Deutsche Bank event might bring more clarity

It seems fitting that Hurricane Earl is threatening to disrupt the Deutsche Bank Championship, which is scheduled to begin today at the TPC of Boston in Norton, Mass. It has been a season filled with unusual happenings on the PGA Tour so why should the second round of the FedEx Cup playoffs be any different?

Before a hurricane even threatened the New England coastline who would have thought the top two players in the world ranking would have a combined one victory at this point in the season? For Tiger Woods, who has become a staple of the tabloids, and Phil Mickelson, who is seeing an arthritis specialist, 2010 has been a mess, except for Mickelson's victory in the Masters.

Or who would have picked Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen or Martin Kaymer to be winners of the year's other three majors? It's safe to say 2010 has been a year for the unexpected. The fact that Matt Kuchar has emerged as a viable candidate for Player of the Year one week after winning for the first time this season sums up a 2010 in which no player has emerged as a dominant force.

That's why the Deutsche Bank Championship could go a long way toward helping Corey Pavin make his four captain's picks for this year's U.S. Ryder Cup team. He'll make that announcement Tuesday at the New York Stock Exchange. At this point, Woods and Zach Johnson appear to be bullish choices. But that could change if Woods doesn't continue to show signs he is returning to form. Projections currently have Woods needing to pick up 82 points this week, which is equivalent to a tie for 54th place, to advance in the playoffs and make Pavin's decision easier.

Beyond Ryder Cup ramifications, Woods isn't the only recognizable name on the bubble this week in the race for the FedEx Cup. Vijay Singh, who won the FedEx crown in 2008, stands 86th and likely needs a top-25 finish to sneak into next week's BMW Championship at Cog Hill. Other former major champions whose FedEx Cup season is in jeopardy include Geoff Ogilvy, Angel Cabrera, Y.E. Yang, Padraig Harrington, David Toms, Lucas Glover, Justin Leonard and Davis Love III.

The TPC of Boston, opened in 2002 and designed by Arnold Palmer, has been receptive to low scoring in the seven previous tournaments held on the venue. If Hurricane Earl dumps a lot of water on the course today, soft greens might make scoring even easier.

As the Deutsche Bank Championship is held over Labor Day weekend, it has the distinction as being the only tournament on the PGA Tour to conclude on a Monday. Tournament officials can only hope Hurricane Earl doesn't extend the proceedings beyond that.

The tournament can be seen on The Golf Channel (today: 3-6 p.m.; Saturday: 3-6 p.m.) and NBC (Sunday: 3-6 p.m.; Monday: 2-6 p.m.)

Information from GolfOberver.com, GolfChannel.com, Golf.com and PGATOUR.com contributed to this post.