Off The Tee: FedEx Championship Preview, Ryder Cup Selections, Arnie Turns 85

Months of golf and dozens of tournaments on the 2014 PGA Tour have all come down to this: 72 holes to decide the FedEx Cup Champion.

The East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta is the host for this week's playoff finale, where an elite field of 29 will battle for the $10 million top prize.

In this month's 'Off The Tee', Joel Harrington from 4 Deep Golf says, believe it or not, all 29 have a chance to win the FedEx Championship. (Check out the complicated scenarios here)

Americans Chris Kirk and Billy Horschel are one-two in the points standings coming in.

I asked Joel if having two relative unknowns atop the leader board is good for the game:

Horschel won last week's BMW Championship in Colorado, despite blowing a three stroke lead at one point. He was the only player in the field to shoot in the 60's all four rounds.

The big story, according to Joel, was the lack of low scoring at Cherry Hills:

Kirk is tops in the standings by virtue of his win at the Deutsche Bank Championship two weeks ago. He won just once during the regular season, back in November, and had three Top Ten finishes.

On the World Golf Rankings, Kirk is number 24, one spot behind Horschel.

Kirk is a Georgia native playing in Atlanta this week.  I asked Joel if that was an advantage for him:

Despite occupying the top spots on the FedEx leader board, neither Kirk nor Horschel were among the Captain's picks for this month's Ryder Cup in Scotland, as Tom Watson chose Keegan Bradley, Hunter Mahan, and Webb Simpson to round out the American squad.

One of the game's greatest players in celebrating a milestone birthday this week, as Arnold Palmer turned 85 Wednesday.

I asked Joel if Arnie is still relevant to today's golf fans or whether his impact on the game's growth in the 1960's has been somewhat forgotten: