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By John Maginnes
PGA TOUR Contributor

Some of the game's most compelling story lines are revealed in the absence of the games biggest names. While Tiger is enjoying a short respite and Phil is playing in Scotland, the rank and file of the PGA TOUR are in the heartland.

Mark Brooks fired a 65 on Saturday to move up the leaderboard in the John Deere Classic. (WireImage)

Some familiar names have emerged from the pack, seemingly from out of nowhere.

Many of the biggest names from a decade ago don't show up on leaderboards all that often these days. When Mark Brooks, the 1996 PGA champion, moved into the top 10 at the John Deere Classic. It was his second such appearance in the last five years.

Earlier this year at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun, Mark put himself in position through 54 holes for his best finish in years. He slipped on Sunday to 13th place after shooting 72 in the final round.

It has been since the EDS Byron Nelson in 2005 since Mark's name has finished a tournament on the leaderboard. His tenth place finish at the Nelson two years ago is his only top 10 of the last couple of years.

Mark, a seven-time winner on the PGA TOUR, is playing this week out of the past champions category. This is a category that falls behind the qualifying school and Nationwide Tour graduates and those who finished 126-150 on the previous year money list. As the year goes on, this category gets reordered based on money won that year.

Jose Coceres, a two-time TOUR winner, leads that category. Twice this year, Coceres has lost tournaments in playoffs. His $1.2 million in earnings will certainly put Jose well within the top 125 for his card in 2008.

There is another factor that hasn't been in play previously for the guys in this category. In addition to playing their way back into exempt status on the PGA TOUR, they have the opportunity to collect FedExCup points and play their way into the playoffs.

Jose will certainly make the field at the Barclays. He is currently 52nd in Fed Ex Cup points.

Neal Lancaster, winner of the 1994 EDS Byron Nelson, is also in the field at the John Deere this week playing out of the past champions category. Neal took the 18-hole lead with an opening round 64.

Like Mark Brooks, it has been several years since Neal was a fully exempt player on the PGA TOUR. He admitted after the opening round that after 19 years, the grind of traveling the TOUR had taken its toll.

Jose Coceres has three top-fives this year despite starting the year without exempt status. (WireImage)

Neal played well earlier this year at the AT&T Classic in Atlanta, where he finished in a tie for 24th. All the players in the category know that they are going to have limited playing opportunities.

Neal is making just his fourth start of the year on the PGA TOUR. With a renewed interest in the game, the 44-year-old with the Southern drawl has supplemented his schedule with Nationwide Tour events. He has made five cuts on the junior circuit in seven attempts.

Tommy Armour III is in that category as well. He decided not to wait for his opportunities or go to the Nationwide Tour. The veteran opted for the Monday qualifying route. He managed to gain a spot in Houston this spring and took advantage of the situation.

His fourth place finish was his best finish on the PGA TOUR since his second place finish in the PODS Championship three years ago. The top-10 in Houston earned Tommy a spot in the field at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Any top-10 finish in a PGA TOUR event earns a non-exempt player a spot in the next open-field event. For Lancaster or Brooks, a top-10 would guarantee them a spot in the field next week at the U.S. Bank Championship. Brooks is currently the fifth alternate for the field in Milwaukee. Neal is seventh.

Tommy Armour III and Jose Coceres are both in the 132-man field opposite the British Open. Every year, someone reinvents their game and revitalizes their career.

Coming into last year Steve Stricker had fallen off the radar screens of golf fans. After feeling the wrath of the games cruelty, Steve played his way from the past champions category to a spot in the top 40 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He was awarded with Comeback Player of the Year honors from his peers.

The John Deere Classic has been the proving ground for many young players. Half of the winners in the tournaments history have been first-timers.

But there is more at stake than just a championship. The John Deere also gives proven veterans who have fallen an opportunity to reestablish themselves at the forefront of professional golf.