Going into the last week before he finalizes his team, U.S. Ryder Cup captian Paul Azinger told Golf World on Monday that he has two players he's "dead-solid on," and the list for the next two picks extends well down the points standings which ended at the PGA Championship.

Azinger didn't identify the players, and said he has not told them either, in hopes to stir some movement in what has been a cold month for American golf. Kenny Perry's victory in the U.S. Bank Champinship was the last by a member of the American Ryder Cup team.

While Zinger's system did put winners on the team--all but Jim Furyk and Ben Curtis have won PGA Tour events in 2008--it has not generated hot play leading into the competition, which will be held at Valhalla CC in Louisville, Sept. 18-21.

"Noboby is jumping off the page," said Azinger, who will announce his wild-card selections at a press conference at the Radisson Martinique in New York on Tuesday, Sept. 2.

That nobody includes the next two players on the points list, Steve Stricker and Woody Austin. Although Azinger once said he would not rule out players from the Nationwide or Champions tours, he did say his rather long short list did not included the likes of Scott Piercy, Fred Funk or Tom Kite, recents winners on their respective circuits.

-- Tim Rosaforte

Tiger Woods isn't playing The Barclays, but this year it wasn't considered a snub. Everybody knows he world's best player is out indefinitely while recovering from knee surgery.

But that doesn't mean there weren't a couple of high-profile withdrawals from the opening round of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Lee Westwood, who played with Woods in the final group in the final round of this year's U.S. Open, and who finished T-2 at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, has pulled out. For a reason, the Englishman listed "holiday,"

His countryman, Justin Rose, has also WDed, and is in Holland for the KLM Open, hoping to secure a spot on the European Ryder Cup team. Another English golfer, Luke Donald, will miss the entire playoffs after undergoing wrist surgery in London.

Also pulling out with injuries were Alex Cejka, Jason Bohn and Roland Thatcher. Bob Estes, who finished 124th in the final FedEx Cup standings, scheduled his wedding for this week and is not on the tee sheet. The field at Ridgewood CC in New Jersey will be 136 players.

-- Tim Rosaforte

When was the last time Lee Janzen stood over a putt with meaning -- and made it?

"I made one at 16 and 17, too!" Janzen proudly pointed out Sunday night, driving from Greensboro, N.C. to Raleigh for a direct flight to New Jersey for The Barclays, the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The two-time U.S. Open champion sealed his ticket to the playoffs by saving par from five feet on the 72nd hole of the Wyndham Championship -- but as he pointed out, that last putt wouldn't have meant anything without those birdies on the 70th and 71st holes.

That 2-3-4 finish gave Janzen a closing-round  67 and enough FedEx Cup points to jump from 154th to 144th in the standings and get the last playoff spot. It was the opposite of his situation last year, when he only made one cut after finishing T-13 at the U.S. Open and was bumped on the final week of the season.

"I 'hunched' it," Janzen said. "I knew I was 154th but didn't know what I had to shoot to move up."

A tie for 21st at Reno-Tahoe put Janzen in position to make his move, but he was "ticked to finish the way I did," with a 73 Sunday. He started his final round at Sedgefield CC in Greensboro with a bogey at the first hole and an out-of-bounds double bogey at the fourth, but then rallied with six closing birdies.

"I've had tournaments where there were mistakes I know I can eliminate, but I hadn't done it," he said.

Janzen's next goal is to secure his PGA Tour card for 2009, but at least he doesn't have to sit out the next month, awaiting the Fall Finish. Since 2005 he has not finished inside the top-125 on the money list and is currently ranked 151st going into the Barclays. He credits work with Steve Yellin and Buddy Biancalana at PMPM Sports. Yellin played college tennis at Penn and won the Florida State high school singles title. Biancalana was the shortstop for the Kansas City Royals in 1985.

"These are not sport psychologists," Janzen said. "They believe in a quiet mind. You see Tiger, he's got a quiet mind over every shot. You can tell he's always swinging freely, always totally free."

It's hard to have that freedom after four years of frustrating results, but seeing the ball go in the hole over those last three holes in Greensboro will surely help quite Janzen's mind.

Or at least trigger thoughts of the old days.

