PGA Tour rankings -- September 4, 2012

The Sports Xchange's PGA Tour rankings are selected by TSX Golf Staff, based on play in the 2011 and 2012 seasons, with more emphasis on recent results.

1. Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland -- McIlroy's one-stroke victory over Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa in the Deutsche Bank Championship probably wrapped up Player of the Year honors for McIlroy on the PGA Tour. He equaled Tiger Woods, who finished third another shot back, with three victories this season, but Woods does not have anything to match Rory's runaway victory in the PGA Championship. The Irishman also took the lead in the FedEx Cup playoffs going into round three of the playoffs. ... The only other time McIlroy took part in the playoffs was 2010, when he finished in a tie for 37th at the BMW Championship. He started with 76-74 but rallied to shoot 68-69, on the Dubsdread Course at Cog Hill. He can throw all of that knowledge out the window because the tournament has moved to Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind., this year. ... McIlroy led much of the way at TPC Boston, starting 65-65 and finishing with 67-67. He survived one of only two bogeys in the final round when he chopped up the 17th hole. However, Oosthuizen also struggled on No. 17 and missed an 11-foot putt for par there and also a 15-footer for birdie on the final hole, either one which would have forced a playoff. McIlroy led the field with 25 birdies thanks to his work with putting guru Dave Stockton, who tightened up what had been the weakest part of his game. Rory, who struggled just a bit with his vaunted ball-striking, led the field with an average of 25.8 putts per round. His 27 in the final round was the most he needed.

2. Tiger Woods, United States -- Despite starting with a 7-under-par 64 and throwing three more sub-70 rounds at Rory McIlroy and Louis Oosthuizen, Woods wound up solo third in the Deutsche Bank Championship, two strokes back. It was his seventh top-10 finish of the season, including three victories, and he remained third in the FedEx Cup standings as he tries to win a third postseason title. The last one came in 2009. ... Woods has captured the BMW Championship five times, including in 2007 and 2009 en route to winning the Cup, and has finished in the top 10 nine times in 15 appearances in the tournament. However, all of those results came at Dubsdread, near Chicago, and the tournament will be played this week for the first time at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., where John Daly captured the 1991 PGA Championship. ... Woods carded only one bogey over his last 43 holes at TPC Boston, playing that stretch in 10 under par, but it still wasn't enough to catch McIlroy. On Monday, he carded four birdies in six holes through No. 9 but then had only one more, at No. 18. As good as he was in the last three rounds, his best stretch came when he birdied six consecutive holes through No. 5 while finishing on the front nine in round one, but he recorded his only bogey of the day at No. 9. Tiger ranked among the leaders by hitting more than 70 percent of the fairways and greens, and he averaged 28.8 putts per round but saw too many good-looking putts slide past the hole.

3. Luke Donald, England -- After starting fast with a 4-under-par 67 last week in the Deutsche Bank Championship, Donald could not break 70 the rest of the way and wound up in a tie for 26th. After moving up in the FedEx Cup standings with a tie for 10th in the Barclays, he slipped back three spots to 17th going into the third round of the playoffs. ... Donald has to be one of the players most disappointed that the BMW Championship has moved from Cog Hill to Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. -- he spends much of the year nearby at his home in the Chicago area. He has played in the tournament 10 times and finished solo fourth last year, when he opened with a 4-over-par 75 but bounced back with rounds of 66-67-68 to wind up five shots behind winner Justin Rose. Luke also tied for third in 2004, shooting 67 in the final round and finishing three strokes behind champion Stephen Ames. ... Luke's best golf came when he finished on the front nine in round one last week at TPC Boston. He carded four birdies in a span of seven holes before recording his second bogey of the day at No. 8. Even though he closed with a 70, it might have been his most consistent round, marred by only one bad shot. Donald was a bogey-free 3-under through 15 holes before hitting his tee shot into the water at No. 16 and barely missing a 17-foot bogey putt. His 31 putts in round two led to a 72, but he averaged 27.0 putts the other three days.

