Notes: Consistent Day and Kite, soaring Piercy

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Aug. 26, 2008
By Dave Lancer, PGA TOUR Director Information

• Looking for a winner this week at the Deutsche Bank Championship? Look for someone who gained TOUR membership without going through q-school. Of the five previous winners of the event, only one (Olin Browne) joined the TOUR through the Qualifying Tournament. The other four-- Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson -- all earned TOUR membership by playing their way onto the TOUR during the season.

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Day

• He might not be the hottest player on TOUR, but Glen Day has been on a nice streak. In fact, he has the longest current streak of consecutive rounds of par or better at 21 entering this week's Deutsche Bank Championship. He's also made nine cuts in a row.

• The field for this week's event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup features 116 players from 16 different countries. No less than 17 of them have won major championships. In fact, that group has 27 majors between them.

• Five rookies have qualified for this week's event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup -- Kevin Streelman, Chez Reavie, Michael Letzig, Jason Day and Martin Laird. Day and Laird played their way into the top 120 last week at The Barclays. Laird finished tied for seventh and Day tied for 31st last week to climb into this week's field.

• Vijay Singh's overtime victory last week at The Barclays raised his sudden-death playoff record to 8-4. The eight playoff wins is the sixth most in TOUR history, trailing only Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer (14 each), Sam Snead (12), Tiger Woods (11) and Tom Watson (9).

• Who made the biggest leaps after week one of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup? Kevin Streelman climbed 65 places while Martin Laird gained 61 spots, Kevin Sutherland 54, Paul Casey 52 and Mathew Goggin 50.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

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Kite

Tom Kite switched to the long putter last September and the move has paid dividends. Kite was 23rd in putting last year, but this season he has jumped all the way to tied for fourth. He led the field last week at the Boeing Classic needing only 26 putts per day en route to victory.

• More on Kite: He may be a native Texan, but he's enjoyed more success on the West Coast. While he's never won in his native state, Kite has won eight of his 10 Champions Tour titles out west. He also won his last three PGA TOUR titles in the west.

Hale Irwin has not posted a top-10 yet this season on the Champions Tour, but this might be his week. In four career starts at the Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, Irwin has finished first, second, tied for third and tied for 25th.

• He's still looking for his first win this year, but John Cook has been the model of consistency. He's had 12 top-10 finishes, tied for the most on the Champions Tour with Bernhard Langer.

NATIONWIDE TOUR

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Piercy

• Three weeks ago, Scott Piercy was 123rd on the money list. He's now 12th since going frist, tied for 16th and first in his last three starts. He's 42 under during that stretch and has posted 11 rounds in the 60s in his last 12 outings.

• If Scott Piercy isn't the hottest player on the Nationwide Tour, Brendon de Jonge probably is. The Tour's new leading money winner has finished tied for 18th or better in his last seven starts and is 82 under over that span of time. In his last 28 rounds, he's been in the 60s 22 times.

• The top three players on the Nationwide Tour money list are from outside the U.S. Brendon de Jonge of Zimbabwe heads "The 25" with Aussies Jarrod Lyle and Greg Chalmers holding down spots two and three.

• With seven events left, the difference between 20th on the money list and 30th is just $16,455. How big a difference is that? A tie for solo eighth at next week's Utah Championship is worth $17,050.

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LIVE COVERAGE
Player Events Money
Tiger Woods 17 $10,508,163
Steve Stricker 22 $6,332,636
Phil Mickelson 18 $5,332,755
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