THE TOUR Championship player capsules: 11-20

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The PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup has reached its final stage, with 30 players advancing to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola this week at East Lake. Here's a look at each of the 30 players:
THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD: 1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30

Sutherland

Born on the Fourth of July in 1964, 44-year-old Kevin Sutherland's 2008 PGA TOUR campaign has parallels to a fireworks show of its own. In just his third event of the season, the PGA TOUR veteran finished T4 at the FBR Open in Scottsdale. In April, he posted back-to-back top-10 finishes at the Shell Houston Open (T8) and EDS Byron Nelson Championship (T7). A week after his birthday in July, Sutherland fired four rounds in the 60s to claim eighth-place honors before the highlight of his year at The Barclays.

A three-under-par 68 in the final round at Ridgewood Country Club was good enough to force extra holes with Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia. Singh prevailed in the three-way playoff at The Barclays, but Sutherland's fifth top-10 finish of the year easily guaranteed him a spot in THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

Stricker

Steve Stricker began the 2008 PGA TOUR season as impressive as anyone ... and it appears he plans on finishing it equally well. A playoff loss to Daniel Chopra at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship was one of seven top-15 finishes in his first nine starts of the year. Despite missing four consecutive cuts in the middle of the season, Stricker has rebounded from that disappointment and will enter THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola No. 12 on the FedExCup points list and riding a streak of seven consecutive made cuts.

Few, if any, players have felt more comfortable in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup than Stricker, as he has never finished outside of the top 20 in a Playoff event. Last year, he finished first at The Barclays, T9 at the Deutsche Bank Championship, third at the BMW Championship and T17 at THE TOUR Championship. With T19, T13 and T10 finishes under his belt so far this year, don't be surprised to see Stricker's name near the top of the leaderboard once again on Sunday at East Lake Golf Club.

Perry

The numbers don't lie, 48-year-old Kenny Perry seems to be getting better with age. With victories at the Memorial Tournament, Buick Open and John Deere Classic -- he has already equaled his career-high total for victories in a season (2003).

Perry will ride into East Lake Golf Club just one week after achieving his season-long quest of representing the United States at the Ryder Cup in Kentucky, just miles away from his front door, an achievement he said "defined his career" as he helped lead the U.S. to victory.

Throw in a career-best $4,543,394 in earnings in 2008 and it all adds up to a dream season for the Kentucky native. Perry, who will be making his first appearance at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola since 2005, will be seeking to join Tiger Woods as the season's only four-time winners.

Hart

When you talk about overcoming adversity and rising to the occasion, few are tougher than Dudley Hart. The two-time PGA TOUR winner was limited to 12 starts in 2007 due to the illness of his wife, Suzanne, who was diagnosed with a tumor in her lungs (non-smoking related). Hart did not play after the 2007 Wachovia Championship so he could tend to his wife and the couple's triplets.

Playing on a Major Medical Exemption in 2008, with 15 events to earn more than $485,000 and retain fully-exempt status for the remainder of the season, Hart needed just his first six events to eclipse the necessary earnings. He followed a T3 at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February with top-15 finishes in two of his next three events, The Honda Classic and Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Hart followed a T7 at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship with a T5 a week later at the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte.

His most impressive performance, however, came at the third event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, the BMW Championship. Once again rising to the occasion, Hart needed to birdie one of the last two holes to earn a spot in THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca- Cola. He did more than that, making birdie on both 17 and 18, earning solo second-place honors behind Camilo Villegas in the process. Hart is making his first-ever appearance in THE TOUR Championship.

Cink

Adding another win in 2008 to his resume of consistency, Stewart Cink has missed just three cuts in the 21 events that he played this year. Cink finished third or better in three of his first five events of the season, including a second-place finish to Tiger Woods at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Cink followed a T3 at the Masters with top-10 finishes in his next two events, the Verizon Heritage and Wachovia Championship.

A week after his T14 at the U.S. Open, Cink found his way to the winner's circle for the fifth time on the PGA TOUR. Thanks largely to a six-under-par 64 in round two of the Travelers Championship, Cink held off charges by defending champion Hunter Mahan, Vijay Singh and Kenny Perry.

Mahan

Hunter Mahan joins Sergio Garcia, Camilo Villegas, Anthony Kim, Bubba Watson, D.J. Trahan and Andres Romero as players in their 20s who made THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola field.

Mahan, a captain's pick for this year's U.S. Ryder Cup Team who ultimately had the most points (3-1/2) than any other player on his team, nearly defended his 2007 victory at the Travelers Championship, finishing runner-up to Stewart Cink. Mahan's season has included five top-10 finishes, and in his last two events of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, he's finished T15 and T8.

Mahan also set the course record at Ridgewood Country Club, site of The Barclays, with a 62 in the opening-round. The 62 was amazingly Mahan's 12th round of 64 or lower in his PGA TOUR career and the fifth time he has shot 62.

Pettersson

Carl Pettersson picked a perfect moment to win his first event of 2008, doing so at the final event of the PGA TOUR regular season, the Wyndham Championship. With the win, Pettersson moved up 45 spots in the FedExCup rankings from No. 58 to start the PGA TOUR Playoffs at No. 13. This late-season movement certainly played a large role in the 31-year-old making THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola field.

Pettersson shot a tournament and course-record 9-under-par 61 in the second round and established a new 72- hole tournament mark (21-under 259) at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro en route to the two-stroke win. The 61 at the refurbished Donald Ross-designed course included just two bogeys.

The win was a "home game" of sorts for the native Swede, as he attended Grimsley High School, about seven miles from Sedgefield, after moving to Greensboro at age 15. He also played in college at North Carolina State and lives in Raleigh, NC.

Allenby

Put Allenby in the "Jim Furyk" consistency portion of the field.

Seven top-10 finishes on the year, including a playoff loss to Justin Leonard at the Stanford St. Jude Championship, have helped Allenby through a year that has included just one missed cut in 24 events played.

During the entire 2008 season, Allenby was never outside the top 47 in the FedExCup standings and remained inside the top 30 from The Honda Classic (in March) through the end of the year.

Immelman

Trevor Immelman has two top-10 finishes in 2008. If you stop reading now, it probably sounds like a pretty mediocre season.

But add to that the fact that one of the top-10s was a playoff loss at the Stanford St. Jude Championship and the other was a victory at The Masters, and you realize that Immelman's season was something special.

With his victory at Augusta, Immelman moved from No. 149 in the FedExCup standings to 13th and never found himself outside of the top 26 from that moment forward.

Appleby

Stuart Appleby recorded top-10 finishes in his first five events of 2008 -- a season most would be proud of.

But the eight-time PGA TOUR winner would prefer adding to his victory total and capturing his first win since the 2006 Shell Houston Open.

Appleby, who is the only player to compete in each of the 29 World Golf Championships events, nearly emerged victorious at this year's World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, but missed a chance at a playoff with Vijay Singh when his birdie putt on the 72nd hole missed right.

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