4. Jason Dufner, United States -- After skipping the PGA Tour playoffs opener, the Barclays, Duf started quickly in the Deutsche Bank Championship before fading in the last two rounds to tie for 18th. Still, he slipped only one more spot to seventh in the FedEx Cup standings after finishing the regular season second, and he still has a chance to hoist the trophy in two weeks at the Tour Championship. ... Dufner hopes to make up for some of the ground he lost by passing on the Barclays when he plays this week in the BMW Championship, in which he tied for sixth last year at Cog Hill. That is his only top-10 finish in five appearances in the tournament, and he followed it up with a tie for 13th in his second appearance in the Tour Championship. The confidence he gained during the playoffs, and in his playoff loss to Keegan Bradley in the PGA Championship, led to a career season this year at the age of 35. ... Dufner started with 67-66 last week at TPC Boston, carding only a single bogey in his first 36 holes. He closed with 70-74, making only one birdie in the final round, at No. 13. He didn't make a bogey in round three but carded a double-bogey 7 on the second hole and a double-bogey 6 on the 12th before adding another double-bogey 6 on the sixth hole in the final round. Overall, his numbers were good: He hit more than 70 percent of the fairways and greens in addition to averaging 28.8 putts per round, but he took 31 strokes on the greens in the final round.

5. Bubba Watson, United States -- Carding only one birdie over his first 34 holes, Bubba shot 75-72--147 and missed the cut by three strokes last week in the Deutsche Bank Championship. After he finished in the top 25 in five consecutive tournaments, he missed the cut for the third time this season, the others coming on consecutive weeks in the Memorial Tournament and the U.S. Open. He slipped from seventh to 10th in the FedEx Cup standings but is a virtual lock to reach the Tour Championship in two weeks. ... Watson probably isn't unhappy to say goodbye to the Dubsdread Course at Cog Hill and play the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick instead -- his best finish in five appearances at the old venue was a tie for 15th in 2009. He also tied for 28th when the tournament was held at Bellerive in St. Louis in 2008. Last year, Bubba opened with a 7-over-par 78 en route to a tie for 53rd, a year after closing with a 77 to tie for 50th. He was a combined 17-over-par in his last nine rounds at Dubsdread. ... Watson birdied his last two holes last week at TPC Boston, but by then it was far too late to get him into the last two rounds. He bogeyed his second hole of the tournament, No. 11, and never got back to even par. His only birdie of round one was on No. 16, but that was sandwiched around two bogeys. As usual, his driving was terrific, but the rest of his game was dismal. Bubba hit barely half the greens in regulation and averaged 30.5 putts per round.

6. Zach Johnson, United States -- You have to say Johnson was consistent last week -- he opened with a 1-under-par 70 before finishing with three consecutive 71s -- but all it got him was a tie for 47th in the Deutsche Bank Championship. He's had a slow start to the PGA Tour playoffs, with two finishes outside the top 35, and slipped three spots to eighth in the FedEx Cup standings. ... Zach never had much success at Cog Hill; his only top-10 finish in seven appearances at the BMW Championship was solo fifth in 2009. So he's another player who hopes to perform better with the move to Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind. Even though he lives in St. Simons, Ga., now, he's involved in charity efforts in his hometown, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and he should have a large gallery of family and friends cheering him on. ... Johnson started quickly last week at TPC Boston with three birdies in his first four holes and four on the front nine in the opening round, but he never had another stretch like that one. He followed that with two bogeys in a span of three holes and had at least three bogeys in all four rounds. He couldn't get off the bogey train until he finished the tournament with nine consecutive pars, but that came after he had three birdies and three bogeys on the front nine -- the story of his week. Johnson ranked third in the field by hitting nearly 80 percent of the greens but hit barely half the greens and averaged a mediocre 29.3 putts per round.

7. Hunter Mahan, United States -- With his spot in the FedEx Cup standings not really an issue, Mahan basically was playing the Deutsche Bank Championship to convince Davis Love III to make him a Captain's Pick for the Ryder Cup. He started strong with a 3-under-par 68 but could not break 70 the rest of the way and tied for 39th one week after missing the cut in the Barclays. He slipped one spot to 14th in the standings and missed out on the Ryder Cup, which he desperately wanted to play after losing the deciding match two years ago at Celtic Manor. ... Mahan never finished in the top 10 in eight appearances in the BMW Championship at Cog Hill; his best finish in the tournament was when he tied for eighth in 2008 at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis. His best finish on the Dubsdread Course was a tie for 21st in 2005 and he missed the cut twice, so he undoubtedly was glad to see the tournament move to Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. ... Hunter hurt himself with two big numbers last week at TPC Boston. He drove into trouble in the first hole of the second round while finishing on the front nine and had to take a penalty stroke because of an unplayable lie. He needed four shots to reach the green and took a double-bogey 6, but he made birdies at No. 4 and No. 9 to salvage a 72. The next day, he hit his third shot into the water at No. 2 and missed a four-foot putt that left him with a triple-bogey 7. However, he finished his round with birdie-birdie-eagle to shoot 70.