—Tim Rosaforte

In the back of his mind Sunday at the Wyndham Championship, J.J. Henry knew he had better places to be. Back home in Fort Worth, his wife, Lee, was a day away from delivering the couple's second child. But on the back nine at Sedgefield CC in Greensboro, N.C., Henry started delivering on his own. Six birdies were on his card over that final stretch of holes; his final-round 62 earned him a T-4 in the final regular-season event of the year.

It enabled Henry, a non-factor most of the season, to move from 177th to 135th in the FedEx Cup standings, clinching a birth in the year-end playoffs which start Thursday at The Barclays at Ridgewood CC. Henry was on his way from North Carolina to New Jersey -- by way of Texas.

"This was a heck of a bonus," Henry said Sunday night. "The baby was coming and I was on the outside looking in. But Lee understands. The most important thing is, I'll be there."

Lee was already full term, so arrangements had been made to induce labor Monday morning. The couple already knew it was their second boy and that he would be named Carson, joining 5-year-old Connor. J.J. was just trying to figure out his travel schedule, and whether there was a mandatory pro-am at Ridgewood CC on Wednesday; there is, but he hoped to get a scouting report from Brendan Walsh, a club pro and close friend who worked at Ridgewood before moving on to The Country Club in Boston.

"We'll have the baby and then I will figure out a way to get up there," Henry said "This is part of life and has been a great distraction. All this pregnancy stuff eased my mind."

--Tim Rosaforte

The Champions Tour is largely a closed shop to those who don't arrive at their milestone 50th birthday with playing privileges already secured, which renders as exceptional the efforts of Gene Jones and Mike Geddes.

Each of their otherwise obscure names keep turning up on Champions Tour leader boards, including that of the Jeld-Wen Tradition at the Crosswater Club in Sunriver, Ore. Entering Sunday's final round, Goodes is tied for fourth while Jones is tied for 10th.

Jones tied for first and Geddes tied for 22nd in the Champions Tour Qualifying Tournament last year, providing them only the opportunity to Monday qualify for events. It promised nothing, if not frustration, yet each of them kept playing their way into tournaments and turning up on enough leader boards that full-time employment in 2009 has become a reasonable expectation.

Goodes said that they're feeding off one another, a friendly competition, but that they also share a role model, Bruce Vaughn, who followed a similar route the year before and won the Senior British Open last month.

"You get in these things and the only thing that matters is what you shoot," Goodes said. "It doesn't matter who you're playing against. You never know if and when that will happen. Vaughn's victory gives you more hope."

Goodes, who owns a plastics recycling business, was a formidable amateur in North Carolina, who turned pro only after surviving his Qualifying Tournament experience. He has earned $316,179 in 12 starts, three of them top 10s, and ranks 42nd on the money list.

Jones, a former teaching pro, has earned $506,445 in 13 starts, six of them top-10s, and ranks 25th on the money list.

By finishing in the top 30 on the money list, they could earn a full exemption for 2009. They would likely need to earn in excess of $650,000 to do so, a number now well within reach.

--John Strege

SUNRIVER, Ore. -- The Champions Tour hasn't seen the last of Fred Funk, but neither will it see as much of him. Funk, 52, has temporarily abandoned his plan of playing both the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour.

Funk, whose 66 in the second round thrust him into contention in the Jeld-Wen Tradition, said that his intention is to play the PGA Tour virtually full time in 2009. The Champions Tour will be his fallback position, he said, in the event he is "not playing well or competing well.

"I've got that opportunity and I don't want to give it up," said Funk, who has a PGA Tour exemption through 2010 by virtue of his winning the 2005 Players Championship. "I want to give it one more good run. I still really enjoy playing with the young kids. I still don't consider myself the senior guy out there."

Nor does he concede that age in any manner has begun to erode his skills. In fact, he said he's a better player at 52 than he was at 42, and that, "I've worked at my game harder than I've ever worked at it."

Funk learned that splitting his time on two tours this year has diluted his ability to meet his own expectations on either, simplifying his decision. He missed six cuts in 13 starts on the PGA Tour and has won only once in nine Champions Tour starts, that coming in January.

"I'm going to play the regular tour exclusively next year," he said.

-- John Strege

SUNRIVER, Ore. -- The Jeld-Wen Tradition began Thursday in the wake of a gamut of emotions, from sorrow to joy, for which the Elysian Fields otherwise known as Sunriver is an appropriate setting for either.

