2nd) and greens in regulation (3rd). In the process of working on those things, the short game has gone awry for Slocum, who has dropped 27 spots to 176th in Strokes Gained - Putting and from 19th to 165th in scrambling. Those number have caused his scoring average to raise by half a shot, dropping him to 121st on TOUR. “My putting and chipping, but mostly the putting, has been very below average for me this year,” he said. “It seems like I've almost neglected it trying to get my ball-striking early in the year back to form, and it's just been like a little cycle. Every time I would hit it bad, I putted bad, and then it just seems like now the work from all the putting is trying to catch back up … Even if I'm streaky, I am at least good sometimes. I haven't been good at any time this year at all.” A return to Sea Island may be just what the doctor ordered for Slocum, who was 13th in the field in putting and made a 60-foot putt on the 70th hole that set him up to win the inaugural event last year. The 37-year-old will be defending his title against a field that adds major champions Graeme McDowell, Vijay Singh and Angel Cabrera to an already strong group that includes Matt Kuchar and Webb Simpson. “After the first year, if you’re just watching it on TV and you didn’t play, you went ‘Wow, it looks incredible,’” Slocum said. “Then you look and say, yeah, Davis Love, his foundation is involved. It’s in Sea Island this time of year -- beautiful. Word of mouth spreads. Great venue. Great sponsor. Great host. Everything came together … It’s a wonderful event.” If everything comes together again for Slocum this week in southeast Georgia, he would become the first player to successfully defend his title in a Fall Series event.

PLAYOFFS:  Field Study | Points scenarios | Bubble watch | Questions | Guidebook | Season-saving potential By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM Peaking at the right time is crucial to finding success in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. For the two past FedExCup champions playing this week, their games just may be coming around at the right time. Vijay Singh, the 2008 FedExCup champion, started strong this year but did not crack the top 25 in a tournament in June or July. After a tie for fourth at last week’s Wyndham Championship, however, Singh moved back up to 36th in the standings. Jim Furyk, who returns to defend the FedExCup title, hasn’t had a big-FedExCup-points week this season with a trio of T9 finishes being his high marks. In the stretch of 13 starts between his T9 at Bay Hill and last week’s T9 in Greensboro, Furyk missed five cuts and never cracked the top 20. Furyk, like many others, has found something now with a long putter. He was in contention after 45 strong holes at the PGA Championship and last week he posted four rounds in the 60s at the Wyndham Championship. He knows that one more good week can land him, or anyone, right in the thick of the FedExCup race. “If I was able to go out and win one of the next three events, all of the sudden you've got yourself in a situation where you could win the FedExCup again,” he said. Past champions Furyk (10 Playoffs top-20s) and Singh (four top 20s, two wins) know that big week is all it takes and have done it before. BUBBLE WATCH: A number of notable names will have their eyes filled with “Bubble Vision” this week.. Major champions Graeme McDowell (93rd), Retief Goosen (101st), Ernie Els (118th) and Padraig Harrington (124th) all have work to do to move on to the Deutsche Bank Championship. Others on the bubble include former Playoffs standouts Camilo Villegas (109th) and Heath Slocum (112th), as well as 2010 PGA TOUR winners like Anthony Kim (92nd), Stuart Appleby (113th) and Ian Poulter (114th). Kodak Challenge leader Bill Lunde checks in this week at No. 103, also needing a good Barclays showing. In two years under the current FedExCup points distribution format, just nine players have moved from outside the top 100 into the Deutsche Bank Championship field. It’s a safe bet that more than a couple of the names listed above will be eliminated this week. PICKS GALORE: In addition to the weekly Expert Picks feature, the PGATOUR.COM panel predicted who they think will win the FedExCup and who they believe will make the biggest move in the Playoffs. See any picks you like or think we’ve missed on? Let us know in the comments below.

The first day of play at Annandale Golf Club ended much like the early wave -- with a slew of golfers tied atop the leaderboard. The 7 under mark, reach five times in the early going, was matched once in the afternoon and those six players will share the overnight lead after one round of play at the Viking Classic. Brendon de Jonge, Tim Petrovic, Bobby Gates, Sunghoon Kang, John Mallinger and Peter Lonard each posted opening 65s with Gates being the only player to reach the mark in the afternoon. Scott Piercy briefly reached 8 under, but surrendered four shots before closing with a birdie and a 5-under 67. He’s still one of 47 players at 4 under or better following 18 holes of play. Six past champions of the Viking Classic teed it up Thursday at Annandale Golf Club with Cameron Beckman and D.J. Trahan leading the way after 4-under 68s. Will MacKenzie (69) and Heath Slocum (70) are also in red numbers.

