It's Round 3 of the battle for the FedExCup. Fresh off scorching the TPC Boston layout this past weekend, the best players in the world converge on Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., for the BMW Championship. Here are the top 5 in FedExCup points through the Deutsche Bank Championship:

Player                            Points Behind
1. Rory McIlroy                     --
2. Nick Watney                   1,331
3. Tiger Woods                   1,382
4. Brandt Snedeker             1,605
5. Louis Oosthuizen            1,890

What They're Saying on the eve of the BMW:

Rory McIlroy
On being paired with Tiger Woods at the Deutsche Bank: "I think it definitely creates some more interest for the fans and for golf in general.  I don't see any challenge in it.  I mean, I think it's just good fun.  It's good fun to be out there and have such an atmosphere and such a buzz around a grouping like that, and it's just nice to be a part of."

On being in "the zone": "I think the most important thing when that does happen, you have to realize it's happening and just get out of your own way and just completely just play one shot at a time.  Obviously you're hitting the ball well, you're just trying to hit it in the fairway, hit it on the green, hole the putt, go to the next hole, do it all over again.  That's what you're trying to do.
"There's some weeks where golf does seem as simple as that, and when you're on like that, it's obviously a great feeling.  It's very difficult to play like that all the time, and that's why it's the great players, they learn to win when they're not playing their best.  That's something, I've said this before, that I still feel like I'm learning to do.  I think I sort of did that for a little bit of last week.  I struggled to close out the tournament, but a couple of crucial up‑and‑downs on the way in, which helped, and that's what the great players do; they find a way."

Tiger Woods
On facing personal and professional challenges: "I think it's put a different perspective on things.  Losing a parent and having the birth of two kids put things in better perspective for me.  The wins are fantastic, but the losses aren't what they used to be, because I get to talk to my kids at night.  It makes things‑‑ it puts things in a proper perspective, for sure."

On being golf's first $100 million man: "Well, it just means that I've come along at the right time.  We've had purse increases.  We've had a lot of things go our way.  I've won some tournaments, yes, but as I said last week, Sam Snead won more tournaments than I did, and obviously he didn't make the money that I did, just because it was a different era.  I happened to come along at the right time when TV was booming and our commissioner did some fantastic deals with TV, and our purses just leapt by a lot. I think that all that said, I'm not opposed to it; put it that way."

On the state of his game: "I'm certainly hitting it further and straighter.  I don't curve the ball as much as I used to.  Granted, it's a function of the golf ball just not moving as much, but also I think where I'm coming from, I just don't arc it, I don't come as far from the inside like I used to.  With that being said, my shot pattern is much tighter now.
"And the only thing I really struggle with is my aim, is aiming closer to the middle of the fairway or closer to flags because I'm used to shaping it so much either way.  That's something that's taken me a little while to get accustomed to because I've done it for so long.  It's just an adjustment that I've had to make gradually over time."

Phil Mickelson
On the state of his game: "I think the last three or four months where my game has just been a little south, I was just kind of searching for something different.  I've been trying to piece my game back together.  Finally my irons came back first.  I started hitting a lot of good iron shots.  My driver has now come around where I'm hitting it really well off the tee.  And the last thing was putting, and I feel really good with it.  I feel like the touch is there and it's a very stress‑free way to putt because the ball is starting on line."

On whether Tiger Woods will win more majors: "Oh, yeah, unfortunately. His game looks tremendous."

Defending Champion Justin Rose
"I think low scores for sure.  Any time you give us soft greens, which they are obviously due to the weather, I think when you have soft greens certainly the first couple rounds, and the way things go in a tournament, how long, how difficult a golf course, if it's soft, guys tend to go low."
 

Round One of the FedExCup playoffs is in the books, and now we turn our attention to the PGA Tour's unique Friday-Monday event, the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston, which will wrap up on Labor Day afternoon, weather permitting.

Last week's winner Nick Watney and defending champion Webb Simpson join Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and the usual suspects as players jockey for FedExCup position with an eye on another Cup, the one with the name "Ryder" on it. While the European team is set, U.S. captain Davis Love still has time to make his four at-large selections for the American squad, so Brandt Snedeker, Dustin Johnson and others will be doing their best to impress DL3.

Here's a sample of what players are saying on the eve of the Deutsche Bank:

• Tiger Woods
"It feels good to be back (at TPC Boston). Unfortunately last year I didn't make the Playoffs at all and missed out on four big events. It feels good to at least have played well enough this year to basically secure a spot all the way through to East Lake (site of the Tour Championship). Looking forward to this week.  The golf course is in absolute perfect shape.  I mean, it's awesome right now.  Sure, it'll dry out a little bit come the rest of the week and get a little bit faster and more difficult.

On the perception that he's been inconsistent: "Well, it's just you can't really look at it as real bad going on this year. At the time, most of the year, I was leading the Money List, I was No. 1 in FedExCup points and I won three times, so it's not like it's been that bad.  It's just a couple rounds here and there or it's an up‑and‑down here and there or it's making one putt, which is not good.  So that's a good thing."

