SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Bernhard Langer would have wrapped up the Charles Schwab Cup long ago under the old format. Instead, he has only a small lead and is one of five players who can take the season title with a victory Sunday in the PGA Tour Champions finale.Still recovering from a left knee injury that forced him to withdrew from the playoff opener two weeks ago in California, Langer will open play in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on Friday on Desert Mountain Clubs Cochise Course. The 59-year-old German has a tour-high four victories and has wrapped up the season money title with $2,836,459.The season was fantastic, Langer said Thursday. Just to have four wins, two majors, and whats even more impressive to me is actually not finishing outside the top 13 all year. That was my worst finish, 13th, which Ive never done in my whole career. So thats pretty incredible.He re-aggravated the knee injury at home doing routine spinning.Its better. It was pretty bad in L.A. when I pulled out, Langer said. I couldnt really post up any weight on my left leg and follow through the way I wanted to follow through. I couldnt have walked that hilly golf course, either, because downhill was impossible for me to walk downhill.Last week, I was extremely careful. I played and I could play, but I had my caddie do a lot of the marking the ball, replacing the ball, lining it up. When it was downhill I went serpentine this way so I wouldnt put as much pressure on the knee. Might have to do a little bit of that this week, too, just to make sure I can finish the tournament, but right now its not bad.The season standings were re-set after the event last week in Virginia, with Langers lead over Richmond winner Scott McCarron reduced from 935,657 to 200. The top five -- Colin Montgomerie is third, followed by Joe Durant and Miguel Angel Jimenez -- would win the season title with a victory Sunday no matter where the other players finish. The tournament winner will receive $440,000 and 2,000 points.Langer won season titles in 2010, 2014 and 2015, but has never won the season-ending event.I love Desert Mountain, everything about it, Langer said. The golf course is obviously in phenomenal shape. The people here are so kind and hospitable. Great sponsor with Schwab. Food is fantastic, locker room is great. Practice facility, its all first class.He played a practice round Thursday.The roughs a little bit up and some of the greens are really firming up, Langer said. There were a few shots downwind that I couldnt stop on the green. It will be interesting to see what the wind does tomorrow, if it switches or how strong it is and all that. But its a real test, no doubt about it.Montgomerie pointed to the rough on the Jack Nicklaus-designed course.The overseeding has come in very strongly, Montgomerie said. If youre trying to make birdies, youve got to hit the fairway. You can just about make a par if youre lucky from the rough, but youre not making birdies. So to win this, youve got to make birdies, which comes from the fairways.The top 36 players in the standings qualified for the event, with the field reduced to 35 on Thursday when Tom Lehman withdrew because of an elbow injury. He withdraw after two rounds in the playoff opener at Sherwood and missed the event last week in Richmond.J.T. Brown Wild Jersey . - Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie never doubted he would bring back coach Dennis Allen for a third year despite back-to-back 4-12 records. Matt Dumba Wild Jersey .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. http://www.authenticwildpro.com/Jared-spurgeon-wild-jersey/ . U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed. Luke Kunin Wild Jersey . "We have always prided ourselves on the way we play defence. Having two big pieces back is going to be a key for us moving forward for years to come," said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. Jonas Brodin Wild Jersey . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness.NEW YORK -- Nearly everything about the New York Rangers Game 7 victory over the Washington Capitals was improbable, and yet the 5-0 drubbing they authored wasnt even the most surprising result of the night. No, that belonged to the Boston Bruins -- the Rangers next opponent iin the NHLs Eastern Conference playoffs.dddddddddddd On the karma scale, this matchup of Original Six teams is pretty much a dead heat as these classic clubs get set to meet in the post-season for the first time in 40 years. Game 1 is Thursday night in Boston. ' ' '