Gary Woodland Qualifies for Final Tournament of PGA TOUR Playoffs

Sept. 18, 2011

LEMONT, Ill. – Former KU golfer Gary Woodland qualified for THE TOUR Championship, the final event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedEx Cup, with his 16th-place finish at the BMW Championship at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club Sunday afternoon.

Woodland entered the final round of the BMW Championship tied for 17th place and moved up one spot on the leaderboard with a one-over round of 72. With his finish, Woodland ended the first three weeks of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedEx Cup in 11th place overall, which qualified him for one of 30 spots in the prestigious TOUR Championship next week.

All of the points earned thus far in the season will be reset for the final event, meaning that any of the 30 golfers at THE TOUR Championship has a mathematical chance to win the FedEx Cup. Woodland will begin the Championship with 480 points, while the leader Webb Simpson will start with 2,500. First place at the TOUR Championship is worth 2,500 points, so Woodland will need to win THE TOUR Championship to have any possibility of winning the FedEx Cup.

Woodland, who competed at Kansas from 2004-07 and was a two-time All-Big 12 selection, is having a career year on the PGA TOUR. He has posted six top-10 finishes this season, including a victory at the Transitions Championship, and currently ranks fifth in driving distance with an average drive of 311.3 yards.

The first round of the 2011 TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola will begin Thursday, Sept. 22, at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga.