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By Steve Dennis
PGA TOUR Staff

• Six weeks remaining in the PGA TOUR's regular season.

With only six weeks left in the regular season, including two majors and a World Golf Championship with limited fields, this week could be critically important for those players who are currently on the outside looking in. Let's start at the 144th spot and work upward.

• Big moves are likely this week -- there are 60 players in the field who would move into the Top 30 with a win, and another 63 who would move into the Top 50. Even a second would vault 21 players into the Top 30, and 37 players into the Top 50 from outside it. Twenty players have an opportunity to get into the Top 15 with a win, including four 2007 winners and three who won an event last year. Zach Johnson will vault to second if he wins, and fourth if he comes in second.

• The players on the outside clearly know it's time to make their move -- over 80 percent of the players between 144 and 200 on the points list are in the field at the John Deere Classic. Duffy Waldorf, currently on the 144 bubble, is in the field, but there are an incredible 72 players who could pass him this week. Fifty-eight of those players have the opportunity to move into the Top 50 with a win, including Shigeki Maruyama, John Daly and Todd Hamilton. Waldorf will be at Carnoustie next week, in addition to this week's tournament.

The 70th spot is occupied by Matt Kuchar, who is also in the field for both the John Deere Classic and the British Open. He will need to play well to retain his spot in the Top 70, since over 80 percent of the players from 70th to 144th are playing either at the British Open or the John Deere Classic or both. Anthony Kim's continued steady play has kept him right around the Top 30 since his tie for third at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, and he's the Top 30 "Bubble Boy" this week. Another third-place finish this week would move him up 10 spots to 20th, but a win would get him inside the Top 10, at ninth.

Steve Stricker's second-place finish at the AT&T National put him 11th in the FedExCup Points Standings, adding a fourth player in the Top 15 without a victory. Bubba Watson, Brandt Snedeker, Jeff Quinney and Heath Slocum could each move into the Top 15 without winning this week, but the total would still be four -- Luke Donald would drop to 16th.

• Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson remain the only players to have clinched a spot in the Top 30. Zach Johnson once again needs a third-place finish or better to clinch his Top 30 spot. No one has clinched a spot in the top 15. Tiger cannot be caught this week, but his is the only spot that is secure.

• Possible Sunday Pairings this week:

Holmes & Watson [JB & Bubba]
Johnson & Johnson [Zach & Richard S.]
Green-Day [Nathan -- Glen]
Browne & Williamson [Olin & Jay]
Flesch & Bohn [Steve & Jason]

...and one that's cheating, but too good to pass up: Bubba -- Gump [Dickerson -- Scott]. Of course, if we're using first names, we need alternate Spike McRoy to make the field, in which case "Spike-Mark" is possible.