8. Phil Mickelson, United States -- While Davis Love III was contemplating his four Captain's Picks for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, he had to be thrilled by the play of Mickelson, who already was on the team, in the Deutsche Bank Championship. Mickelson posted four rounds in the 60s to tie for fourth, his first top-10 finish since a tie for seventh in the HP Byron Nelson Championship in May. That lifted him eight spots to ninth in the FedEx Cup standings. ... Lefty is another player who probably is happy about the BMW Championship moving from Cog Hill in Lemont, Ill., to Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind. -- his only top-10 result at the old venue was a tie for eighth in 2010. In 2008, when the event moved for one year to Bellerive in St. Louis, he ranked among the leaders by starting with 68-65 but shot 71-70 and wound up in a tie for 17th. in 1994, he opened with 66-69 at Dubsdread and was one shot behind winner Nick Price but played the weekend in 77-77 and plummeted to a tie for 64th. ... Mickelson, who recorded four rounds in the 60s in a tournament for the first time since finishing second in the 2011 Farmers Insurance Open, scorched the TPC Boston for a 5-under-par 66 in the final round, his only stumble coming at the third hole. He opened with a bogey-free 69 and shot 68-68 in the middle rounds. His driver was not as wayward as it has been, and he hit more than 70 percent of the greens while averaging 27.8 putts in probably his best all-around performance since he won at Pebble Beach in February.

9. Webb Simpson, United States -- Showing his best stuff only when he shot a bogey-free 66 in the third round, Simpson tied for 18th in the Deutsche Bank Championship, but it was a big improvement over his missed cut in the Barclays to open the PGA Tour playoffs. He gained one spot to 19th in the FedEx Cup standings heading to round two at the BMW Championship on Thursday. ... Still trying to find his top form after taking time off after his victory in the U.S. Open to be with his wife, Dowd, for the first of their second child, Willow Grace, Webb is playing this week in the BMW for the third time. He tied for 61st in 2009 and finished solo fifth last year on the Dubsdread Course at Cog Hill, opening with 65-68 before falling back with 73-71 on the weekend. ... The eighth hole at TPC Boston proved costly to Simpson in the Deutsche Bank. He three-putted there in the second round and also was assessed a one-stroke penalty when his ball moved as he addressed it, leading to a double-bogey 5 in a round of 70. In the final round, he missed the green with his tee ball, hit his second shot into a bunker and made another double bogey en route to a closing 72. After carding bogeys on the last two holes of his front nine in the opening round, Simpson carded three birdies on his last six holes to open with a 69. He carded at least four birdies every day, a good sign for Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III that his game is coming back.

10. Keegan Bradley, United States -- Looking at a second consecutive missed cut before the home crowd at TPC Boston, Bradley holed an eight-foot birdie putt on his last hole of round two to make it through right on the number. Then he shot 63-69 in the last two rounds and climbed to a tie for 13th, lifting him one spot to 12th in the FedEx Cup standings. ... After what might be called two home games in New York, where he attended St. John's, and Boston, Bradley is back on the road this week for his second appearance in the BMW Championship. He tied for 16th last year at Cog Hill, moving into contention by shooting 5-under-par 66 with only one bogey in the second round but fading away on Sunday with a 76 that included only one birdie, on the 14th hole. The move to Crooked Stick, which measures 7,516 yards, might suit Bradley's game because he is one of the longer drivers on the PGA Tour, averaging more than 300 yards off the tee. That will allow him to hit over the corner of the many doglegs and other trouble on the course. ... Even after making birdies on the last two holes of the second round, Bradley cleaned out his locker at TPC Boston because he thought he was going to miss the cut, but he made it on the number at 71-73--144. Then his grandmother told him to go out and shoot 63 in round three, and he did despite making a bogey at No. 17. Keegan birdied three of his last five holes in his closing 69.

