Keeep an eye on top five players in FedExCup playoffs
ATLANTA – Destiny is in the hands of five players this week at The Tour Championship by Coca-Cola. No matter what anyone else does, if Chris Kirk, Billy Horschel, Bubba Watson, Rory McIlroy or Hunter Mahan wins at East Lake Golf Club, he will pocket the $1.44 million winner's paycheck and $10 million for winning the FedExCup Playoffs, the largest payout in golf.
If you want to watch, here is the TV schedule this week: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 1-6 p.m. ET; Saturday, noon-2:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon-1:30 p.m.) and NBC (Saturday, 2:30-6 p.m.; Sunday, 1:30-6 p.m.).
Paste BN Sports' Steve DiMeglio breaks down the top five players:
Chris Kirk
No. 1
Age: 29
Career (PGA Tour): 115starts, 3 wins, 15 top-10s, $9,419,104 in PGA Tour career earnings.
2013-14 season: 27 starts, 2wins (The McGladrey Classic, Deutsche Bank Championship), 4top-10s.
2014 playoffs: T53, The Barclays; won Deutsche Bank; T36, BMW Championship.
The skinny: Playing in his first Tour Championship by Coca-Cola, Kirk has been a fixture near the top of the FedExCup standings since winning The McGladrey Classic in November. His second win came in the second event of the playoffs when he was a force on the weekend to win the Deutsche Bank Championship by two shots. Kirk has been in the top 10 in the FedExCup standings for 36 weeks.
To win the FedExCup: Victory assures him of the title. He has a reasonable chance of winning with a top-five finish and could finish as low as 29th and still have a mathematical chance of winning.
Billy Horschel
No. 2
Age: 27
Career: 101 starts, 2 wins, 15top-10s, $7,895,691 PGA Tour career earnings.
2013-14 season: 26 starts, 1win (BMW Championship), 4top-10s.
2014 playoffs: Missed cut in The Barclays; T2, Deutsche Bank Championship; won BMW Championship.
The skinny: Not much was going right this year for Horschel, who is long on energy and aggressive play, until he touched down in Boston for the Deutsche Bank Championship. With four rounds in the 60s, Horschel finished in a tie for second. He came right back the following week with another four rounds in the 60s to win the BMW Championship. A solid ball-striker, he has been exceptional of late with his putter, especially from inside 10 feet. In his lone appearance in The Tour Championship, he finished in a tie for seventh last year.
To win the FedExCup: A win at East Lake gives him the hardware. He also has a reasonable chance of winning with a top-three finish. And he can finish as low as a two-way tie for sixth and still have a mathematical chance of winning.
Bubba Watson
No. 3
Age: 35
Career: 212 starts, 6 wins, 38top-10s, $24,865,896 PGA Tour career earnings.
2013-14 season: 20 starts, 2wins (Northern Trust Open, The Masters), 8 top-10s.
2014 playoffs: T30, The Barclays; T29, Deutsche Bank; 2nd, BMW Championship.
The skinny: The bomber with the pink driver and deft short game ruled the early part of 2014 when he won the Northern Trust Open and then overpowered Augusta National to win his second green jacket in three years. He also posted runner-up finishes in the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship as well as tying for third in the Memorial. Then the big lefty cooled off — his runner-up finish in last weekend's BMW Championship was his only top-10 in his last nine starts.
To win the FedExCup: If he overpowers East Lake and wins, he'll win the FedExCup. He has a reasonable chance of winning with a runner-up finish and can finish as low as a tie for fourth and still have a mathematical chance of winning.
Rory McIlroy
No. 4
Age: 25
Career: 86 starts, 9 wins, 38top-10s, $22,732,098 PGA Tour career earnings.
2013-14 season: 16 starts, 3wins (British Open, WGC-Bridgestone, PGA Championship), 11 top-10s.
2014 playoffs: T22, The Barclays; T5, Deutsche Bank; T8, BMW Championship.
The skinny: The Summer of Rory was a sight to behold as the best driver in the game and the world's No.1 player dominated a stretch of some of the game's biggest tournaments. He won the BMW PGA Championship, the European Tour's flagship event. A bit later he won the British Open, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship in successive starts. He has 11 top-10 finishes this season, including a tie for fifth in the Deutsche Bank Championship and a tie for eighth in the BMW Championship. He finished second in the FedExCup in 2012.
To win the FedExCup: If he wins for the fifth time this year, he'll win the biggest payoff of his career. He has a reasonable chance of winning with a runner-up finish and can finish as low as a tie for third and still have a mathematical chance of winning.
Hunter Mahan
No. 5
Age: 32
Career: 305 starts, 6 wins, 52top-10s, $27,714,040 in career PGA Tour earnings.
2013-14 season: 24 starts, 1win (The Barclays), 6 top-10s.
2014 playoffs: Won The Barclays; 64th, Deutsche Bank; T59, BMW Championship.
The skinny: The only player to tee it up in all 32 playoff events since the FedExCup began in 2007 struggled to get to East Lake this year. Mahan, who lost the FedExCup and Tour Championship to Bill Haas in a playoff in 2011, started to turn his year around with a tie for seventh in the PGA Championship. He won The Barclays, taking the title in the first playoff event. The win helped Tom Watson use one of his three captain's picks for the Ryder Cup on Mahan.
To win the FedExCup: A win here would give him the FedExCup. He also could finish as low as a two-way tie for second and still have a mathematical chance of winning