PARAMUS, N.J. -- When the PGA Tour scheduled all four FedEx Cup playoff events in a row without an off-week, it was inevitable some name players might decide to take a tournament off along the way.
The most logical events to skip are the Deutsche Bank Championship or BMW Championship which precede the Tour Championship, where the top 30 in FedEx Cup points will convene to play for the tournament title and bonus pool which includes $10 million to the overall winner.
The Deutsche Bank, which begins Friday at the TPC Boston, will be missing at least four players who otherwise would have qualified among the top 100 in FedEx points.
Graeme McDowell, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey and Justin Rose will not participate. Dustin Johnson is also out but took himself out of the rest of the season last month when he announced he was taking a leave of absence. Jason Dufner is not expected to play due to the neck injury that caused him to withdraw from the PGA Championship.
McDowell's wife, Kristin, is scheduled to give birth Monday morning via Cesarean section.
"Fingers crossed,'' McDowell said Sunday after the final round of the Barclays. "Hope all will go well. We planned this for the Monday of Deutsche Bank to give myself some time in case I was going to play. Looks like I'm safe for Denver and my caddie [Ken Comboy] has been telling me all year I'm not going to win to play Boston.
"It'll be good to have the weekend off and spend it with the family.''
Rose also has family reasons for skipping. His son, Leo, begins school this week in Orlando. "I wanted to be there for that,'' he said. "And if there was one week that has to give, this is it. I want to have something in the tank.''
Casey, who moved into the top 100 with his play at the Deutsche Bank, is not likely to play because his wife, Pollyanna, is due on Sept. 1 -- the day of the final round. At 85th in the standings, he would be out of the FedEx Cup playoffs because he won't be able to move into the top 70 to qualify for the BMW Championship.
The top players are enduring a difficult schedule. Most are in a stretch of four big tournaments in six weeks with three more in a row. For those who will play in the Ryder Cup, like Rose, it is a daunting stretch of tournaments, travel and wear and tear.
Garcia was the only player who did not commit to next week's tournament. He has said several times this year that he didn't intend to play all four events with the Ryder Cup also looming. The other players were on the commitment list but can withdraw.
As it stands now, there are 94 players in the Deutsche Bank field.