By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM

BETHESDA, Md. -- Robert Garrigus and Kevin Chappell low Americans?

Who'd have figured that?

Certainly not Garrigus, who couldn't even conceive of someone telling him at the start of the week he'd finish 10 shots off the lead -- let alone tied for third and low American -- and shoot under par everyday day.

"If  you had told me I was going to do that,'' he said, "I might have slapped you in the face. I just didn't understand the scores."

What he did understand? Walking off the 18th green.

"It gave me goosebumps for sure,'' he said. "That was one of the things I will never forget. Besides it being Father's Day and to have my son there afterwards and everything, this is a pretty special day. And to make that putt, I get into Augusta, that's probably one of the coolest things I'll ever get to say is I am playing at Augusta next year."

Chappell might agree.

For those of you who don't know, Chappell is a 24-year-old UCLA grad and PGA TOUR rookie. He's the one who closed with a 66 and wasn't sure what this would mean. Garrigus is the 33-year-old who hits it a mile and putts with a tiny -- think junior club -- putter. He closed with a 70.

"Being low American, that's great,'' said Chappell, whose finish, coupled with a tie for second at the Valero Texas Open, ensures him his 2012 TOUR card. "I don't think the state of American golf is where everyone expects it to be, but I think it shows that someone like myself can play out here, and I think it's definitely going to end up going in the right direction here sometime soon.

Ryder Cup Captain Davis Love III led the next low All-American group (Heath Slocum, Brandt Snedeker) at 3 under in a tie for 11th. The 47-year-old Love struggled with his putter all week and bristled a bit at the notion that American golf was struggling.

"Really I guess a little bit of an exception with Lee Westwood, but most of them are guys that are over here playing a lot, week in and week out,'' Love said. "Rory (McIlroy) I guess we've seen him a lot in the last year.  Everything goes in streaks, you know. We might be talking about how four Americans win the next four.

"We don't look at it that I way, we're just playing the golf course. We don't play nationalities, we're playing golf and trying to win. If it's Kevin Chappell that shoots 17‑under or Rory, it doesn't make any difference to me, I got whipped."

BETHESDA, Md. – Y.E. Yang has just bounced back from his only bogey of the day with a birdie at the 12th hole to return to 5 under for the tournament.

He now trails Rory McIlroy by six strokes with six holes remaining – and EPSN plans to stay with the broadcast until the Korean finishes his round. The telecast was originally scheduled to end at 7 p.m. but ESPN decided on the bonus coverage after Friday’s 42-minute weather delay.

Heath Slocum continues to play well -- he’s 2 under with five holes remaining. And Ryan Palmer has made three straight birdies to get back to 2 under. He’s playing the 18th, his ninth of the day.

BETHESDA, Md. -- With nine holes to go, Y.E. Yang has trimmed two shots off Rory McIlroy's early eight-shot lead.

Yang, the 2009 PGA champ, birdied the seventh and ninth holes to get to 5 under for the tournament. Heath Slocum is also making a move in the afternoon, making the turn at 2 under for the day and the event.

Two members of the Big Three pairing have tucked themselves just inside the cutline, as well.

Lee Westwood is 2 under for the day and in a big group along with Luke Donald at 2 over for the week. Donald, who ranks No. 1 in the FedExCup and the world rankings, is currently 1 under for the day. 

Martin Kaymer is struggling, though. He's 1 over for the day and 4 over for the tournament. The projected cut is currently 3 over.

By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM

BETHESDA, Md. -- Stewart Cink took one last swing at the 10th hole yesterday before he walked off the course.

Normally, he wouldn't. It would be nine holes and out. Back to the hotel. But he wanted one last look at the dastardly 220-yard par 3 over water.

Thursday, he was glad he did.

Cink opened with a birdie at the 10th Thursday -- a full, smooth 5-iron to 3 feet. Not bad. Not bad at all.

