Bubble watch: Who has history on their side?

text size
Increase Text Size
Decrease Text Size
Print This Story RSS
Furyk-FEC.jpg
Greenwood/Getty Images
Jim Furyk's game is peaking at the right time and he prepares to take on a course he plays very well.
Sep. 13, 2011
By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM

This week's BMW Championship, the penultimate stage of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, provides players one final opportunity to qualify for next week's TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola. Following the conclusion of play Sunday, the Playoffs field will be trimmed to its final 30 players who will have tee times booked at East Lake Golf Club on Sept. 22.

While the players near the top of the standings have locked up spots at East Lake, the battle for the top five spots will be something to keep an eye on. The top five players at the TOUR Championship control their own destinies and will win the FedExCup with a win in the Playoffs finale. If none of the top five pick up the win, whoever is ranked No. 1 in the standings at the start of the week will have a great chance to earn the FedExCup.

Around the cutline are Bo Van Pelt (No. 22), Bill Haas (No. 24) and Rickie Fowler (No. 37) who were Nos. 30, 31 and 32 after this event a year ago. Rookie Kyle Stanley is currently holding the enviable 30th position, and is one of 27 players in this week's field (including nine inside the top 30) looking to make their first trip to the TOUR Championship.

Six former winners at the BMW Championship are in the field this week and four of them (Jim Furyk, Jerry Kelly, Camilo Villegas and Robert Allenby) enter the week outside the coveted top 30 spots. A win this week, and any of them would be in good position to pick up the biggest prize in golf.

Furyk, the reigning FedExCup champions who enters the week at No. 35 in the standings, has arguably the best track record here with nine top 10s in 15 starts. Kelly (No. 40), Villegas (No. 47), Carl Pettersson (No. 52) and Allenby (No. 62) each have a trio of top-10 finishes. Sergio Garcia is the only other player outside the top 30 with multiple top 10 finishes in this event -- picking up two in three starts at the BMW Championship. Simply finishing inside the top 10, however, may not be enough for players on the bubble this week.

Below is a look at every player in this week's field and where they stand in relation to the 30th position in the FedExCup standings. Remember, in the two years under the current points format, No. 30 following the BMW Championship has had 1,532 and 1,572 points.

Bubble Watch
How the field has performed at the BMW Championship
Rank/Player FedExCup
points
Points
from 30th
Starts Cuts
made
Wins Top 10s Top 25s Last
appearance

INSIDE THE BUBBLE
1. Webb Simpson 4,711 3,413 1 1 0 0 0 T61, 2009
2. Dustin Johnson 3,814 2,516 2 2 1 1 1 WON, 2010
3. Matt Kuchar 3,124 1,826 3 3 0 2 2 T3, 2010
4. Luke Donald 2,875 1,577 9 8 0 2 5 T37, 2010
5. Brandt Snedeker 2,869 1,571 5 4 0 1 2 T37, 2010
6. Jason Day 2,357 1,059 2 2 0 0 0 T54, 2010
7. Nick Watney 2,291 993 5 4 0 0 1 T15, 2010
8. Steve Stricker 2,205 907 17 15 1 6 7 T8, 2010
9. Chez Reavie 2,088 790 1 1 0 0 0 T33, 2008
10. Phil Mickelson 2,040 742 13 11 0 1 2 T8, 2010
11. Gary Woodland 1,966 668 0 - - - - N/A
12. Bubba Watson 1,842 544 5 4 0 0 2 T50, 2010
13. Jonathan Byrd 1,785 487 8 7 0 1 2 T61, 2009
14. Vijay Singh 1,778 480 15 14 0 5 10 T24, 2010
15. K.J. Choi 1,771 473 10 8 0 2 2 T3, 2010
16. Adam Scott 1,760 462 4 4 0 1 3 T15, 2010
17. Mark Wilson 1,748 450 8 6 0 1 2 T10, 2009
18. Hunter Mahan 1,719 421 8 6 0 1 2 T37, 2010
19. Keegan Bradley 1,621 323 0 - - - - N/A
20. David Toms 1,959 661 14 11 0 1 8 T15, 2010
21. Charles Howell III 1,577 279 8 5 0 0 3 T30, 2009
22. Bo Van Pelt 1,549 251 6 4 0 0 2 T54, 2010
23. Fredrik Jacobson 1,527 229 6 6 0 3 3 T48, 2010
24. Bill Haas 1,525 227 3 3 0 1 1 T30, 2010
25. Aaron Baddeley 1,467 169 6 3 0 2 2 T10, 2008
26. Rory Sabbatini 1,435 137 8 6 0 2 3 T50, 2010
27. Charl Schwartzel 1,428 130 0 - - - - N/A
28. Y.E. Yang 1,366 68 2 2 0 0 0 T63, 2010
29. Jason Dufner 1,331 33 4 3 0 0 0 T45, 2010

