Statement victory would buck FedEx Cup trend

Whether the 2010 PGA Tour season will be remembered mostly for Tiger Woods' swoon or something else will be determined by the Tour Championship, which begins today at famed East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

It would be nice if someone would step up and claim the $10 million FedEx Cup jackpot and possibly PGA Tour Player of Year honors in a dramatic and definitive manner. Through 40 events this season, no one has stood out as the dominant player. Six players have won twice (Dustin Johnson, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Hunter Mahan, Justin Rose and Steve Stricker) and five control their destiny (Matt Kuchar, Johnson, Charley Hoffman, Stricker and Paul Casey) in the FedEx Cup race. But if a lesser light of the PGA Tour prevails this weekend, 2010 will by remembered as the year nobody moved with authority into the void created by the winless Woods.

It's been an odd season. Of the 40 events played, there have been 34 different winners and for the first time since 1991 there is a chance that two will be the most wins for the year. Since 1996 a player has won at least four PGA Tour events, so this year definitely qualifies as a non-conformist.

Phil Mickelson, the only major winner in the field of 30 and No. 10 on the points list, needs a lot of help to win the FedEx Cup. He must win and have Kuchar finish fifth or worse, Johnson finish no better than fourth, Hoffman and Stricker finish no better than third and Casey finish no better than second. If Mickelson were to finish first or alone in second, he would finally overtake Woods in his long pursuit of the world's top ranking.

Those without a chance of winning the FedEx Cup still have a lot to play for in the no-cut event. Bo Van Pelt, No. 30 on the points, will make $175,000 no matter how he performs. But if he were to win the first-place check of $1.35 million he would probably shoot up as high as third in the overall points race, which pays another $2 million.

With that kind of money up for grabs and nothing really to lose, everyone will be birdie hunting on a difficult course that figures to play hard and fast. It should be entertaining to watch even without the game's biggest draw. The Tour Championship can be seen on Golf Channel (today-Friday: 1-6 p.m.; Saturday: 10 a.m.-noon; Sunday: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.) and NBC (Saturday: noon-3:30 p.m.; Sunday: 1:30-6 p.m.).

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