The PGA Tour will be entering its postseason this week, which is really just a portion of the calendar with a large box marked around it for emphasis.
Attached to this cluster of four tournaments is also the word “playoff,” a misnomer of sorts because no one is facing off against another. The format is more of a “playdown” as the fields are progressively whittled from a field of 125 for this week’s Barclays and eventually to a select group of 30 in the Tour Championship.
Struggling to retain relevance with the major tournaments completed and the NFL looming as the primetime American sporting event that it is, the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup (yes, that is the official title) is golf’s answer to NASCAR’s Chase.
Though not as inherently compelling, the PGA Tour is able to throw plenty of money at its players to keep them sufficiently interested. It also will serve as a good run up to Ryder Cup competition in October.
“The buildup or the prestige has increased each year,” Phil Mickelson said at the Barclays media day in early August. “I think the players are really coming to look forward to the playoffs and appreciate what they mean.”
Tiger Woods walked away with $10 million last year for winning his second career FedEx Cup and he didn’t even win the final event. Mickelson edged Woods in the Tour Championship at East Lake, but finished second in the cup race through a quirk in the scoring.
Ernie Els leads FedEx Cup standings. Photo copyright USGA/Steve Gibbons
Only the top five in the FedEx points standings control their own destiny at the Tour Championship, so Tiger’s runner-up finish trumped the victory by Mickelson who entered the final event sixth.
That will also be the case at this year’s Tour Championship with the top five getting the inside track to the cup and everyone else needing some help.
The opening round begins Thursday with the Barclays, where the top 125 in the FedEx standings will tee it up. The top 100 will move on to the Deutsche Bank Championship next week with that trimmed to Nos. 1-70 in the standings for the BMW Championship.
Cuts at the 36-hole mark will be made at the first two events of the playoffs, but there will not be a cut at either of the remaining two tournaments in the postseason. Top prize at all four playoff tournaments will be $1,350,000 and bonuses will be awarded to all those in the playoffs according to position.
It definitely pays to get on the guest list.
“I think we’ve tweaked the formula to a point where it’s exciting now, where the FedExCup championship is not done before we even play the last event,” Mickelson told PGATour.com.
In the field: Getting one of the invitations, but without much to spare, is Woods who is entering the Barclays at 112th. Ernie Els is currently first.
The 2010 season has been a forgettable campaign for Woods on many fronts. On Monday, he and Elin Nordegren confirmed they have officially divorced with a statement on TigerWoods.com, but his play on the golf course has not produced anything more positive.
Leading into the Barclays, Woods has not yet won a tournament in 2010 and he was shut out at the major tournaments for the second straight year. The last time Woods did not claim at least one of the Grand Slam titles was in 2003 and 2004.
He’s not had one winless season since turning pro in 1996.
Pivotal for Woods is not winning necessarily, though that would go a long way to putting a positive spin on the year, but simply playing well.
Despite two top-five finishes in the majors this year — he had T-4s at both the Masters and U.S. Open — he hasn’t played well by his own admission. His best stretch of holes to date was the 31 he shot on the inward nine in the third round this year at Pebble Beach.
Hanging in the balance is a spot on the Ryder Cup team and while it would seem unthinkable that Corey Pavin would not make him one of the four captain’s picks, a good showing by Woods can render the point moot.
Not this year: Only Woods and Vijay Singh have won the honor in the short four-season run of the FedEx Cup and neither is considered much of a threat to add another.
Singh is also 0-for-2010 and is close to extending his drought to a full two years. His last victory was in September, 2008 at the Deutsche Bank which secured him that year’s cup. Singh’s best finish since is a T-4 at this year’s Honda.
Favorites: Everyone in the top 10 has entered the Barclays, but the format favors the front-runners. Woods was the furthest back in 2007, when he was third in the standings to begin the playoffs. Singh in 2008 and Woods last year were both first.
That would point to Els, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Mickelson and Justin Rose. All have posted victories this season, but only Stricker and Rose have a win as recent as July. Rose missed cuts at both the British Open and the PGA, though, while Stricker’s best finish since winning the John Deere was a T-9 at Bridgestone.
Mickelson’s season has not quite formed into what appeared to be in the offing with his third Masters title in April. He managed a T-4 at the U.S. Open, but recently revealed he’s been stricken with psoriatic arthritis. The condition is under control, but Mickelson has yet to secure his second victory this season.
A player worth watching is Hunter Mahan, who won at Bridgestone for his second victory this year and enters the playoffs in the seventh slot. Bubba Watson, at No. 8 and the PGA runner-up, is also playing well.
Mike Scarr is the editor of Golflink.com. He can be reached at golflinkeditor@demandmedia.com.
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