FedExCup Notes for week four of the season -- the Buick Invitational

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Several top players from last year's FedExCup race are off to an even better start in 2008:

K.J. Choi got off to a good start in 2008 with a win during the second event - the Sony Open. (Ferrey/GettyImages)

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• K.J. Choi, the No. 5 seed last year, is nearly 3,000 points ahead of last year's pace. Rory Sabbatini, No. 4 seed in 2007, is about 2,500 points ahead of last year. Jerry Kelly, who nearly cracked the Top 30 last year with a 32 seed, is over 1,270 points ahead of that pace.

• D.J. Trahan has 4,546 points so far this year, which is 1,780 more than he collected all of last year. He was seeded 117th last year; if he gets no more points for the remainder of the year, he'll be about 75th going into the playoffs.

• Justin Leonard has been playing great since the end of the 2007 FedExCup season. He recorded a win and four top 10s in the Fall Series, and has a tie for eighth and a second in two events so far this year. Those two results in 2008 have netted 90% of the point total he had in all of 2007.

• Chez Reavie or Dustin Johnson could be the Brandt Snedeker of 2008. Reavie finished tied for fifth at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and Dustin Johnson had a tie for 10th and a tie for 12th at the Sony Open and Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, respectively. Snedeker was the ninth seed in the Playoffs, propelled by a thirrd-place finish at the Buick Invitational and capped by a win at the Wyndham Championship.

• For several players, the Buick Invitational was vitally important to their FedExCup seeding:
Charles Howell III was the No. 8 seed. He would have been the No. 17 seed without his second-place finish. Brandt Snedeker was the No. 9 seed. He would have been the No. 15 seed without his third-place finish.

• Mark Calcavecchia was the No. 20 seed. He would have been the No .25 seed without his tie for fourth. Bubba Watson was the No. 33 seed. He would have been the No. 49 seed without his tie for fourth. As the No. 33 seed, he needed only a top-five finish to make THE TOUR Championship field.

• Nick Watney was the No. 35 seed. He would have been the No. 47 seed without his tie for ninth. Jeff Quinney was the No. 41 seed. He would have been the No. 53 seed without his tie for seventh.