On the 18th green of the Crosswater Club in the shadow of central Oregon's snow-capped Mount Bachelor on Wednesday night, a memorial service was held for former U.S. Open champion Orville Moody, an 11-time winner on the Champions Tour, who died last Friday at 74.

As many as 20 Champions Tour players, more than a fourth of the field in the Tradition, were on hand for the service, conducted by Portland Trailblazers chaplain Al Egg. Among those who spoke were Moody's daughter Michelle, who often caddied for her dad on the Champions Tour, and Evan Byers, the tournament director of the Tradition, who also caddied for Moody.

On a more upbeat note, Champions Tour player Des Smyth took a phone call from his son Greg, 24, on Thursday morning, a few hours before teeing off in the Tradition. Greg was calling to inform his parents that he had won the eighth largest jackpot in the history of Ireland's Lotto, 9,426,636 Euros, nearly $14 million.

Greg, a college student studying horticulture, paid $6 for a quick pick ticket Wednesday and when he was having breakfast Thursday morning he checked his numbers and discovered that he had won.

-- John Strege

Zach Herr  (right, with his mother) lives and breathes golf. When he isn't playing in competition, he's either taking a lesson or practicing. So when his mom, Cyndie, was diagnosed with colon cancer two years ago, Zach turned to golf as a way of helping her. I can do an outing and raise money for cancer research, Zach thought.

This past June 9, 100 golfers paid $400 each to play in the first annual Zach Attacks Cancer Golf Tournament. The proceeds, $60,000, will be presented to the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Bucks County, Pa., later this month. The day was such a success that June 9 has already been set aside for next year's event.

What is remarkable about Zach's effort is that he was only 12 years old when his mom got sick. As he explains, "I never knew anyone who had cancer, nor did I really understand what it was. Now that I know how painful and destructive it can be, I want to help."

Zach's first step was to withdraw $3,000 from his lawn mowing savings. He used it to secure Jericho National Golf Club, his home course in New Hope, Pa., for the fund-raiser.

Zach, a scratch golfer who competes in junior golf at the highest level, will turn 14 at the end of this month. Last week he played in the American Junior Golf Association's Northwestern Mutual Financial Network-Blumberg Group Junior Classic at Richter Park in Danbury, Conn., where he tied for 36th in the field of more than 100 players.

It was a family trip. Zach's sister, Erica, tied for 19th in the girls tournament.

Cyndie is grateful to be feeling well after successfully completing her treatments, and Zach's dad, Eric, is a role model for his son. Because as Zach points out, "My dad works hard, spends time with his family, knows how to be serious and likes to laugh."

Some would argue that Zach is the role model.

There are other role models among top-tier junior golfers. With first names like Smylie and Luckie, you can assume the Kaufman brothers must be doing something good. In fact, they are also actively involved in raising money to help cancer patients. They were motivated by a cluster of cancer cases in their Birmingham, Ala., neighborhood.

In 2006, four youngsters, under the age of seven, were stricken with the disease. Smylie, then 13, and Luckie, 11, wanted to help in any way they could. Smylie relates, "We knew these kids were sick in the hospital, and my brother and I were out doing sports everyday. We wanted these kids to have a good childhood, too."

As avid golfers, they were comfortable doing something golf-related. The first effort of Kids vs. Cancer, the name of their organization, the brothers played 100 consecutive holes and raised $18,000.

Since then, they've stepped up their fund-raising activities. The Alabama Power Foundation donated $1,500 for laptops to be used by young cancer patients to help with their homework. At last year's 100-hole marathon, 20 junior golfers entered and played for designated patients who came to the course to cheer on their player.

It's been a good summer for Smylie. This June, he won the AJGA Junior at Steelwood presented by AT&T, and for his volunteer work, he received the 2008 President's Youth Leadership Award given jointly by the United States Golf Association and the American Junior Golf Association. Currently, he and Luckie are working to get more junior golfers statewide to sign on as 100-hole marathoners. The American Cancer Society is the beneficiary of the money they raise, which the brothers estimate at more than $60,000.

Clearly, driving a golf ball isn't the only thing driving these talented young golfers.

