The FedEx dollar-fest begins at Barclays
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2009 The Barclays | Preview | 26 Aug 2009
The FedEx Cup playoffs get underway this week at the dramatically located Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey. The Robert E. Cupp and Tom Kite designed layout was opened only three years ago but with a backdrop of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline just beyond it was always going to capture the attention of the golfing world. This week’s event will certainly add further to that profile.
The tournament brings together the leading 125 players from the season long series of events that make up the FedEx Cup qualifying events. This event is the first of four FedEx Cup Playoffs, the series culminating in the Tour Championship at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta beginning on September 24th.
Season long points are re-set, although no completely, this week and again just prior to the Tour Championship to ensure that the winner will not be decided until the completion of the series. Two years ago Vijay Singh put a dampener of the much vaunted series by being so far in front that the overall series winner had been decided before the Tour Championship.
Following this week’s event the field will be reduced to 100 for next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston next week, to 70 for the BMW Championship at Cog Hill in Chicago the following week and to 30 for the Tour Championship.
The leading point scorer at the completion of the Finals will earn US$10,000,000 in bonus money payable in the form of a superannuation payment. Just for making it into the top 125 this week a player is assured of US$70,000 from the bonus pool in addition to whatever he earns from the event specific prize pool.
A field of 124 will tee it up on Thursday, the only absentee being Paul Casey, who withdrew on Monday due to a rib injury.
With no disclosed form on this golf course the betting will be very much dependant on current form although either way there is only one hot favourite that being Tiger Woods who with two wins and a runner up finish in his last three starts is the man they have to beat.
Hunter Mahan has been one of the great improvers amongst the leading players in 2009 and it might be that the improvement continues this week. Mahan has missed only one cut in his last 25 starts and it would be of no surprise if he contends this week. He finished 16th at the PGA after a 4th place finish at the Bridgestone and could do very well again.
Sergio Garcia has had a poor season by his standards but last week, despite a shaky last 11 holes he put himself in the thick of things for much of the week and only missed the three way playoff by one shot. That improvement could well carry over to this week. He was also runner up in this event last year having lost to Vijay Singh
Another who recovered in recent weeks from a disappointing season is Padraig Harrington and the Irishman has played well in the New York area previously. In 2005 he won this very event when it was played at the Westchester Golf Club in White Plains and in that regard there is some synergy for the World number 11.
Vijay Singh has won this event on four occasions over a 15 year period although they have been at another venue on the other side of New York City. Singh is not at his peak at present but is not all that far from it and could potentially add yet another Barclays to his list.
Geoff Ogilvy, Robert Allenby, John Senden, Matthew Goggin, Rod Pampling, Adam Scott, Aaron Baddeley, Nathan Green, Jason Day Marc Leishman, Greg Chalmers, James Nitties and Nick O’Hern are the Australians to make the field.