11. Ernie Els, South Africa -- The Big Easy did not play spectacular golf last week in the Deutsche Bank Championship, but his tie for 26th kept him in a good position in the PGA Tour playoffs. The Open champion remained 18th in the FedEx Cup standings heading into the third round this week. ... Els is yet another player who did not perform so well in the BMW Championship at Cog Hill -- his best result there was a tie for 13th in 2010, when he was close to the lead before closing with a 3-over-par 74. When the event moved for one year to Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, he tied for 17th. The 1991 PGA Championship was held at Crooked Stick, the new BMW venue, but Ernie did not qualify for the final major of the year for the first time until the following season. ... After a subpar tie for 54th in the Barclays to start the playoffs, Els opened with 69-69 last week at TPC Boston and gave himself a chance for a high finish that would have moved him into the top 10 in the point standings. However, he wasn't quite as good in the last two rounds, falling back when he played them in 71-70. After carding only two bogeys in each of the first two rounds, he had four in round three, which he saved by driving the green on the short par-4 fourth hole and sinking a 17-foot putt for eagle. Ernie seemed headed for a round in the 60s on Monday, when he played the first 12 holes in a bogey-free 3-under-par, but he stumbled with three bogeys on the next five holes.

12. Dustin Johnson, United States -- Despite missing three months this season because of injuries, Johnson played himself into one of Davis Love III's four Captain's Picks for the U.S. Ryder Cup team with his tie for fourth in the Deutsche Bank Championship. That came on the heels of his tie for third in the Barclays, the opener of the PGA Tour playoffs, and lifted him two spots to sixth in the FedEx Cup standings after he finished the regular season 26th. It also virtually assured his spot in the Tour Championship. ... DJ will be playing in the BMW Championship for the fourth time and might benefit from the switch from Cog Hill because he has the power to eliminate the trouble and hit over the corner on the doglegs, several of which are bordered by water. That's the way he won the BMW in 2010 -- he hit a booming drive over the trees on the 17th hole, put his approach two feet from the hole and made a birdie that gave him a one-stroke victory over Paul Casey. Last year as defending champion at the Dubsdread Course, he couldn't even equal the par of 70 in any of his four rounds and tied for 65th. ... Johnson opened with rounds of 67-68-65 last week at TPC Boston but couldn't make a run at winner Rory McIlroy when he closed with a 1-under-par 70, carding only two birdies after making a total of 19 the first three days. The difference was the putter: He took 32 putts on Monday after averaging 26.7 over the first three days. He played the par-5 finishing hole in 5-under for the tournament, with three birdies and a 78-foot chip-in eagle in the second round.

13. Brandt Snedeker, United States -- Backing up his runner-up finish in the Barclays, Sneds shot 65-67 in the final two rounds to wind up solo sixth in the Deutsche Bank Championship and play his way onto the Ryder Cup team for the first time as one of Davis Love III's four Captain's Picks. It was his sixth top-10 finish of the season, but he still dropped two spots to fourth in the FedEx Cup standings. ... Snedeker posted his best finish in six appearances in the BMW Championship when he tied for 10th in 2009 at Cog Hill. He opened with three rounds in the 60s before closing with a 5-over-par 76, but all that cost him was a high finish because Tiger Woods ran away with the title by eight strokes. Last year, he was among the leaders after opening with 71-66, but he played the weekend in 73-74 and slid to a tie for 22nd. ... With the pressure on after opening with 69-70 last week at TPC Boston, Snedeker responded with a bogey-free 65 in round three that included a birdie-eagle finish, holing an 11-foot putt to close out a 5-under-par 30 on the back nine. Then, after carding two early bogeys in the final round, he birdied four of the last seven holes to close with a 67. Snedeker played the back nine in 9-under 61 over the last two days. He might have been in the hunt for the title on Monday, but he had four bogeys to go with his five birdies on Saturday. Sneds hit more than 70 percent of the fairways and greens and averaged 28.3 putts per round.

