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| Bubba Watson stands third in the FedExUp Standings heading into this week's TOUR Championship. |
The top five players in the FedExCup Standings – including two Bulldogs -- heading into this week’s TOUR Championship control their own fate in regards to winning the FedExCup trophy and the $10 million bonus.
Georgia alums Chris Kirk and Bubba Watson are Nos. 1 and 3, respectively, while Billy Horschel is No. 2, Rory McIlroy is No. 4 and Hunter Mahan is No. 5.
The FedExCup points will now be reset to give everybody in the 29-man field an opportunity to win the FedExCup. But just the top five are guaranteed the opportunity to win the FedExCup by winning the TOUR Championship. Everybody else must have varying degrees of help to claim golf's biggest prize.
A year ago, Kirk finished 34th in points. Thanks to his win at TPC Boston, Kirk was safely inside the top five coming into this week and guaranteed his first start at East Lake.
"It's obviously what everyone is hoping for starting off the year, to be in that kind of position going into Atlanta. I couldn't be happier," Kirk said. "It was definitely a goal of mine for this year. I'm not a big goal-setting guy, but it's something that I've wanted to do for awhile now. I'm glad I was able to pull it off."
Watson, meanwhile, is looking forward to the opportunity to capping off a season that already includes wins at the Masters and the Northern Trust Open.
"Maybe that's when I make my putts," Watson said about East Lake. "That would be nice to make them there. Ten million bucks worth of putts wouldn't be too bad."
No. 20 Russell Henley and No. 27 Brendon Todd also will tee it up at East Lake this week. Our friends at PGATour.com have come up with the Bulldogs’ best-case scenarios of winning the FedExCup:
Kirk: If he wins the TOUR Championship he wins the Cup; he has a reasonable chance of winning with a top-5 finish; and he can finish as low as 29th and still have a mathematical chance of winning.
Watson: If he wins the TOUR Championship, he wins the Cup; he has a reasonable chance of winning with a second-place finish; and he can finish as low as T-4th and still have a mathematical chance of winning.
Henley: Wins the TOUR Championship and No. 1 (Kirk) finishes in a three-way tie for 12th or worse, No. 2 (Horschel) finishes fifth or worse, No. 3 (Watson) finishes in a three-way tie for third or worse, No. 4 (McIlroy) finishes third or worse, No. 5 (Mahan) finishes in a three-way tie for second or worse, and No. 6 (Jimmy Walker) finishes T-2 or worse.
Todd: Wins the TOUR Championship and No. 1 (Kirk) finishes 23rd or worse, No. 2 (Horschel) finishes T-6 or worse, No. 3 (Watson) finishes T-4 or worse, No. 4 (McIlroy) finishes T-3 or worse, No. 5 (Mahan) finishes in a three-way tie for second or worse and No. 6 (Walker) finishes T-2 or worse.
• The first-round tee times are Todd at 11:50 a.m., Henley at 12:30 p.m., Watson at 1:50 p.m. and English at 2 p.m.
• The first-round tee times are Todd at 11:50 a.m., Henley at 12:30 p.m., Watson at 1:50 p.m. and English at 2 p.m.
• At the BMW Championship over the weekend, Watson was the top Bulldog in second place at 12-under. English came in 31st, Kirk and Todd tied for 36th, Harman finished 43rd, Compton wound up 46th and Henley placed 59th.
• Hudson Swafford came in 10th 1t 11-under in the Web.com Tour’s Chiquita Classic in North Carolina. Ryuji Imada missed the cut.
The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the third of the four Web.com Tour Finals, will take place this week. Swafford sits 20th in the Finals and needs to finish in the top 25 to retain his PGA TOUR card for next season.
• In the Champions Tour’s Quebec Championship, Chip Beck finished 49th at 1-under.
