When<\/strong>: Thursday Sept. 24 \u2013 Sunday Sept 27, 2009 THE ELITE \u2013 A.K.A. THE TIGER WOODS CATEGORY <\/strong><\/p>\n Tiger Woods<\/strong><\/p>\n Tour Championship odds: +125 THE CONTENDERS<\/strong><\/p>\n Padraig Harrington<\/strong><\/p>\n Tour Championship odds: +1415 Steve Stricker<\/strong><\/p>\n Tour Championship odds: +1615 SOLID PICKS<\/strong><\/p>\n Zach Johnson<\/strong><\/p>\n Tour Championship odds: +2050 Sean O\u2019Hair<\/strong><\/p>\n Tour Championship odds: +2050 THE SLEEPER<\/strong><\/p>\n Mike Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n Tour Championship odds: +5250
\nWhere:<\/strong> East Lake Golf Club \u00b7 Atlanta, GA
\nFed Ex Points<\/strong>: FEC Winner’s Share: 2,500
\nPurse<\/strong>: $7.5 Million
\nWinning Share<\/strong>: $1.35 Million
\nCourse Yards<\/strong>: 7,154<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s that time again. Fresh off a dominant performance at the BMW Championship, Tiger is back in the zone. It\u2019s not a question of if you bet on him \u2013 only for which reason. You could pick him because he won the Tour Championship at East Lake two years ago; because he leads the Tour in scoring average, birdie average and par breakers; or because he\u2019s hot, leading the FedEx Cup standings. What else can we say about him?<\/p>\n
\nI guess all is not lost for Paddy in 2009. It looked like a year to forget after he went 15 tournaments without a top-10 finish, but he\u2019s suddenly rattled off five straight top-10s. A good scrambler, putter and course manager, he can bail himself out of trouble at East Lake, so he\u2019s a near lock to hang with the leaders. But can he conquer his bizarre case of Sunday mental lapses?<\/p>\n
\nEvery time we doubt Stricker, he shocks us with another win. It\u2019s been a banner year for him \u2013 three wins, 10 top-10s and a world No. 2 ranking. Thanks to his crisp ball striking and putting, he\u2019s a safe play this week. Given his poor history at East Lake, however, he\u2019s not the perfect pick.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nEast Lake has long rough and rewards accurate tee shots, meaning we have to consider the crisp-striking Zach Johnson this week. He has multiple top-10s and a pair of wins this season and the conditions are right for him to contend.<\/p>\n
\nUnder the radar, O\u2019Hair has two straight top-10s during the FedEx Cup playoffs. He\u2019s also accurate \u2013 did you know he hit 32 straight greens at one point this season? That bodes well for him at East Lake, though I wish he\u2019d offer better value.<\/p>\n
\nPerhaps because he hasn\u2019t threatened to win any tournaments this season, Mike Weir offers surprisingly good value this week. He\u2019s accurate off the tee and a good putter; he also placed sixth at the Tour Championship last year. You could do a lot worse with a boom\/bust pick.<\/p>\n