14. Justin Rose, England -- With a second consecutive poor performance in the PGA Tour playoffs, a missed cut in the Deutsche Bank Championship, Rose will need a solid outing this week in his title defense at the BMW Championship to guarantee his spot in the Tour Championship. His 75-70--145 left him one shot short of the last two rounds and dropped him seven positions to 22nd in the FedEx Cup standings. Only the top 30 reach the finale at East Lake. ... Rose will be in the unusual position of defending his title this week in the BMW Championship on a different course, Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. Last year, he opened with an 8-under-par 63 on the Dubsdread Course at Cog Hill and had a five-stroke lead midway through the final round. After squandering most of that during a closing 71, he chipped in for birdie on the 17th hole and held on to beat John Senden of Australia by two strokes. He also tied for fifth in the 2007 BMW, starting with a 65 and posting three other rounds in the 60s, but wound up nine strokes behind Tiger Woods. ... Rose came to the 18th hole in round two last week at TPC Boston needing a birdie to make the cut but hit his approach shot into a greenside bunker and had to hole a five-foot putt simply to save par. He made only two bogeys in 36 holes but carded three double bogeys, including one at the 11th hole in round two that cost him a score in 60s and a chance to play the last two rounds. He took three shots to reach the green at the par-3 hole and then missed a five-foot putt for bogey.

15. Matt Kuchar, United States -- After getting off to a slow start last week in the Deutsche Bank Championship and making the cut right in the number, Kuchar shot 68-68 in the last two rounds to wind up in a tie for 35th. Usually a top-10 machine, he has not finished in the top 25 in either of the first two rounds of the playoffs after also missing the cut in the PGA Championship, and he slid two spots to 13th in the FedEx Cup standings heading into round three. ... Kooch will tee it up in the BMW Championship this week for the fifth time. His best result was a tie for third two years ago, when he opened with a 7-under-par 64 to take the lead but could not break 70 the rest of the way and finished three strokes behind champion Dustin Johnson. He also had a chance in 2009 when he shot 68-66 in the middle rounds, but he closed with a 75 to tie for 10th. Last year, he shot 65 in round two but followed that up with a 78 and eventually tied for 22nd. ... Kuchar needed a par on his final hole of round two, No. 9, to make the cut last week at TPC Boston and made it easy on himself with a three-foot putt that put him through at 74-70--144. He will take some momentum to the BMW at Crooked Stick after playing his last 28 holes in 7 under par and making only one bogey, on the first hole of the final round. His only really bad hole of the week came when he got stuck in the deep rough on No. 12 in round two, had to take a drop because of an unplayable lie and wound up with a triple-bogey 7.

16. Steve Stricker, United States -- Another guy trying to play well enough to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team, Strick faltered only briefly in on the back nine of the final round on his way to a tie for 13th in the Deutsche Bank Championship. That kept him at 16th in the FedEx Cup standings and was enough for him to land one of Davis Love III's four Captain's Picks. ... Stricker was a big gallery favorite when the BMW Championship was played at Cog Hill in Lemont, Ill., because he is a graduate of the University of Illinois. He has played in what started out as the Western Open every year since 1994 and took home the title in 1996. He seized the lead with an opening round of 6-under-par 65 and posted three more rounds in the 60s to coast to an eight-stroke victory over Billy Andrade and Jay Don Blake. Since the start of the PGA Tour playoffs, he finished solo third in the 2007 and tied for eighth in 2010 at Cog Hill and tied for 10th when the tournament was played at Bellerive in St. Louis. ... After starting with three rounds in the 60s at TPC Boston, Stricker seemed headed for another when he played the first 10 holes in a bogey-free 3-under-par on Monday. Then he went bogey-double bogey, and a birdie at No. 15 left him with a closing 1-under-par 70. He started with 69-69-68 and ranked among the leaders by hitting in the neighborhood of 75 percent of the fairways and greens, but he struggled a bit on the greens (for him), averaging 29.5 putts per round.

17. Nick Watney, United States -- Playing to make the Ryder Cup team, Watney backed up his victory in the Barclays with a solid tie for 20th in the Deutsche Bank Championship. He fell out of the lead in the FedEx Cup standings, but only to No. 2, and obviously was disappointed not to land one of four Davis Love III's four Captain's Picks for the Ryder Cup. ... Watney is playing in the BMW Championship for the seventh time this week and never finished better than a tie for 15th in 2010 when the tournament was played at Cog Hill, so he's another player who might welcome the move to Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. He posted only two scores in the 60s in the 22 rounds he played at Cog Hill, including a 4-under-par 67 on Sunday last year to finish in a tie for 22nd, his second-best result in the tournament. ... Watney played his best last week at TPC Boston when he posted a bogey-free 5-under-par 66 in the third round. That came the day after he also did not have a bogey in a round of 69, but that round would have been better if not for one bad hole. Nick hit his second shot into an unplayable lie and took a penalty stroke. He needed six shots to reach the green at No. 7 and carded a double-bogey 7. He took another penalty stroke for an unplayable lie at No. 18 but saved par by holing a seven-foot putt. Watney made four bogeys in an opening 72 and four more in a closing 71, saving himself several times with the putter -- he averaged 27.5 putts per round.

