Lowdown: The 2013 FedEx Cup will be decided this week at the PGA Tour Championship by Coca Cola at East Lake in Georgia. Tiger Woods heads the standings but any of the top five will take the FedEx Cup if they win at East Lake.
The five men who will claim the cup and the $10 million bonus prize with a victory at the Tour Championship are Tiger Woods, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott, Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar. But any of the 30 players on the start list have a mathematical chance of victory. Even Dustin Johnson who qualified in 30th place could take the FedEx Cup if he wins in East Lake. But, he'd require Tiger to come last and for other players' results to work in his favour.
In last year's event, Brandt Snedeker won the event by three shots from England's Justin Rose. The victory was also enough to secure Snedeker the FedEx Cup title and it more than justified Davis Love III's decision to include Snedeker as a wildcard pick in his Ryder Cup side.
East Lake Golf Club is one of the oldest in the USA and was the home club of legendary amateur Bobby Jones. The course has hosted the Tour Championship on 11 previous occasions and was the venue for the 1963 Ryder Cup.
In 2008 the course was closed for a few months with a view towards recreating the layout's original, firm and fast playing characteristics. The overhaul was a success. It's a challenging track where super-low scoring is not the norm. The winning score tends to be around the eight to 10 under-par mark.
Venue: East Lake GC, Atlanta, Georgia Date: Sep 19-22 Course stats: par 70, 7,154 yards Purse: $8,000,000 Winner: $1,440,000 Defending Champion: Brandt Snedeker (-10)
TV Coverage: Thursday 19 - Sky Sports 2 from 6pm Friday 20 - Sky Sports 2 from 6pm Saturday 21 - Sky Sports 3 from 4pm Sunday 22 - Sky Sports 2 from 4.30pm
Player Watch:
Hunter Mahan - He was tied eighth in this event last year and tied fourth last week at Conway Farms. He's without a win on this year's PGA Tour, but this could be the week.
Brandt Snedeker - Last year's winner will have great memories returning to this course. He's also on good form and played well last week, despite a poor closing round.
Jason Day - The Australian is another man without a win in 2013 and he'll be desperate to rectify that here. He's been on solid form and was tied fourth last week. He was tied sixth at East Lake in 2011. Key hole: 18th. A 235-yard par 3 with deep bunkers left and right of a two-tiered green. When the wind's against, many will need a fairway wood to get up here. A par here is a tough ask, particularly if it's for victory on Sunday afternoon; even more so if it would be worth $10 million.
Skills required: Handling the pressure. With such vast sums of money on the line, the tension tends to be almost unbearable down the stretch in this event. The man who can put that pressure to one side will stand on top at the end this week. Where next? European Tour - Italian Open preview
