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PGA - TOUR Championship Preview
From The Sports Network
| DATES: Thursday, September 20th through Sunday, September 23rd |
| SITE: East Lake Golf Course, Atlanta, Georgia |
| COURSE ARCHITECT: Tom Bendelow (1908), Donald Ross (1913), George Cobb (1959), |
| Rees Jones (1994 - redesign; 2008 - renovation) |
| Hole-By-Hole: | 1 - Par 4 424 yds | 10 - Par 4 469 yds | |
| 2 - Par 3 214 yds | 11 - Par 3 197 yds | |
| 3 - Par 4 387 yds | 12 - Par 4 391 yds | |
| 4 - Par 4 440 yds | 13 - Par 4 476 yds | |
| 5 - Par 4 520 yds | 14 - Par 4 442 yds | |
| 6 - Par 3 209 yds | 15 - Par 5 525 yds | |
| 7 - Par 4 434 yds | 16 - Par 4 481 yds | |
| 8 - Par 4 405 yds | 17 - Par 4 470 yds | |
| 9 - Par 5 600 yds | 18 - Par 3 235 yds | |
| ------------- | ------------- | |
| 35 3,633 Yds | 35 3,686 Yds | |
| Annual: | 26th |
| Television: | Golf Channel - Thursday/Friday -- 1-6 p.m. (et), |
| | - Saturday -- 1-2 p.m. (et), |
| | NBC - Saturday -- 2-6 p.m. (et), |
| | Golf Channel - Sunday -- 12-1:30 p.m. (et), |
| | NBC - Sunday -- 1:30-6 p.m. (et) |
| Defending Champion: | Bill Haas (Not defending) |
| Runner-Up: | Hunter Mahan |
| Tournament Record: | 257 (Tiger Woods, 2007) |
| 54-Hole Record: | 191 (Tiger Woods, 2007) |
| 36-Hole Record: | 127 (Tiger Woods, 2007) |
| Course Record: | 60 (Zach Johnson, 2007) |
| Total Purse: | $8,000,000 |
| Shares: | 1st Place - $1,440,000; 2nd Place - $864,000; 3rd Place - $552,000 |
| 2011 Finish |
| Player | Score | Player | Score |
| Bill Haas * | 272 | Jason Day | 274 |
| Hunter Mahan | 272 | Charles Howell III | 274 |
| K.J. Choi | 273 | Adam Scott | 274 |
| Luke Donald | 273 | Bo Van Pelt | 275 |
| Aaron Baddeley | 273 | Phil Mickelson | 276 |
| Past TOUR Championship Winners |
| Year | Winner (Score) -- Runners-Up |
| 2011 | *Bill Haas (272) -- Hunter Mahan |
| 2010 | Jim Furyk (272) -- Luke Donald |
| 2009 | Phil Mickelson (271) -- Tiger Woods |
| 2008 | *Camilo Villegas (273) -- Sergio Garcia |
| 2007 | Tiger Woods (257) -- Mark Calcavecchia, Zach Johnson |
| 2006 | Adam Scott (269) -- Jim Furyk |
| 2005 | Bart Bryant (263) -- Tiger Woods |
| 2004 | Retief Goosen (269) -- Tiger Woods |
| 2003 | Chad Campbell (268) -- Charles Howell III |
| 2002 | Vijay Singh (268) -- Charles Howell III |
| 2001 | *Mike Weir (270) -- Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, David Toms |
| 2000 | Phil Mickelson (267) -- Tiger Woods |
| 1999 | Tiger Woods (269) -- Davis Love III |
| 1998 | *Hal Sutton (274) -- Vijay Singh |
| 1997 | David Duval (273) -- Jim Furyk |
| 1996 | Tom Lehman (268) -- Brad Faxon |
| 1995 | Billy Mayfair (280) -- Steve Elkington, Corey Pavin |
| 1994 | *Mark McCumber (274) -- Fuzzy Zoeller |
| 1993 | Jim Gallagher Jr (277) -- David Frost, John Huston, Greg Norman, |
| Scott Simpson |
| 1992 | Paul Azinger (276) -- Lee Janzen, Corey Pavin |
| 1991 | *Craig Stadler (279) -- Russ Cochran |
| 1990 | *Jodie Mudd (273) -- Billy Mayfair |
| 1989 | *Tom Kite (276) -- Payne Stewart |
| 1988 | *Curtis Strange (279) -- Tom Kite |
| 1987 | Tom Watson (268) -- Chip Beck |
| Note:Formerly called Nabisco Championships (1989-90), Nabisco Golf |
|
Championships (1988), Nabisco Championships of Golf (1987).
