PGA's FedEx Cup to be Decided This Weekend

By Andrew Both
SportsTicker Golf Writer

ATLANTA, Georgia (Ticker) - Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker and Phil Mickelson will vie this week for the $10 million bonus awarded to the winner of the PGA Tour's new playoff series. They are the only players with a realistic chance of winning the four-event series, which culminates with the Tour Championship starting at East Lake on Thursday, where another $7 million will be up for grabs in the tournament itself.

Woods leads the playoffs with 112.733 points, 3,133 points ahead of Stricker and 4,120 points in front of Mickelson. The winner of the Tour Championship will receive 10,300 points, with 6,200 for second, 3,900 for third, and so on down to 395 points for last place. This means Woods and Stricker control their own fate. If they win the tournament, they will win the series, whereas Mickelson can win the tournament and still not be assured of topping the points list. Each has won one playoff event, with Stricker taking the first, Mickelson the second, and Woods on Sunday.

Woods enters as favorite given his recent hot form which includes three victories in his past four starts. Woods on Wednesday spoke for the first time about the swing changes he made after a disappointing Open at Carnoustie in July. But Woods, who is working increasingly alone, without the presence of coach Hank Haney, said it would be a stretch to say his swing was starting to resemble the one he honed under previous coach Butch Harmon in the late 1999s. "I wouldn't say (my swing is) more upright (but) I'm standing a little closer (to the ball)," Woods said. "After playing in the wind, my set-up got a little quirky. "If I get my weight more towards the balls of my feet, it looks like I'm more upright, when I'm actually not."

Mickelson, meanwhile, met with tour commissioner Tim Finchem on Tuesday night to discuss the playoff system, but was tight-lipped of their discussions. "We knew the FedEx Cup was going to need refining," Mickelson said. "Changes to make it better and better are hopefully going to keep occurring."