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By Steve Dennis
PGA TOUR Staff

FedExCup playoffs: Points Standings | Climbers | Heat Index

• Last week, I claimed no one had clinched a spot in the Top 15. An alert reader who apparently had a sharp mind, a sharp pencil and a dull afternoon to kill pointed out I was mistaken -- Tiger Woods was already guaranteed a spot in the Top 15 before the John Deere Classic began. My confusion stemmed from the fact that, while there were 181,250 points available in the remaining 7 events, only 116,173 were available to the 15 players who would have needed to pass Tiger because... well, never mind why. Just trust me. Or at least, trust our sharp-eyed readers.

Tiger Woods

• This week, Tiger remains the only player to have locked up a spot in the Top 15. K.J. Choi joins Tiger, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson with a guaranteed spot in the Top 30 going into the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Tim Clark, who moved from 120th to 57th on the points list with his second-place finish at the John Deere Classic, is the last player currently guaranteed to be in the Top 144 starting the Playoffs, and has thus earned a spot in The Barclays.

• The U.S. Bank Championship is the second of three consecutive events that will afford some players the chance to a make dramatic move in the points race. Last week, Jonathan Byrd jumped from 99th to 23rd and, as noted above, Tim Clark moved up 63 spots to 57th. Since the U.S. Bank Championship is played opposite the Open Championship, only half the usual 25,000 points will be available, making winning crucial to generating a substantial move.

• Heath Slocum, who moved into the Top 30 with his T6 last week, can get into the Top 15 with a victory. Any one of fifteen players could get into the Top 30 with a win, although Billy Mayfair, Stephen Leaney and possibly Bo Van Pelt could be bumped by players at the Open Championship. Among those who could get into the top 30 are Anthony Kim, Mark Wilson, Ryuji Imada and Camilo Villegas, all of whom will be looking to redeem missed cuts at the John Deere Classic.

Kenny Perry

• Former winners of the U.S. Bank Championship can help themselves this week. Either Mayfair or Kenny Perry could put himself in position to make a run at a Top 15 seed by picking up a win this week. Corey Pavin is currently 128th on the points list, and needs a strong regular season finish to be sure of playing deep into the playoffs. A win here would put him in the Top 70. Jeff Sluman and Carlos Franco are both currently outside the Top 144, but a win would put them comfortably inside that line, to about 100th for Sluman and 120th for Franco, depending on what other players do.

• For most of the US Bank Championship field, this week is about getting above some critical cut lines. There are 44 players in the field between 71st and 144th, and all but 6 have a chance to get into the Top 70 with a win. For the 57 players in the field below 144th, each could get well inside the line by winning, but time is running out.

Vijay Singh

• At the Open Championship, the FedExCup story is about getting into better position for the Playoffs. There was no movement in the Top 15 last week, but it's a certainty there will be this week. Of the Top 15, all are playing. Either Vijay Singh or Phil Mickelson could potentially take over first with a victory, although Woods can retain it with a top 10 finish, regardless of who wins. Thirty-two players currently outside the Top 15 could get in this week with a win, and 39 players outside the Top 30 would potentially move into it by winning. If Jonathan Byrd could win two weeks in a row, he'd go from 99th at the beginning of last week to as high as 6th at the end of this week.

• Since so many players in the Open are non-members of the PGA TOUR, this is probably a good week to reiterate that points are awarded only to PGA TOUR members, and that points for places occupied by non-members are not awarded. (For example, if Paul Lawrie wins this week and Phil Mickelson finishes alone in second, Lawrie would receive no points since he's not a member, and Mickelson would get 2,970, the standard amount for second place in a major.)

U.S. Bank pairings I'd like to see (based on Monday's entry list):
May -- Day
Brown -- Couch
Cejka -- Boyd (What Brooklynites call the pattern on the playing surface of a chess set)

Returning from last week:
Browne & Williamson
Johnson & Johnson

Open Championship pairings I'd like to see (based on Monday's entry list):Love -- Shacklady (Lead singer for the B-52's)
Singh -- Singh (They'd be in jail all day)
Goosen -- Lam
Bunny & O'Hair