Tiger Woods Still Holds Key to FedEx Scenarios

The different scenarios regarding the FedEx Cup for almost all Tour Championship contenders not named Tiger Woods have one thing in common.

For anyone other than Woods to claim the title, the game’s No. 1 player has to have a very un-Tiger-like finish in Sunday’s final round.

Only the top five players in the points standings entering the Tour Championship can win the FedExCup title without some help from Woods, whose name is at the top of the list.

Steve Stricker, second behind Woods in the standings, shot 66 on Saturday to jump into a tie for seventh, but trails leader Kenny Perry by six strokes and Woods by four. The other three members of the current top 5 all are over par after 54 holes at East Lake and have virtually no chance of winning either the tournament or the FedEx Cup.

Perry, who will go head-to-head against Woods on Sunday in the final group, is ninth in the standings. He will capture the FedEx Cup only if he wins the Tour Championship and Woods finishes outside the top three.

With Woods two shots ahead of Phil Mickelson and Sean O’Hair, who share third place, that doesn’t appear very likely.

When asked if he will be paying any attention to the possible scenarios for winning the FedEx Cup, Perry replied, “That will probably only come late. The first 14, 15 holes, I’ll be kind of zoned into what I’m doing. Then I’ll kind of see where the chips fall.”

O’Hair, who stumbled a bit at the finish to fall into a tie for third, trails Perry by four and could win the FedEx Cup if he rallies and Woods places third or lower. O’ Hair, seventh on the points list, says he won’t be thinking about that Sunday.

“I think you’ve just got to focus on playing the shots.”

Mickelson, 14th in the standings, realizes a Tour Championship is his only realistic possibility.

“I don’t have a chance at the FedEx Cup because too much stuff has to happen,” he said. “It won’t.”

After back-to-back rounds of 67-66, Mickelson is in contention for a tournament title for the first time since the U.S. Open, even with a quadruple bogey in the first round.

“To come back the way I have and play the way I have, no matter how many shots back I am, I think I’ll still be a factor.”

Padraig Harrington, sixth on the points list and five off the lead in a tie for fifth, also has slim hopes and won’t need as much help from Woods as the contenders other than Stricker.

As for Woods, he dodged a question about his part in the FedEx Cup scenarios, offering a typical Tiger non-answer.

“I’m just focused on the winning the golf tournament tomorrow.”