Seeking FedExCup, Tiger commits to TOUR Championship

Top-ranked Tiger Woods has committed to play in next week's $7.5 million TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

The 33-year-old Woods, coming off an eight-stroke victory at the BMW Championship, will also be seeking the $10 million first prize in the final event of the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedExCup, which is made up of the top 30 qualifiers. He enters as the No 1. seed with 2,500 points, followed by: Steve Stricker (2,250), Jim Furyk (2,000), Zach Johnson (1,800) and Heath Slocum (1,600).

The winner of THE TOUR Championship receives 2,500 FedExCup points, while second place is worth 1,500, third place 1,000, fourth place 750, fifth place 550, sixth place 500, seventh place 450, eighth place 425, ninth place 400 and 10th place 375. Last place receives 205 points.

If any of the top five seeds wins THE TOUR Championship, he will capture the FedExCup. The previous winners are Woods in 2007 and Vijay Singh in 2008.

Woods has been remarkably consistent in 2009. In 16 starts, he has six victories, two seconds and has posted 13 top-10 finishes, best on the PGA Tour. In his last six starts, Woods has three wins and two seconds.

Statistically, Woods leads the PGA Tour in earnings ($9.6 million), scoring (68.06) and scrambling.

Woods won the 1999 and 2007 TOUR Championships, the latter at East Lake, and placed second in 2000, '04 and '05. The course measures 7,304 yards and plays to a par-70.

Despite a cool and wet summer in the Atlanta area, superintendent Ralph Kepple expects the greens to be firm and fast for the tournament. Last year, East Lake completed a one-year renovation, which included the seeding of MiniVerde bermudagrass.

"The greens will still be firmer than these players have seen the last few weeks, because all of the FedExCup events coming into this were played on bentgrass greens," he said.

The Golf Channel will televise the first two rounds Thursday and Friday, with NBC carrying the final two rounds Saturday and Sunday.