American Brandt Snedeker has double reason to look forward to this week's Wyndham Championship, the final event of the 2008 PGA Tour's regular season.

He will be defending a Tour title for the first time in his career while aiming to repeat his efforts of last year when he built on that victory to qualify for all four FedExCup playoff events.

"Winning the Wyndham Championship capped my season," Snedeker, 27, told reporters during preparation for Thursday's opening round at Sedgefield Country Club.

"That was the main reason I was able to play so far into the playoffs."

Snedeker went into last year's tournament lying 26th in the FedExCup points list and vaulted to ninth by winning in Greensboro where he fired a sparkling nine-under-par 63 in the final round to triumph by two shots.

After qualifying for all four of the lucrative playoff events, he was voted the 2007 PGA Tour rookie of the year.

"I'm really looking forward to this week," said Snedeker, who will be seeking to become the event's first back-to-back winner since Sam Snead in 1956. "I've always played well in North Carolina and I love the style of golf here."

World number five Vijay Singh, who missed the cut in last week's PGA Championship at Oakland Hills, is the only member of the world's top 20 competing at Sedgefield.

Although most of the big guns are recharging their batteries this week, there is plenty of extra incentive for those in the field.

The $5.1 million Wyndham Championship will determine the top 144 players in the FedExCup points standings who will qualify for next week's Barclays Classic, the first playoff event.

The playoff series ends with the September 25-28 Tour Championship in Atlanta, Georgia.

Among those on the fringe of qualifying for the Barclays are former world number two Davis Love III, who is 150th in the standings, and fellow Americans Lee Janzen (154th) and Rich Beem (166th).

Several U.S. players are also in the hunt for Ryder Cup spots, with captain Paul Azinger scheduled to complete his 12-man team by naming his four wildcard picks on September 2.

Among those in consideration for selection and playing this week are Snedeker, who lies 15th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings, last year's Masters champion Zach Johnson (16th) and Jeff Quinney (18th).

"There's nothing more I want than to play on that team," said Johnson, who made his Ryder Cup debut at the K Club in Ireland in 2006.

"It's not like I'm playing that bad, I'm just not putting it together on the weekend. If I can get hot, I've got a chance. I'm ready to play, I'm healthy and I'm hungry."

Europe will defend the Ryder Cup at the Valhalla Country Club in Louisville, Kentucky from September 19-21.