The trademark stare of Jim Furyk has one eye closed and the other eye fixated on the ball heading to his intended target. Sunday could reveal two potential targets for Furyk, with the first and foremost being his third win of the season, which could give him the points needed to walk away with the $10 million FedEx Cup prize, and a potential shoe-in for PGA Tour Player of the Year honors.
But it won’t be easy. Furyk needs a little help to win the cup money. And here’s how it pans out for him. For starters, obviously he has to win tomorrow. Then he needs Matt Kuchar to finish in a four-way tie for fourth or worse, which might end up happening. The Georgia Tech grad has struggled this week at the friendly confines of East Lake, and goes into the final round tomorrow 12 shots off the lead, currently tied for 23rd place. After that, he needs Dustin Johnson to finish tied for 4th or worse, of which looks more than likely to happen. DJ is having a dismal showing this week in the Tour Championship finale, unable to break par in each of his first three rounds. He’s +7 for the event, tied for 27th.
But here’s where things start to get a little uncertain, where the ebb and flow of the final round really becomes the pressure cooker. Charley Hoffman’s round of 1-under 69 on Saturday moved him to 3-under for the event, 5 shots back of the lead. He goes into tomorrow’s round in solo 7th place. Furyk needs Hoffman to finish tied for 3rd place or worse. If Hoffman puts together a nice round Sunday, then obviously that makes things that much more iffy for Furyk.
Then Furyk also has to concern himself with Steve Stricker. Strick had his troubles in the opening round, but has battled back with 2-under par rounds on Friday and Saturday to get back to even par for the event. He’s currently 8 shots back of Furyk, but still tied for 12th overall. If Strick can somehow manage a round of 5 or 6 under par on Sunday, Furyk’s shot at $10 million dwindles considerably. If Stricker finishes in a 3-way tie for second or worse, Furyk clears the Stricker hurdle.
At that point there’s only one guy left standing to deal with – the guy who would love to take advantage of Monty’s Ryder Cup snubbage with a cool $10 million to spend over the next couple of weeks while on vacation – Paul Casey. Furyk needs Casey to finish in a tie for 2nd or worse, but Casey’s not entirely out of this himself. He’s 4 shots back of the lead heading into tomorrow’s final round, and it’s not out of the question that Casey comes away with the money, even if he doesn’t put a great Sunday round together and win. Get this – if Furyk wins the tour championship at East Lake, and Paul Casey finishes solo-second, and Charley Hoffman finishes solo third – Paul Casey wins the $10 million. How’s that for a tricked up finish?
Wow, I tell ya… this is confusing. But that’s for another discussion. If you’re really interested in reading all about the different scenarios and how it could all play out tomorrow, click HERE.
Just take my word for it – while we might not know what exactly needs to happen tomorrow for someone in particular to win the FedEx Cup, trust that a handful of those guys who are still eyeing the prize do. Hoffman, Casey, Stricker, and Furyk will somehow each play a part in who wins. And it’s worth noting that Luke Donald isn’t out of the picture either, not by a long shot… nor is Retief Goosen.
My own observations: Finchem and company might think that their tweaking has created quite the scenario for an exciting finish of the PGA Tour season, and maybe it has. But it sure as hell hasn’t been easy to cover or explain. I might add that for me personally – give me 36 holes of matchplay… two players, the two best players from the field of 70 onward. Matchplay format at the BMW, and again at East Lake. They could do this. They could work this out. We don’t see enough matchplay on tour, and I couldn’t think of a better time for it to play out. Keep all of the confusing formulas and scenarios out of it, just work it to where you have two guys competing for the money. Tomorrow I will be so wrapped up in trying to figure out how in the hell the story is gonna end, that I’m not going to be able to fully enjoy watching the plot unfold.
Someone’s gonna say, “watching Ben Crane play Martin Laird for $10 million just ain’t gonna reel in the ratings.” Well, oh well…. Where’s Tiger this week? He’s not here. How about Mickelson? He’s here, but doesn’t have a chance in hell. He’s not gonna get much coverage on Sunday. The two top players in the world and they’re non-factors. What’s the difference? Give us something we can at least appreciate as fans of the game, not fans of one or two players. Well, that’s my take anyway.
SATURDAY ACTION AT EAST LAKE, PGATOUR.COM RECAP
Just learned that Sunday’s tee times at the Tour Championship at East Lake have been moved up to avoid bad weather moving in later tomorrow afternoon in Atlanta. So, you ask… what does this mean?
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