The field for the Tour Championship is small, but the prize money is awesome. The best players on the PGA Tour battle it out all year to make it into the top-30 on the money list, and the Tour Championship is their reward for doing so. The field this week will be playing for an overall purse of $6 million, with a little over a million going to the winner. The golf courses selected for this event are always respectable, and this week is no different. East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, GA has become the permanent home for the Tour Championship.
Tiger Woods is the golfer that sits atop the mountain, both on the PGA Tour and in the world. Woods’ year has been nothing short of spectacular, as most golf fans know by now. Woods has six victories overall, including two major championships and two World Golf Championship events. Tiger has already wrapped up the money title for the sixth time in his career. Oh yeah, he has also won the Tour Championship in the past (1999).
Vijay Singh is the man who has chased Tiger most of the year on the money list and world rankings. Singh started 2005 as the #1 ranked golfer in the world, but Woods quickly changed that. That being said, Vijay has still had an awesome year filled with consistency as usual. Singh has four victories on the PGA Tour this season, but the last was the Buick Open in July.
The past couple months haven’t been so kind to Vijay, however. Singh had an awful Presidents Cup showing and has missed his last two cuts coming into the Tour Championship. Nonetheless, Vijay will still be one of the favorites to win this week. The Fijian has played in the Tour Championship on numerous occasions, and he won the event in 2002.
Retief Goosen is the remaining member of the Big Five in the field this week. Goosen had a slow start to 2005, but he has picked it up the last few months. He has four victories around the world, including The International on the PGA Tour. Goosen is currently fourth in the world rankings, and a great finish this week could move him into third above Phil Mickelson. Goosen currently sits in eighth on the PGA Tour money list.
Speaking of The Goose, last year was his year at the Tour Championship. Tiger Woods and Jay Haas entered Sunday in a tie for the lead, but Goosen’s marvelous final-round 64 was good enough to get him the victory. Tiger Woods did manage to finish in second place. Jerry Kelly finished in solo-third place, with Mark Hensby, Mike Weir, and Stephen Ames ending in a tie for fourth.
Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els have also been a part of the Big Five in 2005. Neither will be competing at this week’s Tour Championship for different reasons. Els has been out since July with a knee injury suffered while sailing in the Mediterranean. He finished in 47th on the money list and wasn’t eligible anyway. Mickelson, on the other hand, decided he didn’t feel like playing in the Tour Championship this year. It marks the second time in the last five years he has chosen not to play in the star-studded event.
The golfers rounding out the top-10 on the PGA Tour money list include Jim Furyk (4th), David Toms (5th), Kenny Perry (6th), Chris DiMarco (7th), Sergio Garcia (9th), and Fred Funk (10th). All these guys have had very solid years and will be battling for position within the top-10 this week in Atlanta. Everyone in this group, with the exception of DiMarco, have wins on the PGA Tour this season.
The race to get into the top-30 on the money list concluded at last week’s Chrysler Championship. Chad Campbell made the biggest move last week by finishing in second place. Campbell moved from 43rd place to 17th place and comfortably made his way into this week’s event. Tim Herron was the other golfer to make his way into the top-30. Herron tied for third last week and moved from 40th on the money list to 29th. Geoff Ogilvy and Shigeki Maruyama dropped out of the top-30 and will miss the Tour Championship this year.
As I mentioned earlier, the tournament will be played at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. East Lake has hosted the Tour Championship four times in the past. The course measures 7,153 yards and par is 70. East Lake is fairly lengthy, especially when it comes to the par-3s. The second hole is the player’s first taste of the difficult par-3s at East Lake. The hole measures 214 yards from the tee, and the golfers must place their tee shots on the green to have any chance at success. The green slopes from back-to-front and from right-to-left with bunkers on both sides. Par is a great score here.
The finishing hole is also unique because it’s a par-3. There aren’t many par-3 finishing holes on the PGA Tour, but this one is awesome. The hole is 235 yards long, and depending on the wind, golfers could be hitting fairway woods into the green throughout the week. The green is two-tiered with bunkers on both sides. The tournament can definitely be won or lost at this finishing hole, and a par finish will definitely be a great achievement for the golfers at East Lake.
Last week, my pick to win was Tim Clark, and he missed the cut by three shots. My “sleeper” pick, Ryan Moore, also missed the cut by three shots. At least my picks won’t miss the cut this week, since there isn’t one. I’m picking Retief Goosen this week. It’s obvious Goosen loves to play the tough courses, and this week’s course is one of the toughest on the PGA Tour. Add to that the fact Goosen won this event on this course last year. That sounds like a winning recipe to me.
For my “sleeper” pick, I’m going with Charles Howell III. Howell has been playing well the past month. He has been playing every week trying to secure his spot in the Tour Championship. Howell has been near the 30th position the past few weeks and has played well under the pressure. He has also played well in the Tour Championship, finishing as the runner-up in both 2002 and 2003. Once the pressure is off, Howell III plays his best golf.
The weather this week shouldn’t be a factor at all. There is a small chance of thunderstorms on the weekend, but the chances are very slim. The highs in Atlanta should be in the low-to-mid 70s. The golfers should find the conditions to be perfect for this time of year.
The Tour Championship marks the end of the PGA Tour season as everyone knows. It gives the top golfers on the PGA Tour one last chance to play for bragging rights going into the short offseason. It obviously boasts one of the best fields of the year, even without Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els. This event is always one of my favorites, and I am looking forward to it once again this week. The Tour Championship can be seen on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC this week at the following times:
Thu 12:00-5:00pm ET ESPN Fri 12:00-5:00pm ET ESPN Sat 12:00-3:30pm ET ABC Sun 12:00-1:00pm ET ESPN2 Sun 1:00-5:00pm ET ABC
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