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| Top Contenders in the Field |
| Player | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
| Hunter Mahan | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | T-5 | T-17 | 24th | T-15 | 2nd |
| Luke Donald | --- | --- | --- | T-14 | T-5 | --- | --- | T-25 | 2nd | T-3 |
| Adam Scott | --- | --- | T-21 | T-7 | Won | T-26 | --- | --- | 27th | T-6 |
| Bo Van Pelt | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 24th | 9th |
| Phil Mickelson | T-5 | --- | T-19 | --- | --- | 20th | T-3 | Won | T-22 | 10th |
| Keegan Bradley | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | T-11 |
| Jason Dufner | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | T-19 | --- | T-13 |
| Steve Stricker | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | T-17 | T-24 | 6th | T-25 | 15th |
| Brandt Snedeker | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | T-29 | --- | --- | --- | T-16 |
| Justin Rose | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | T-11 | --- | --- | T-15 | T-20 |
| Matt Kuchar | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | T-25 | T-20 |
| Webb Simpson | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 22nd |
| Bubba Watson | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 30th | --- | T-17 | T-23 |
| Dustin Johnson | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 27th | T-22 | T-23 |
| John Senden | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | T-10 | --- | 25th |
| Nick Watney | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | T-13 | T-4 | T-26 |
| Jim Furyk | T-18 | 8th | --- | 13th | 2nd | T-11 | T-6 | T-7 | Won | --- |
| Ernie Els | T-13 | 17th | T-10 | --- | T-10 | T-26 | T-6 | 9th | T-7 | --- |
| Zach Johnson | --- | --- | 13th | --- | 16th | T-2 | --- | T-16 | T-9 | --- |
| Ryan Moore | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | T-9 | --- |
| Tiger Woods | T-7 | 26th | 2nd | 2nd | --- | Won | --- | 2nd | --- | --- |
| Sergio Garcia | 28th | --- | T-15 | T-20 | --- | 4th | 2nd | --- | --- | --- |
| Carl Pettersson | --- | --- | --- | --- | 18th | --- | 21st | --- | --- | --- |
| Rickie Fowler | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Robert Garrigus | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| John Huh | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Rory McIlroy | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Louis Oosthuizen | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Scott Piercy | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Lee Westwood | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Sports Network Selections |
| Pick to Win - Rory McIlroy |
| Darkhorse - Ryan Moore |
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| Last Week's Pick to Win (Dustin Johnson) - Finished tied for 6th |
| Last Week's Darkhorse (Kevin Stadler) - Finished tied for 45th |
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| NOTES: |
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The final event of the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup begins this week,
as the top 30 players on the FedEx Cup Playoff Points list qualified for the
Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Course in Atlanta, Georgia. This group
will battle it out for the top prize of $1,440,000, but the winner of the
FedEx Cup on Sunday will pocket $10 million.
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy is in the top spot on the points list after winning
the last two events - the Deutsche Bank Championship and BMW Championship.
Nick Watney captured the first playoff event, The Barclays. The points are
reset prior to this tournament. McIlroy leads with 2,500 points, followed by
world No. 2 Tiger Woods with 2,250, Watney with 2,000, Phil Mickelson with
1,800 and Brandt Snedeker with 1,600.
The top five players (McIlroy, Woods, Watney, Mickelson and Snedeker) on the
points list can win the FedEx Cup if they win this tournament. Other players
outside of the top five need to win and have other scenarios take place in
order to capture the Cup.
Seven players are competing in this event for the first time. They are: Rickie
Fowler, Robert Garrigus, John Huh, McIlroy, Louis Oosthuizen, Scott Piercy and
Lee Westwood. The top 16 players in the world are in the field.
East Lake, home to legendary amateur champion Bobby Jones, has hosted several
big events, most notably the 1950 U.S. Women's Amateur, 1963 Ryder Cup, 101st
United States Amateur Championship in 2001, and the 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004-11
PGA Tour Championships.
Last year, Bill Haas parred the third playoff hole to defeat Hunter Mahan.
Haas also won the $10 million prize for finishing first in the race for the
FedExCup. Haas started the week 25th on the points list. He also became the
fourth player to win in his first appearance. Tom Watson (1987), Chad
Campbell (2003) and Bart Bryant (2005) also accomplished the feat.
In 2010, Jim Furyk fired rounds of 67-65-70-70 to win the tournament and the
FedExCup. Furyk finished at 8-under 272 and won by a stroke over Luke Donald.
Furyk picked up his third PGA Tour win of the season, which was a first in his
career.
In 2009, Mickelson fired a 5-under 65 in the final round to come from behind
and win, but Woods walked off with the biggest prize, the FedExCup. Woods
managed only an even-par 70 in the final round to finish second to Mickelson
at East Lake, but ended atop the FedExCup playoff points list for the second
time in three years. Mickelson played brilliantly in the final round and won
the title at 9-under 271 for his third win of 2009. Mickelson opened the
tournament in 2009 with a 3-over 73, the highest start for an eventual winner
in the history of this event.
In 2007, Woods closed with a 4-under 66 in the final round to cruise to his
seventh win of the season. Woods completed the event at 23-under-par 257 and
also won the inaugural FedExCup easily over Steve Stricker. Woods started
three of the four playoff events in 2007 and finished second, first and first.
Thanks in part to the soft greens at East Lake, Woods shattered the 36- and
54-hole scoring marks. With his 257 total, Woods also smashed the previous 72-
hole scoring mark of 263, which Bryant set in 2005. Woods won by eight over
Zach Johnson and Mark Calcavecchia. Johnson fired a course-record 60 in the
third round.
With his seventh win of the season in 2007, Woods became the first player in
PGA Tour history to win seven or more times in a single season in four
separate years.
In 2005, Bryant became the fifth player to have held at least a share of the
lead after every round and win, joining Tom Watson (1987), Curtis Strange
(1988), Craig Stadler (1991) and Billy Mayfair (1995).
In 2003, Campbell became the first player to earn his maiden PGA Tour title at
this event. Campbell, trailing Charles Howell III by five shots heading into
the weekend, carded a 61 in the third round and then closed with 68 for a
three-shot win over Howell.
The Champions Golf Club in Houston has hosted this event five times. Pinehurst
No. 2, The Olympic Club and Southern Hills Country Club have each hosted
twice. Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio, Pebble Beach Golf Links and
Harbour Town Golf Links in South Carolina played host the first three years of
the tournament's existence, respectively.
Next week, the PGA Tour will be in Illinois for the 39th Ryder Cup Matches at
Medinah Country Club, where Europe will defend the Cup against the United
States.
09/18 15:57:29 ET
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As of September 18, 2012, at 03:57 PM ET
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