The Big Five is more like the Big Two now at East Lake

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Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker entered THE TOUR Championship ranked 1-2 in the FedExCup standings.

ATLANTA -- The Big Five is essentially down to the Last Two going into the final round of THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. And one of those is tenuous at best.

Top-seed Tiger Woods and No. 2 seed Steve Stricker are the only two players among the Big Five with a realistic shot to win the tournament and guarantee themselves the FedExCup title.

But while Woods starts Sunday's final round in great position, in second place just two shots off the lead held by Kenny Perry, Stricker's chances are slender at best.

Stricker will start Sunday six shots off the pace, and he would need a record-setting comeback. No player has ever won THE TOUR Championship from more than five shots back going into the last 18 holes, which Camilo Villegas did last year.

But at least Stricker isn't completely out of it, thanks to his third-round 66.

"I'm going to need a low one tomorrow, another 4 or 5 under tomorrow, to have even a sniff of a chance," Stricker said.

Here's a look at how the Big Five performed Saturday and where they stand going into Sunday's final round:

NO. 1 TIGER WOODS: He entered the third round with a one-shot lead, but saw Perry shoot a 6-under 64 to pass him.

Woods was dialed in most of the day, hitting 12 of 14 fairways and 13 of 18 greens. But he needed 30 putts in shooting 1-under 69, missing all seven of his putts between 10 and 20 feet. He did, however, drain a 21-footer for birdie at the second hole and a 49-footer for birdie at the 11th.

Even if he doesn't win the tournament Sunday, Woods has an excellent shot of winning the FedExCup should he finish near the top of the leaderboard. He's still the projected winner.

"I'd much rather just win the tournament, and the FedExCup will take care of itself," Woods said.

NO. 2 STEVE STRICKER: In shooting a 2-over 72 in the second round, Stricker hit just seven of 18 greens in regulation. But he nearly doubled that amount on Saturday, hitting 13 greens.

Stricker's 66 is the lowest round he has ever shot at East Lake. Before Saturday, he had not broken par in his previous six rounds at the course.

"Maybe I'm figuring this course out a little bit," Stricker said. "It's a course where I typically don't put up a low number, so this 66 feels pretty good."

If the points projections stand, Stricker would end up third in the FedExCup.

NO. 3 JIM FURYK: As usual, Furyk has been deadly accurate with his irons, but he has not been able to find the touch with his putter. He needed 32 putts in shooting a 1-over 71, and has needed 93 putts in the first three rounds -- just three other players in the 30-man field have required more.

Furyk will start Sunday tied for 15th, nine shots off the lead. However, he has shown the ability to go low in the final round in this event, shooting 65 in 2006 and 66 in 2007.

Furyk currently projects to fourth in points.

NO. 4 ZACH JOHNSON: Johnson has yet to break par this week, shooting a 3-over 73 on Saturday that puts him at 5 over for the tournament, tied for 24th.

Johnson made noise early Saturday with birdies in his first two holes. But he suffered a couple of bogeys near the turn and made two more at the 12th and 13th holes.

Just when he regained momentum with birdies at the 14th and 15th holes, he negated that work with a bogey at the 16th and a double bogey at the par-4 17th when he missed the green with his approach shot, then three-putted.

Johnson currently projects to sixth in points.

NO. 5 HEATH SLOCUM: The Barclays winner shot a 1-over 71 and is currently tied for 17th at 2 over.

Slocum hit 12 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens, but like Furyk, he had trouble on the greens, needing 33 putts on Saturday -- tying Dustin Johnson and Jerry Kelly for the most putts needed in the third round.

Slocum currently projects to eighth in points.