| NOTES | | | It`s finally down to the final 30 to determine the FedExCup champion. The PGA
Tour Playoffs culminate this week in Atlanta. What began in Hawaii in
January, ends in Georgia. Webb Simpson is in the driver`s seat. The Deutsche
Bank Champion is No. 1 on the Playoff points list and controls his own
destiny. A win and the Simpson clan is $10 million richer, but he`s not the
only one who wins the FedExCup with a Tour Championship victory. The top five
on the list -- Simpson, The Barclays winner Dustin Johnson, Sunday`s BMW
Championship victor Justin Rose, world No. 1 Luke Donald and local favorite
Matt Kuchar -- can claim FedExCup gold with a win on Sunday at East Lake. If
nothing else, we`re assured a new Tour Champion and a new FedExCup champion.
Last year`s winner of both, Jim Furyk, did not qualify for East Lake. The
biggest mover at Cog Hill was Geoff Ogilvy. He began the week in the
second-to-last spot on the points list, 69th, but his third-place finish got
him into the Tour Championship and on to the International Presidents Cup
team. Rose and John Senden, the runner-up to the Englishman on Sunday, also
played their way into the field this week. In order to have three golfers
make it in, three had to fall out of the top 30. No case was more interesting
than that of Masters champion Charl Schwartzel. He took off the first Playoff
event, The Barclays, to go hunting and decompress. Turned out, it cost him a
place in the Tour Championship field. Kyle Stanley and Rory Sabbatini also
lost out on chances for $10 million. It could be costly for Sabbatini on more
levels than the $10 million. Greg Norman, the International Presidents Cup
captain, and Fred Couples, the American leader, will make their picks on
Tuesday following the Tour Championship. Sabbatini didn`t finish in the top
10 automatic qualifiers and would need a pick from Norman. Couples already
announced he asked Tiger Woods to take one of the spots. Golf Channel has
four days of action, but NBC will take it home over the weekend. Next week,
the Fall Series begins with the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for
Children Open, which was won last year by Jonathan Byrd.
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