Notes: Overton on the bubble, Weekley returns

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• Jeff Overton begins the season's final week as the man on the hot spot in the 125th position on the money list. Overton has a fairly substantial lead of $37,737 over No. 126, Martin Laird. What makes Overton really compelling is that he underwent an appendectomy back on Oct. 21, missed the Frys.com Open but returned last week to play in the Ginn sur Mer Classic.

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Now that he's safely inside the top 125, will a relaxed Vaughn Taylor play well this week?

• Three players moved into the Top 125 after last week's Ginn sur Mer Classic. Winner Ryan Palmer jumped from 143rd to 74th on the money list while Vaughn Taylor's tie for second saw him climb from 129th to 100th. Jeff Overton finished tied for 18th and made an important one step jump going from 126th to 125th.

• We'd mentioned a couple of times throughout the season how Ryan Palmer's stats were great, but he was in jeopardy of finishing outside the Top 125. We have another player in the same boat -- Bob Tway. Tway is the leading putter on TOUR, is second in the All-Around stat and third in Birdies. He's also 131st on the money list.

• Tom Scherrer finished in a tie for seventh last week at the Ginn sur Mer Classic for his best finish since a solo 6th at the 2002 Air Canada Championship. It was also his first Top-10 effort since that event in Vancouver.

• Looks like seven lefties will finish in the Top 125 this year. With one event left on the schedule, six lefties have already won at least $1 million with the seventh, Eric Axley, about $100,000 shy of joining Phil Mickelson, Mike Weir, Bubba Watson, Nick O'Hern, Steve Flesch and Tim Wilkinson.

• Who's improved the most over last year? There are a lot of candidates, but Dudley Hart has improved the most places on the money list going from 176th last year to 28th this year. He's followed by Ben Crane (180th to 62nd), Ben Curtis (126th to 17th), Greg Kraft ( 179th to 86th) and J.B. Holmes (118th to 32nd).

• Boo Weekley, winner of this year's Verizon Heritage, returns to the PGA TOUR for the first time since playing for the winning U.S. team at the Ryder Cup in Kentucky. Following the win, and the attention that came with his performance, Weekley appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and dropped the green flag at Talladega's fall NASCAR race. Since the Ryder Cup, Weekley has also spent time hunting and fishing. Weekley finished the year No. 33 in the FedExCup standings and currently ranks No. 25 on the money list, with $2,388,182 -- including five top-10 finishes. This is Weekley's third trip to this event.

• Erik Compton, who has overcome two heart transplants to compete for a spot on the PGA TOUR, accepted a sponsor's exemption to play this week. Compton's story of perseverance and determination reached new heights last month when he posted a 4-under-par 68 to qualify for the second stage of the PGA TOUR Qualifying School just five months after his second heart transplant. Compton struggled through the first 54 holes (76-75-77) before recording the low round of the day among 76 players at the Crandon Park Golf Course in suburban Miami.

• There are four players from the 2008 Ryder Cup in the field: Stewart Cink, J.B. Holmes, Justin Leonard and Boo Weekley. There are also nine players inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking playing this week, led by Cink, who checks in at No. 14.

• Past winners from this event competing this week are defending champion Stephen Ames (2007), Joe Durant (2006) and two-time winner John Huston (1992 and 1998). There are also five former PGA TOUR Rookies of the Year playing: Stewart Cink (1997), Steve Flesch (1998), Carlos Franco (1999), Charles Howell III (2001) and Jonathan Byrd (2002)

• Fresh off his first PGA TOUR win in Las Vegas, Marc Turnesa will tee it up at the Children's Miracle Network Classic with former North Carolina State roommates and teammates Carl Pettersson and Tim Clark. Pettersson won the Wyndham Championship earlier this year and currently ranks 48th in the Official World Golf Ranking, while Clark ranks 40th. Clark was the runner-up in Orlando last year, one stroke behind winner Stephen Ames.

• Robert Allenby and Justin Leonard are tied for second on the PGA TOUR this year with eight top-10 finishes. Jim Furyk is the leader, with nine top-10 performances.

• Tom Lehman is making his 15th start at this event, dating to 1984 and his 11th in succession. Lehman has made the cut in 12 of 14 starts and has seven top-25 finishes.