The PGA Tour Championship at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club will not have Tiger in the field and will also be without Phil.
Or top international stars like Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Luke Donald and Louis Oosthuizen (definitely not), and Ernie Els, Charl Schwartzel, Graeme McDowell, Henrik Stenson and Angel Cabrera (probably not).
But the tournament, which will be played Sept. 11-14, will have the game’s No. 1 player (Rory McIlroy); the other two major champions in 2014 (Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer); andat least three former Tour Championship winners (Jim Furyk, Adam Scott and Bill Haas).
And for those looking for some local flavor, there will be plenty of that to go around.
With only the BMW Championship remaining before the Tour Championship tees off, seven players with Georgia ties were guaranteed spots in the 30-man field. At least eight Georgians were likely to make it and possible as many as 11..
Atlanta resident and former Georgia Bulldog Chris Kirk will make his first Tour Championship appearance after his Labor Day victory in the Deutsche Bank Championship outside Boston.
Kirk, who won the McGladrey Classic at Sea Island Golf Club early in the 2013-14 season, was No. 1 in the FedExCup Playoffs standings going into the BMW Championship. He had not done much since a strong stretch of play just before the U.S. Open, and his win at TPC Boston was his first ever top 10 finish in one of golf’s premier events (majors, Players, WGC, Playoffs).
The other Bulldogs who have locked up spots in the Tour Championship field are two-time Masters champion Watson (No. 6 after the Deutsche Bank) and Macon native Russell Henley, who will also be making his debut at East Lake.
Henley picked up his second PGA Tour title in March in the Honda Classic, but had been pretty much invisible since until he tied for 2nd behind Kirk at TPC Boston. Henley had the 54-hole lead in the Deutsche Bank and closed with a 1-under 70, but was overtaken by Kirk, who shot 66-64-66 the last three rounds.
Brendon Todd, Kirk’s teammate on Georgia’s 2005 NCAA Championship team and also an Atlanta area resident, was 25th coming into the BMW Championship and was likely to make it to East Lake for the first time.
Todd split time last year between the PGA and Web.com Tours, winning the final Web.com event at the UGA course in Athens. He has enjoyed an outstanding season in 2013-14, winning the Byron Nelson Classic and notching seven top-10 finishes, five of them beginning with his victory in mid-May
Two of Henley’s teammates in Athens were just outside the top 30 with one tournament left before the Tour Championship.
Harris English was 17th on the points list at the end of the regular season, but missed the cut in the first two Playoffs events and fell to 31st. English, who scored his first win late in 2013 in Mexico, was one of the tour’s most consistently successful players late last year and through the Florida swing early in 2014. But apart from a tie for 7th in Hartford in late June, he has done nothing the last five months.
Brian Harman, like English a south Georgia native (Savannah) and a current St. Simons resident, collected his first victory on the PGA Tour in the John Deere Classic the week before the British Open. He made the cut in each of the first two Playoffs tournaments, but dropped from 21st in the standings to 33rd. Harman has had an inconsistent season, but contended in tournaments in Los Angeles, Hilton Head and Memphis prior to his John Deere victory. Most of his best showings have followed weeks in which he missed the cut.
The other Georgian just outside the top 30 was Augusta native Charles Howell, who has qualified for the Tour Championship five times and placed 2nd twice, but has also come up just short of qualifying on several other occasions. Howell was 35th prior to the BMW Championship after coming into the Playoffs 33rd. Howell began the 2013-14 season with five top 10s in his first nine starts, but has had just one since. He turned in a pair of respectable showings in the first two Playoffs events, but did not finish high enough to move up in the standings.
None of those three played well enough in Denver to move up in the standings, and all missed the Tour Championship.
The Tour Championship field will also include a pair of former Georgia Tech golfers and two St. Simons residents who have clinched spots at East Lake, with Matt Kuchar half of both categories.