--Topsy Siderowf

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Can Padraig Harrington win back-to-back major championships? His chances at the 90th PGA Championship sure were a lot better late Sunday morning than when storms halted play Saturday afternoon.

The Irishman was five-over through eight holes on the South course at Oakland Hills CC when play was called Saturday, but he promptly birdied the ninth when the third round resumed and then shot a back-nine 32, spoiled only by a bogey on No. 18, to shoot a 66 in cool, breezy conditions and move to one-over 211.

He will start the final round only three strokes behind leader Ben Curtis, who shot 68 for two-under 208.

"You don't know what is going to happen in the afternoon," said Harrington, who got up at 4:30 a.m. for the early resumption of play. "I [came from six back] in the British Open in 2007, and as long as there are not too many bodies ahead of you, you can make up quite a big amount in the last round of a major."

Harrington got his wish. Only Curtis, J.B. Holmes (209) and Henrik Stenson (209) are ahead of him with 18 holes to play. His opponent in the 2007 Open playoff, Sergio Garcia, and Charlie Wi also are at one-over.

Friday afternoon, Harrington sounded like a weary golfer as he described his struggles to keep his focus on the course. He still professed to being less than super-sharp Sunday, but was hoping to turn things around. "[I'm] not anywhere near where I could be," he said of his mindset, "but who knows? Last round of a major, you don't know. I keep approaching every shot hopeful that it will click into place. I am not 100 percent, but a couple of things go your way, and you don't need to be 100 percent. I am disappointed because I feel I have left many shots out there over three days, but that doesn't matter if I am in the hunt with nine holes to go this afternoon."

A victory would put Harrington in elite company. Only Walter Hagen (1924), Nick Price (1994) and Tiger Woods (2000, 2006) have won the British Open and PGA Championship in the same year.

-- Bill Fields

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- The PGA of America got hammered hard for setting up Oakland Hills too severely during the first two rounds, but as is so often the case when the mob mentality takes over, the criticism proved overblown.

Yes, the Donald Ross classic played overly hard. The greens got too firm and too fast during the first two rounds considering the extreme undulations of the greens, as did the fairways considering their narrow width and hilliness.

The complaints came fast and furious, but they were shortsighted and unfair.

Basically, Kerry Haigh, the PGA of America's managing director of championships whose setups this decade have been invariably sensible and well received by the players, got fooled by Mother Nature.

With the golf course in ideal shape at the start of the week, rain that was forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday never came. Instead, the sun shone and on Thursday steady winds in the 25-mph range dried out the surfaces beyond the ideal, taking the course right to the edge of playable.

Haigh was hamstrung by a perfect storm. Before Friday's round he chose, again sensibly, not to significantly alter the playing condition of the golf course to avoid any players on either side of the starting times in the first two rounds (early-late or late-early), from getting an unfair advantage. That's standard policy.

But before Saturday's third round, he did make big changes by putting extra water on the greens and fairways and choosing some more accessible pin positions, and the course played close to ideal on a day when only about a third of the field was able to complete 18 holes because of rain and lightening.

The scoring average dropped from 75.8 to 73.2. More important, the course yielded to excellent play, most notably by Andres Romero, who shot a course-record-tying 65, and Camilo Villegas, who was four under through 14 holes before the weather suspension.

What shouldn't be forgotten in all this is that Oakland Hills' length, deep bunkers and greens make it one of the two or three most difficult classic American courses in the major championship rota, along with Oakmont, Winged Foot and perhaps Pinehurst No. 2. It has played hard for every championship it has ever held, and with the "updating" the course underwent (i.e., reaction to modern equipment) by Rees Jones, it was sure to play as hard or harder than ever. But Oakland Hills 2008 was not Shinnecock 2004 -- not even close. Thursday and Friday the old course was a bare-knuckled brute. Saturday Haigh was able to put some gloves on it too, in effect reestablishing the equivalent of the Marquis of Queensbury rules to make it a fairer and more entertaining fight.

"Yeah, I was very happy with it," said Haigh after Friday's play. "It certainly allowed the players to play, and to probably be a little more aggressive. ⿿ We are looking forward to a great championship Sunday."

I'm guessing a good dozen scores in the 60s will be achieved if the championship gets completed Sunday, and that the winner will finish under par for the 72 holes. All will be well that ends well.

-- Jaime Diaz