ON THE BUBBLE
30. Kyle Stanley 1,298 0 0 - - - - N/A

OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE FedExCup
points
Points
from 30th
Starts Cuts
made
Wins Top 10s Top 25s Last
appearance
31. Martin Laird 1,291 -7 2 2 0 0 0 T50, 2010
32. Charley Hoffman 1,284 -14 5 5 0 0 2 T30, 2010
33. Brian Davis 1,251 -47 4 4 0 0 1 T54, 2010
34. Justin Rose 1,248 -50 4 3 0 1 3 T21, 2010
35. Jim Furyk 1,243 -55 15 13 1 9 11 T15, 2010
36. Zach Johnson 1,227 -71 6 4 0 1 3 T15, 2010
37. Rickie Fowler 1,208 -90 1 1 0 0 0 T45, 2010
38. Steve Marino 1,204 -94 3 3 0 0 2 T18, 2009
39. Ryan Moore 1,202 -96 5 4 0 1 2 T3, 2010
40. Jerry Kelly 1,188 -110 15 11 1 3 4 T49, 2009
41. Spencer Levin 1,185 -113 0 - - - - N/A
42. Brendan Steele 1,145 -153 0 - - - - N/A
43. Chris Kirk 1,144 -154 0 - - - - N/A
44. Robert Karlsson 1,137 -161 0 - - - - N/A
45. Lucas Glover 1,118 -180 6 5 0 0 3 66th, 2009
46. Scott Stallings 1,080 -218 0 - - - - N/A
47. Camilo Villegas 1,057 -241 7 5 1 3 4 T11, 2010
48. Ryan Palmer 1,057 -241 4 3 0 0 0 T43, 2010
49. D.A. Points 1,055 -243 2 1 0 0 0 MC, 2006
50. Jhonattan Vegas 1,046 -252 0 - - - - N/A
51. Jimmy Walker 1,027 -271 1 0 0 0 0 MC, 2006
52. Carl Pettersson 1,021 -277 7 5 0 3 3 T30, 2010
53. Sergio Garcia 1,019 -279 3 3 0 2 3 T6, 2009
54. Tommy Gainey 999 -299 0 - - - - N/A
55. John Senden 974 -324 9 8 0 0 2 T63, 2010
56. Sean O'Hair 942 -356 5 5 0 1 1 T37, 2010
57. Blake Adams 935 -363 0 - - - - N/A
58. Chad Campbell 916 -382 7 6 0 1 2 T23, 2009
59. Andres Romero 869 -429 2 2 0 0 0 T60, 2010
60. Scott Piercy 857 -441 1 1 0 0 0 T40, 2005
61. George McNeill 854 -444 0 - - - - N/A
62. Robert Allenby 849 -449 12 10 1 3 6 T24, 2010
63. Brandt Jobe 838 -460 6 4 0 1 1 T50, 2006
64. Brendon de Jonge 837 -461 1 1 0 0 0 T63, 2010
65. Marc Leishman 813 -485 2 2 0 1 2 T11, 2010
66. Cameron Tringale 813 -485 0 - - - - N/A
67. Johnson Wagner 802 -496 1 0 0 0 0 T52, 2008
68. Ernie Els 792 -506 5 4 0 0 3 T13, 2010
69. Geoff Ogilvy 789 -509 9 7 0 1 2 T24, 2010
70. Chris Stroud 788 -510 0 - - - - N/A
   Print This Story   RSS
SHOP.PGATOUR.COM
PGATOUR shop

Shop your favorite brand name golf equipment and accessories at SHOP.PGATOUR.COM

© 1995-2012 PGA TOUR, Inc. | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved. PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, Nationwide Tour and the swinging golfer logo are registered trademarks.
Turner PGATOUR.com is part of Turner Sports Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network