Kuchar, 5th in points after Boston, has had another exceptional season with a win at Hilton Head, a tough playoff loss two weeks earlier in Houston and a tour-leading 11 top 10s in 23 starts. His win in the Heritage Classic capped a 4-week stretch in which he finished 4th, 2nd, 5th and 1st, with the 5th place showing coming in the Masters. Kuchar tied for 5th in the Barclays and played well in Boston the week after the wife of his caddie died suddenly. This will be his fifth straight start at East Lake.
Cameron Tringale will be the other Georgia Tech golfer in the field, moving up from 61st with a tie for 2nd in the Barclays. He was 18th going into the BMW Championship. Tringale tied for 4th in both Houston and the Greenbrier, and has quietly established himself as a solid PGA Tour player since his rookie season in 2010. Tringale will be the second straight Georgia Tech “rookie” in the Tour Championship, following Roberto Castro last year.
Zach Johnson will join fellow St. Simons resident Kuchar in the field, and will be playing in the Tour Championship for the eighth time. He finished 2nd in 2007, highlighted by an East Lake course record 60. Johnson opened 2014 with a win in the Tournament of Champions, but has contended just twice since January, placing 2nd behind Harman in the John Deere Classic. He began the Playoffs in 11th place and was still 11th after two solid tournaments.
Recent Augusta State standout Patrick Reed was 12th in the standings, winning twice this year including the WGC event at Doral. Reed has played inconsistently since Doral, with top 10s in the WGC event at Firestone and the Barclays, but shot 82 in the third round in Boston after being in contention after 36 holes. Reed will join Kirk, Henley and Tringale as a Tour Championship rookie.
Three other Georgians made it to the third Playoffs tournament, but needed to win in Denver or come close in order to make it to East Lake. Recent Georgia Tech golfer Chesson Hadley was 57th, ex-Georgia Bulldog Erik Compton was 62nd and Acworth resident Jason Bohn was 64th.
Others who have clinched a spot in the Tour Championship are Hunter Mahan, Jimmy Walker, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler, all in the top 10 after the Playoffs event in Boston. John Senden, Webb Simpson, Billy Horschel and Kevin Na will also be in the field, with Sergio Garcia, Geoff Ogilvy and Justin Rose likely to make it to East Lake.
Dustin Johnson, who was 6th going into the Playoffs, was 22nd after two events despite being on the sidelines (most likely involuntarily). If he stays in the top 30, only 29 players will tee it up in the tournament.
Keegan Bradley, Gary Woodland and Hideki Matsuyama were the last three players inside the top 30, with Kevin Stadler and Ryan Moore joining English, Harman and Howell as the first five outside the top 30. Bradley withdrew during the BMW abd dropped out of the top 30, while Woodland and Matsuyama stayed in.
Phil Mickelson, the only two-timer winner at East Lake, was 56th and needed a 4th place finish or better to make it to the Tour Championship for the eighth straight time since the FedExCup Playoffs began in 2007. Mickelson won the 1990 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills, the site of the BMW Championship, and was also medalist that week in stroke play qualifying. He also withdrew during the tournament and will not play at East Lake.
Points were reset after the BMW Championship, with the top five players in the standings also winning the FedExCup if they win the Tour Championship. All the players in the field will have a mathematical chance to win the FedExCup, with Haas coming from the 26th spot in the standings to win both the Tour Championship and FedExCup in 2006.
The players are competing for an $8 million purse at East Lake, with $1,440,000 to the winner. The winner of the FedExCup will take home an additional $10 million from a bonus pool that pays players down to the 150th spot.
Spectators will not be allowed on the grounds until Wednesday of tournament week, with gates opening at 8 a.m. that day for practice rounds and 9 a.m. for the first two rounds Thursday and Friday. The first tee time both days is expected to be around 10:45.
Yacht Rock Revue will perform a concert Saturday morning at 9:05 a.m. on the grounds, with gates opening at 8:30.
Golf Channel will televise the first two rounds from 1-6 p.m., and will have early broadcast coverage Saturday and Sunday at noon. NBC will pick up the coverage Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30.