THE TOUR Championship

This weekend, the second annual FedExCup wraps up at THE TOUR Championship Presented by Coca-Cola. Atlanta’s historic East Lake Golf Club, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2004, hosts the final event of the 2008 PGA Tour schedule.

The 7,154-yard, Par-70 layout was once the home course of legendary golfer Bobby Jones and has hosted many premier events — including seven TOUR Championships (1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007), along with the 1963 Ryder Cup and the 101st U.S. Amateur Championship in 2001.

Although the $10 million FedExCup champion’s check has all but been signed by Vijay Singh, there is still a $7 million total purse and $1.26 million winner’s share on the line at THE TOUR Championship as well as $15.19 million in FedExCup bonus money for the other 29 players who remain in the PGA Playoffs.

Odds are slim, but two other players — Sergio Garcia and Camilo Villegas — can still win the second FedExCup with a win and a Singh disqualification. But hopefully, for all parties involved, that won’t happen this week.

THE TOUR Championship should, in fact, be a victory lap for the big Fijian who won the first two titles — The Barclays at Ridgewood CC in New Jersey and the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston — in the four-tournament FedExCup Playoffs.

“It’s nice, really, to know that all you need to do is finish the round,” said Singh. “I’m here fresh and practiced pretty good. I’ve come to win this golf tournament now. I want to finish really strong.”

The 45-year-old Singh currently has 34 PGA Tour wins under his belt, with a record 22 coming since he turned 40 years old in February 2003. But don’t expect Vijay to stop fist-pumping victory anytime soon. Keep an eye on the former No. 1 ranked player in the world this week at THE TOUR Championship, where he has a tremendous track record.

Singh has a record 12 Top-10 finishes at THE TOUR Championship, including a win in 2002 at East Lake Golf Club and a runner-up to Hal Sutton at the 1998 finale in Atlanta. Since winning THE TOUR Championship in 2002, Singh has finished T-5th in 2003, 9th in 2004, T-4th in 2005, T-8th in 2006 and T-7th last year, with all but one played at the Singh-friendly course at East Lake.

THE TOUR Championship’s reigning winner, Tiger Woods, will be unable to defend his title due to the ongoing rehabilitation of his injured left knee. And the 2006 winner, Australia’s Adam Scott, didn’t make the 30-player cut heading into the final round of the PGA Playoffs.

All eyes will be on Singh and the members of Team USA’s winning Ryder Cup squad. Anthony Kim, Phil Mickelson, Chad Campbell, Stewart Cink, Ben Curtis, Jim Furyk, Justin Leonard, Hunter Mahan, Bubba Watson, Steve Stricker and Kenny Perry are in THE TOUR Championship field after earning a 16 1/2 to 11 1/2 win over Team Europe in the 37th Ryder Cup, Team USA’s first win since 1999 and the largest American margin since 1981.

THE TOUR Championship will be televised by GOLF Channel (1:00-6:00 p.m. ET) on Thursday and Friday before NBC takes over on Saturday (12:00-3:30 p.m. ET) and Sunday (1:30-6:00 p.m. ET).