18. Lee Westwood, England -- It wasn't quite as good as his tie for fifth in the Barclays to open the PGA Tour playoffs, but Westwood played himself into contention in the postseason race with a tie for 13th in the Deutsche Bank Championship. He climbed four spots to 23rd in the FedEx Cup standings after finishing the regular season 51st and gave himself a good chance to reach the Tour Championship in two weeks at East Lake in Atlanta. ... This is Westwood's first year in the playoffs, and he will be playing in the BMW Championship for the first time -- he never made it to the Chicago area to play in what started out as the Western Open. He might like the new venue, Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., which puts a premium on driving, as John Daly showed when he won the 1991 PGA Championship there. Westwood is considered one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the world, blessed with length and accuracy. ... Westy played his best golf last week at TPC Boston in bookend 3-under-par 68s, but he did it in different ways. In round one, he started and finished with two of his four birdies and carded his only bogey of the day at No. 13. On Monday, Westwood sprinkled seven birdies across his scorecard, again cashing in at Nos. 1 and 18, but also mixed in four bogeys in between. One of the best ball-strikers around, he did some good work with the putter, averaging 27.8 putts pre round despite taking 30 strokes on the greens in a third-round 69.

19. Adam Scott, Australia -- Playing his best golf since giving away the Open Championship by finishing with four consecutive bogeys, Scott posted four rounds in the 60s and tied for seventh in the Deutsche Bank Championship. That lifted him nine spots to 25th in the FedEx Cup standings, and with a solid finish this week in the third round of the playoffs, he will make it to the Tour Championship, which he won in 2006. ... The Aussie is playing in the BMW Championship for the sixth time and recorded his best finish in 2007, the first year of the PGA Tour playoffs. He posted four rounds in the 60s, including a 6-under-par 65 in the final round, to finish solo fourth, but still was eight strokes behind winner Tiger Woods. Scott is one of the longer drivers on the PGA Tour at more than 300 yards on average and one of the best ball-strikers, so his game should be a good fit at Crooked Stick, especially if he gets his long putter going. ... After opening with 69-69 last week at TPC Boston, Scott really got it going when he shot 68-66 the last two days, making it the first time this season he has posted for rounds in the 60s on the PGA Tour. He rattled off six birdies in the final round, when his only hiccup came on No. 5. It could have been better -- he ranked among the leaders by hitting nearly 80 percent of the fairways and greens but averaged 30.0 putts per round, including 34 on Friday. However, he did hole a 30-foot eagle putt on No. 2 in round one and had another eagle from two feet on the same hole in round three.

20. Bill Haas, United States -- Even though his tie for 35th in the Deutsche Bank Championship might not have seemed like much, it was better than his missed cut in the Barclays and kept the defending FedEx Cup champion in the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings. He rallied in the last two rounds and climbed one spot to 28th in the standings with some momentum heading into round two. ... Anyone who saw Haas play the first three rounds of the BMW Championship last year might not have been surprised that he won the Tour Championship two weeks later to captured the FedEx Cup. He was only four strokes out of the lead at Cog Hill after rounds of 70-66-69 but fell apart on the back nine while closing with a 7-over-par 78 that dropped him to a tie for 22nd. He carded as many double bogeys as birdies, two, in the final round and played the back nine in 6-over 42. His best finish in the tournament was a tie for 10th in 2009. ... Haas was in danger of missing the cut last week at TPC Boston at 71-72--143, but he got through with one shot to spare. Then he finished with 68-69, carding two birdies down the stretch each day while playing his best golf since a tie for seventh in the Wyndham Championship three weeks ago. Haas got himself going by making three birdies on the last seven holes of the front nine in the third round after recording only two birdies in each of the first two rounds.

Others receiving consideration: Charl Schwartzel, South Africa; Sergio Garcia, Spain; Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland; Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa; Johnson Wagner, United States; Kyle Stanley, United States; Robert Garrigus, United States; Jim Furyk, United States; Kevin Na, United States; Carl Pettersson, Sweden; Ben Curtis, United States; John Huh, United States; Marc Leishman, Australia; Bo Van Pelt, United States; Scott Piercy, United States.