On today's longer hitters: "The game has certainly changed.  When I came our here in '96 and '97 I was long, and I averaged 296.  I think there's like 30‑some‑odd guys who are averaging over 300.  So it's a totally different game now.
"You know, the bigger hitters can hit the ball 320 in the air.  I don't really have that.  I can carry it 300, but that's a different gear.  They're taller, they're bigger, and most of the longer guys are 6'3".  When I was coming out here, if you were six foot you were pretty much average height, big height.  Look at Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Watson, they're all short compared to the big guys now, and they were long hitters at the time for their era.  But these guys are just bigger. I certainly can't carry the ball that far, but I'm still one of the longer ones but not the longest by any stretch of the imagination."

• Rory McIlroy
On majors: "I never grew up chasing records or trying to put a certain number on it.  I've got my second major, and there's going to be a lot of people getting sick of this phrase, but I got my second, and I'm looking for my third.  Hopefully it's not too long before I get my third, and then when I get my third, I want to get my fourth.  That's the way I'm approaching it.  I don't want to put any number on it because if I just throw a random number out there and I don't get to it, I don't want me to be disappointed with a career that's actually very good or everyone else to feel like I haven't lived up to expectations.
"I have no set number.  I'm very happy that I've won two majors, and I want to get that third one.  But whenever it comes, it comes."

On the Ryder Cup: "I think the big thing about the Ryder Cup is you have to be a good team member.  You can't be afraid to voice your opinion.  If you really feel strongly about something in the team room, you've got to stand up and speak.  And then it's just being confident, self‑belief, having a good attitude, because that's what the Ryder Cup is all about.  Match play is about having the right attitude going in and being confident."

• Nick Watney
On whether a win this week would secure a Ryder Cup spot: "Well, if I were to win this week, I guess — I've heard (Love) said he's looking for a hot player, and I would have to classify myself as a hot player if I were to win two tournaments in a row.  I could honestly see a scenario where I win this tournament, and Davis says, well, just based on the year, if Brandt or Dustin played well, I'm taking the two or three guys that are really experienced, and Brandt and Dustin have had a better collective season than this guy.
"Part of me wishes that I knew what I had to do, and part of me is glad that I don't.  I'm excited to play the Deutsche Bank.  I feel like I'm in great position as far as the Playoffs go, and if that call comes, like I said, I will be overjoyed, and if it doesn't, then the first five months of the season cost me."

• Jason Dufner
"You know, I can't wait for the Ryder Cup to finally get here.  There's been a lot of talk about it since I made the team, so it's been an anticipation of the event.  I think as a golfer, for me it's probably one of the biggest events, if not the biggest event to participate in.  Pretty select amount of players, you only get 12 from each side every two years.  So pretty tough team to get on, so it's a huge accomplishment for me. Just everything I've heard about the Ryder Cup has been fantastic and just a great experience overall professionally and personally."

On skipping the Barclays: "You know, the main goal for me is to be in that Tour Championship.  If you're in that Tour Championship, you've got a realistic chance of winning the whole FedExCup.  I didn't pay too much attention to it.  I think somebody said I was sixth, so I guess I moved down a couple spots.  But you'd like to be as high as you can obviously going into that Tour Championship.  But I've got two weeks before that starts.  I had a little bit of a nice luxury of playing so well during the season that I could kind of afford to take a week off."

Jim Furyk is in position to win his second U.S. Open crown.

He may be boring, but never, ever go to sleep on Jim Furyk. Especially at a U.S. Open.

Furyk put himself in great position to win his second U.S. Open championship with another steady, occasionally spectacular round at the Olympic Club. After offsetting two bogeys with two birdies during an even-par opening-round 70, Furyk did himself one better, knocking home three birdies with only two bogeys for a second-round 69 while the rest of the field was leaking oil like the Deepwater Horizon. If slow and steady win the race, consider Furyk a contender; they don't come much steadier.

Shockingly, the 2010 FedExCup champion is looking for his first top-10 finish in a major since the 2009 Masters, a string of 12 majors. Contending when the lights are brightest has historically been the norm for Furyk, who has 17 other top 10s in majors in addition to his U.S. Open win. A second Open would give him 17 career wins on the PGA Tour and likely punch his ticket for the Hall of Fame. Not bad for a guy whose swing defies convention — description, even. 

Furyk won the 2003 Open at Olympia Fields by three shots, dominating the weekend in posting 8-under. No one will approach those numbers this year at a daunting Olympic track that is chewing up the world's best players and spitting them out like sunflower shells. Among the casualties was defending champion Rory McIlroy, who looked as if his mind was somewhere else (perhaps on girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki) as he limped around Olympic with rounds of 77 and 73.

Also missing the cut: World No. 1 Luke Donald, who continues to shrink from the big moments in majors and posted a disappointing 79-72.

Here's a factoid for you: Sectional qualifier Casey Martin, he of the congenital illness, high-profile court case and cart usage, beat both the World No. 1 (Donald) and World No. 2 (McIlroy). Martin finished Friday's round at 9-over. Funny game, golf.