Fact and figures

• The FedExCup began in 2007 and nobody has ever been crowned champion twice besides Tiger Woods.
• Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson each have four event wins, the most in FEC history.
• In 10 Playoffs, there have been six, multiple winners in a year. The last five have had multiple Playoff event winners (McIlroy twice, Stenson, Horschel and Spieth).
• Of those five multiple winners only three, Stenson, Horschel and McIlroy have been crowned FedExCup champion.
• Of the nine title winners prior to this season, only Brandt Snedeker and Jordan Spieth have returned to East Lake to defend their titles. Bizarre. McIlroy started his defense from position No. 44 and is now No. 51 entering event No. 3.
• The last five seasons have produced five different players entering the FEC Playoffs at No. 1. #Parity.
• There has been a rookie appear at East Lake every year with the exception of 2014. Emiliano Grillo and reclassified rookie Si Woo Kim kept the trend alive last year. Mackenzie Hughes currently sits the best of the new bunch at No. 31.
• Only four players who began outside the top 100 have made it to East Lake. Heath Slocum (No. 124) in 2009, Kevin Streelman (No. 102) in 2010, Morgan Hoffman (No. 124) in 2014 and Sean O’Hair (No. 108) in 2016.
• The only player to make an FEC Playoff event their maiden Tour victory was Camilo Villegas at BMW (Cog Hill).
• No player has defended a FEC event as Johnson looks to make history this week.
• Course record: 59; Jim Furyk, 2013.
• Tournament record (course): Day, 2015.

 

The Field

The Last Shall Be First.

All 70 from bottom to top presented WITH comment.

Some facts. Some fun. Some flatulence.

If you don’t read, it’s on you, not me.

If you want lists you know where to find them and it’s not here.

If you want WHY or WHY NOT, you’ve come to the right place.

 

70. Anirban Lahiri

He was even surprised to make the Presidents Cup team so that should tell you everything you need to know about him. NOW, here’s the issue for gamers: Does this free him up to just go out and play or does he try and prove that he was the right selection? Sounds like too much too worry about. Hard pass.

69. Danny Lee

Since his T-9 in his defense, albeit one year late, at Greenbrier, he’s rattled of WD, T-32 and four consecutive MCs. The good news for Lee is there is no cut at Conway Farms. Gamers looking in this direction won’t have many to exchange e-high fives with if he plays well.

68. Bud Cauley

Loyal readers of this column know I’m #TeamBudCauley but his spicy spring didn’t carry over to the summer. His shoulder issue appears to be history and I’ll be all in on him from day one next season.

67. Ryan Moore

The last time we saw Moore he was signing for 82 and disappearing from TPC Boston. He probably thought he wouldn’t qualify for Conway Farms as he was No. 73 at the time of his WD. Oops. He’s posted seven of eight rounds in the red in two trips (T-28 and T-13) so the risk/reward is very real. Now YOU must determined if he already checked out! See, this isn’t as easy as you think!

66. Kevin Tway

He’s making cuts but similarly to Cauley they’re not cashing any big bucks. The value of making the cut doesn’t exist this week so he’ll need to find an extra gear to pay off for gamers. Tour pros know that jumping from 60-something into the top 30 for Atlanta is top three or bust.

65. Sean O’Hair

With only one top 25 since the Dallas-Fort Worth stops in May I’m not sure I’m rushing him to the front of the line either. The guys in these spots at the bottom have just done enough to hang on. I’m POSITIVE one of them will fire because it happens every week. Your job is to figure out which one its going to be or just fade them all!

64. James Hahn

Another week on Bent/Poa should keep him in the right frame of mind. Last time he was here was 10-under-par in his final three rounds after opening with 74. Lovely dark horse this week.

63. Grayson Murray

His last three Sundays are a combined 16-over par and until they start paying on Saturday night, that’s an issue. Realized this though: two of those three have gone for top 25’s so he was sniffing around. Another week, another new venue for the rookie so I’m probably going to lean to experience when in doubt.

62. Emiliano Grillo

I’ll always take a look at guys who have flipped the switch and are steaming along and the Argentine qualifies. He’s hit the top 30 each of the last two weeks after a seven-tournament run with nothing better than T-40. He was one of two rookies to make East Lake last year (Si Woo Kim).

61. Scott Brown

Uneven results lately include these four from 74-65-70-79 TPC Boston last time out. There might be too many dots in here to connect for me.

60. Rafael Cabrera-Bello

Last time out he signed for 65 at TPC Boston to lift him from No. 80 to No. 60 and another paycheck this week. He has plenty of class as evidenced by winning the week before The Open and then finishing T-4 at Royal Birkdale. Of the bottom 10, he sticks out like a Real Madrid jersey in the Nou Camp.