If you're outside the top 30, then it's time to go for broke
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor
LEMONT, Ill. -- For those golfers at the BMW Championship who find themselves on the wrong side of 30 on the FedExCup points list this week, now is not the time to play defense. It is not the time to dig in, protect your position and wait for others to find trouble.
Now is the time to be aggressive, take the bold approach and hope that it pays off. After all, the reward could be huge -- a berth in THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola and a chance to win the FedExCup. But only if you can nab one of those coveted spots inside the top 30.
"I've kinda got nothing to lose," said John Mallinger, who came to Cog Hill ranked 57th in points, "so I might as well go all out."
In years prior to the creation of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, Mallinger might have given up hope that he would make it to East Lake. But one of the benefits of the Playoffs is that it provides a new lease on life, an opportunity for a player to end his season on a high note -- despite whatever struggles he may have encountered during the course of the year.
That's certainly the motivation for a guy like Marc Leishman. Other than a couple of top-10 finishes in San Antonio and Dallas, the rookie from Australia had done very little of note this season.
But he found something in his game last month, and now he's in a groove. He nearly tied the course record last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship, shooting a second-round 62. And then on Monday's final-round finish, he eagled the 72nd hole to squeeze into this week event, 67th in points.
Leishman said his club selection on his approach shot at the 18th hole Monday was determined solely by where he stood in the FedExCup standings. Had there been nothing to look forward to beyond wherever he finished, he would've made the safe play to set up a birdie.
Instead, Leishman opted to be aggressive and took the risk ... and got the eagle. And instead of having the week off, he's now in Chicago. He's not done yet. His 4-under 67 puts him just one shot off the lead.
"To get into THE TOUR Championship would be unbelievable," he said after Thursday's round. "Even considering the year I've had to date, it's not that unrealistic now, with the amount you can jump in the the FedExCup, that I could make it.
"Without the Playoffs, even if had won this year, I'd probably be struggling to get into the top 30. The Playoffs have given us an extra advantage."
Prime example of that would be Rory Sabbatini, winner of the HP Byron Nelson Championship.
Thanks to that win in Dallas, Sabbatini maintained a spot in the Playoffs despite missing the cut at both The Barclays and Deutsche Bank. However, he did drop to 35th in points, which means even though there is no cut for the 70-man BMW field, Sabbatini can't afford another disappointing result.
He stepped on the gas Thursday, posting a 5-under 66 that gives him a share of the first-round lead with Steve Marino.
"Luckily for me, I was in a position that I was able to miss the last two cuts and still be here this week," Sabbatini said. "But the situation being is I've got to go out there for the next three days and do what I did today."
Leishman is in the same boat. So is Mallinger. In fact, five of the top 10 players on the first-round leaderboard started the tournament outside the top 30. Three of those players -- Sabbatini, Leishman and Bo Van Pelt, who won the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee but started this week 54th in FedExCup points -- are currently projected inside the top 30.
Mallinger, after his 3-under 68, is projected at 41st. Defending BMW champion Camilo Villegas, who started this week tied for 52nd in points, also shot 68 and is projected at 38th.
Van Pelt is in his eighth season on TOUR but has never played in THE TOUR Championship. Like Sabbatini, his win in Milwaukee allowed him to survive a couple of disappointing finishes in the first two legs of the Playoffs, but he realizes that East Lake is at stake this week.
"If you get into THE TOUR Championship, then you know you've had a really good year," Van Pelt said. "It would leave a good taste in your mouth and would really set up next year. But it also makes you more fired up when you start your offseason work."
But even though he's just three good rounds away from possibly getting to East Lake, Van Pelt won't be FedExCup scoreboard watching this week.
"I've got enough to worry about just playing my own game," he said. "I'm just going to go out there and try to win. If I do that, I know I'll make THE TOUR Championship."
You can bet he'll be aggressive, though. So will the others, since mathematically it's expected that only a handful of players will manage the leap from outside to inside the top 30.
Those spots are at a premium. For the only time in these Playoffs, more players will be eliminated (40) than move on (30). So who wants it the most?
"You can make up a lot of ground," Leishman said about the Playoffs, "but you can also lose a lot. But that's good. It's definitely cut throat."
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