Atlanta, GA (My Sportsbook) - Nearly in control of his own destiny as he chases a $10 million prize, Sean O'Hair fired a four-under 66 on Thursday to take the first-round lead at the Tour Championship.

In the finale of the PGA Tour playoffs, O'Hair has some major company hot on his heels.

Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington and Stewart Cink are tied for second place at three-under 67 -- a shot off the lead -- with U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover another stroke further back at 68. Those four players have won seven of the last 10 majors.

Retief Goosen, another multiple major champion, joined Dustin Johnson and Steve Marino at 69, while Steve Stricker leads a seven-way tie at 70.

The top-five players in the FedEx Cup standings -- Woods, Stricker, Jim Furyk (72), Zach Johnson (70) and Heath Slocum (73) -- control their own destiny this week. Each of them can win the FedEx Cup, and its $10 million payout, with a victory at East Lake.

The remaining players in the 30-man field need help -- some more than others.

O'Hair, No. 7 in the standings, has an easier trip than most. He would need to win and have Woods and Stricker both finish outside the top three to claim the Cup.

At the other end of the spectrum is a player like Cink, sitting 26th in the standings, who would need poor finishes by the top-six players to come out on top.

Of course, last season he would have had no shot.

Following Vijay Singh's anticlimactic win last year -- he clinched the Cup after just three playoff events -- the PGA Tour reworked the points system to give each of the final 30 players at the Tour Championship a mathematical chance.

It has created a buzz, and not just among the fans.

"I think there's a good hype amongst the players. There's a lot of people interested and keen outside of the spectators," said Harrington. "So I think it's kind of ideal, and hopefully it will go all the way down to the wire on Sunday afternoon."

At which point there exists the chance that someone will be putting for $11.35 million -- including the $1.35 million first-place tournament check.

"I don't even know if I'm going to have that opportunity, but if I do have that opportunity, I hope I have like a five-shot lead," laughed O'Hair, who has won on tour in each of the last two seasons.

The players couldn't have hoped for better conditions in the first round.

Despite extensive flooding in the Atlanta region, the East Lake course was in good shape. The greens were even a little dry, due mostly to the "SubAir" system that draws water from the surface.

"Considering all that rain we had, it's really dried out, and the greens are like bricks," said Cink, a Georgia native who detailed the recent heavy rains on his Twitter feed. "You have to be very smart coming into the greens here to give yourself any kind of aggressive birdies."

Cink, the reigning British Open champion who brought the claret jug to East Lake this week, was among a handful of players who held at least a piece of the lead Thursday.

O'Hair moved in front with a two-foot birdie putt at the 12th hole -- his fifth birdie of the round, which gave him a one-shot lead over Harrington. He quickly gave that shot back by hitting into a bunker and making bogey at the 13th.

Bouncing back, O'Hair rolled in a 17-foot birdie putt at the 14th to re-gain his lead on Harrington. He stumbled to another bogey at the 17th, but protected his lead with a steely eight-footer for par at the 18th.

Earlier in the round, O'Hair, who was the recent recipient of a putting tip from Woods, made a long birdie at No. 4 that was "a lot of fun."

"It was probably at least 50 feet or so," he said.

But it was patience that paid off Thursday at East Lake, especially with the greens rolling as firm and fast as they were.

"It's really hard to get the ball close unless you drive the ball in the fairway and have a short iron in. If you have a mid-iron in your hand you can't really go after the flag," said Woods.

Chasing his second FedEx Cup in three years, Woods made four birdies in his last 10 holes to overcome a lukewarm start. He two-putted from 35 feet at the 15th for his third birdie in four holes, securing his spot behind O'Hair.

"I accomplished my goal of shooting under par for the day," Woods said.