"They gave us a little break by moving the tee up,'' said the 2009 British Open champion. "And it was raining when we got to the tee, we had to do a lot of the mathematical calculations. I was over there early to see the group in front of me hit. I saw one ball. Heath Slocum hit a nice shot and it came up in the water. I added a few yards to what I was playing. And hit it in close.''

Seventeen holes later, Cink was in the clubhouse at 1-under-par 70, two shots off the early lead.

"I like being under par,'' Cink said. "I didn't play particularly well today.  I scored well.  I didn't hit very many greens, but when I did hit the greens, I made putts. It wasn't a U.S. Open style round at all, but I'll take under par."

The early groups, as always, got more receptive greens. What Cink wants to fix is . . . his play.

"I think I've actually got a really good attitude, I think I can do better than I did today,'' he said. "I hit some poor shots that I'm not very happy about. The attitude will be ‑‑ the rest of the day trying to figure out something to go with tomorrow that is a little bit more reliable, and hit a few more targets and come at it tomorrow with a positive attitude. "

MORE FEDEXCUP: Complete Standings | Weekly Leaders We’ve learned two things in the first quarter of the 2011 PGA TOUR season: the TOUR is completely unpredictable and winning is very important. Of the nine winners this season, seven of them have already accumulated more FedExCup points than they did all of the last regular season. Only one of the nine, Bubba Watson, won an event in the PGA TOUR regular season last year (Note: Jonathan Byrd also won on TOUR, but in the Fall Series). A victory Here’s a comparison of the regular season FedExCup standing for the nine winners: 2011 Winners Breakdown

Name	FEC Rank	Points	2010 Rank	2010 Points
Mark Wilson	1st	1,055	131st	343
Jhonattan Vegas	2nd	752	N/A	N/A
Rory Sabbatini	3rd	724	60th	618
Bubba Watson	4th	724	8th	1,489
D.A. Points	5th	713	78th	544
Aaron Baddeley	6th	658	93rd	481
Luke Donald	7th	618	22nd	1,089
Jonathan Byrd	8th	589	117th	405
Johnson Wagner	36th	250	172nd	197

The top eight are slated to play in the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, while Wagner is idle. CONSISTENCY PAYS OFF, TOO: Is anyone surprised that the highest-ranked player in the standings without a win is Matt Kuchar? The TOUR’s Mr. Consistency is currently 9th, with 567 points, on the strength of his four top-10 finishes in six starts. Nick Watney (20th, 352 points) ties Kuchar with a TOUR-leading four top 10s. Six players (Hunter Mahan, Bill Haas, Y.E. Yang, Gary Woodland, Jimmy Walker and Graeme McDowell) each have three top 10s and all of them rank inside the top 25 in the FedExCup standings. While Woodland and Walker will be idle this week, the rest of these consistent players will be taking on TPC Blue Monster. BIGGEST MOVERS: Ricky Barnes was easily the week’s biggest mover, earning 135 FedExCup Points and moving up 151 spots from 222nd to 71st after a solo 4th at The Honda Classic. A tie for 17th netted Justin Hicks 52.5 FedExCup Points and a 74-spot jump from 214th to 140th. Also making big moves into the top 125 were Charl Schwartzel (142nd to 95th) and Kent Jones (151st to 108th). NOTABLE DROPS: A pair of 2010 TOUR winners, Adam Scott and Heath Slocum, fell below the 125th position in the rankings this week. Scott, the 2010 Valero Texas Open champion, dropped 12 spots to No. 126 while Slocum, the reigning McGladrey Classic champ, has missed his last four stroke play cuts and went from 121st to 129th. Ernie Els, whose march to the top of the 2010 regular season standings started at Doral, fell 10 spots to No. 78. MORE ON LAST WEEK’S WINNER: Rory Sabbatini moved up 31 spots in the FedExCup standings after winning The Honda Classic. Sabbatini got things rolling in the previous week at the opposite-field Mayakoba Golf Classic, closing with five birdies and an eagle on his last 12 holes to move into a tie for fifth. He carried that momentum into the Florida Swing and won on a very tough track. With the TOUR divided between two events once again this week, keep an eye on the Puerto Rico Open for the next hot hand and potential unexpected winner. -Chris Dunham