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FEDEX CUP FINALE: The Wyndham Championship feels like the final tournament of the year, especially for someone like Davis Love III. This is the final tournament to finish among the top 144 in the FedEx Cup standings and qualifying for the PGA Tour Playoffs.
Love is No. 150, and needs to finish at least 30th to have a chance.
Marco Dawson is holding down the 144th spot, but likely would get bumped if he doesn't make the cut. Others outside the top 144 include Jeff Maggert (No. 162) and Rich Beem (No. 166), whose performance last year in the playoffs inspired the PGA Tour to change the volatility of points awarded in the playoffs.
That will be of little use to Beem is he doesn't make the playoffs.
COURSES YOU CAN PLAY: Pacific Dunes was rated the No. 1 golf course on Golf Magazine's list of "Top 100 Courses You Can Play," a biennial list that are among the best in the country without requiring private membership.
Pacific Dunes, which Tom Doak designed in Bandon, Ore., narrowly beat out Pebble Beach Golf Links for the top spot. Filling out the top 10 were Whistling Straits, Kiawah Island (Ocean Course), Pinehurst No. 2, Bandon Dunes, Bethpage Black, Chambers Bay, Spyglass Hill, and TPC Sawgrass.
"We're especially proud of this list — 'The Top 100 Courses You Can Play' — for those last three words," said Joe Passov, course rankings and architecture editor for Golf Magazine. "On this list, there are courses you can play for $500, and there are courses you can play for $30. We've got something for everyone."
Passov said 23 of the top 100 can be played for under $50, while 62 of the courses can be played for $100 or less. Four courses among the top 10 that can be played for under $100 are Pacific Dunes, Bandon Dunes, Bethpage Black and Chambers Bay.
Chambers Bay, which opened last year and will be host of the 2015 U.S. Open, was the only newcomer to the list to make the top 10.
The list was compiled through input of the magazine's ranking panel, editorial staff, industry insiders and its network of "course spies." It relied less on specific criteria and more on the expertise of panelists.
WIE IN CANADA: Michelle Wie makes her final LPGA Tour appearance of the year at CN Canadian Women's Open, needing to win or finish second to avoid a trip to Q-school — if she decides to try qualifying.
"I haven't really decided anything yet," Wie said. "I think planning what's going to happen next year or this fall is going to happen after this week. Right now, all I'm thinking about is how am I going to play good this week. How am I maybe going to possibly win this?"
Asked if she would consider Q-school, Wie replied, "I'm not going to think about the future right now."
The tournament starts Thursday and features a strong field that includes defending champion Lorena Ochoa.
DIVOTS: Only five players in their 20s have won majors this decade. ... Ben Curtis has 11 finishes in the top 10 for his career, and four of them have come in the majors. ... The guys who make a living on big drives will be subject to drug testing. Long Drivers of America said Tuesday it will start testing for steroids at the World Long Drive Championship in October. Competitors will be tested for use of more than 40 steroids and masking agents, along with amphetamines and methamphetamines.
STAT OF THE WEEK: The last five winners of the PGA Championship were major champions, the longest streak of any major.
FINAL WORD: "I love the idea of the back nine of a major on Sunday. I love it so much that I'm actually disappointed I'm seven months away from the next major." — Padraig Harrington.
