Win and You're In
The Tour Championship enjoyed its finest hour last year when Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson shared the stage at the awards ceremony. Could you do better than that? Not without a hot tub time machine and Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. Lefty won the PGA Tour's unofficial season-ender and the last of the four FedEx Cup playoff events (worth 2,500 points); Woods, as runner-up, clinched his second FedEx Cup title.
This year Woods did not qualify for the 30-man field at Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club. The top five in points (a victory for any wins the '10 Cup) are:
1. Matt Kuchar (4,935). The Tour's most consistent player, the Georgia Tech alum will be the home-crowd favorite.
2. Dustin Johnson (4,299). Big hitter comes off a big win at the BMW Championship.
3. Charley Hoffman (3,449). The mullet-sporting Deutsche Bank winner would be the first FedEx champ not to have played in any of the majors ... or to have a reasonable haircut.
4. Steve Stricker (3,372). Mr. September, Wisconsin's favorite son, has two wins in '10.
5. Paul Casey (3,015). The Englishman inexplicably is not on Europe's Ryder Cup team.
The big cheese could be the Big Cheesehead, Stricker. Having finished sixth in '09, he's got history at East Lake. Look for him to make more this week.
PHOTO
CARLOS M. SAAVEDRA (STRICKER)
SAY CHEESE Wisconsinite Stricker is primed for his close-up as FedEx champ.