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Ten guys played their way into the top 70 last week to qualify for the BMW Championship in St. Louis. The 10 who fell out of the top 70 all missed the cut in Boston.

Angel Cabrera and Tim Herron are the only players in St. Louis who started outside the top 120 in the playoffs and have advanced after each of the two rounds.

Well done? That’s debatable.

Cabrera started at No. 131 and moved up to No. 70 with a tie for 19th and a tie for 15th. Herron started at No. 133 and advanced with a tie for 24th and a tie for fifth last week, when he shot 65 in the final round.

That was his first top 10 of the year. Timing is everything.

The biggest headache in all this is Padraig Harrington. You remember him as the British Open and PGA champion, a feat accomplished only by Tiger Woods the last half-century. Then he missed two cuts in a row and won’t get to East Lake unless he finishes fifth in St. Louis.

“Do you want a two-time major winner not in the Tour Championship?” Furyk asked.

It’s a fair question, but it’s missing the broader point.

The Tour Championship is no longer a reward for a great season. It’s a reward for a great month. That’s what the PGA Tour Playoffs are all about this year because of the volatility. And volatility is what the players wanted last year.

At least some of them.

“It’s a fight between the haves and have-nots a little bit, like in everything else,” Furyk said. “All the guys in the top 40 are complaining it’s too volatile, all the guys at the end are saying it’s great. Last year, everyone in the top 40 said, ’This is great,’ all the guys at the other end said, ’This (stinks).

“Where do you get the happy medium?”