Playoffs are maturing into fan-friendly format Jim Furyk was speaking in the media center Tuesday in Edison, N.J., when the earthquake hit Plainfield Country Club.
Perhaps that was fitting. Last year, Furyk shook up the FedEx Cup when he splashed a bunker shot to within three feet on the 72nd hole of the Tour Championship. The stroke of genius allowed Furyk to escape onrushing Luke Donald, capture the $10 million first prize and create a rare FedEx Cup signature moment that didn’t involve Tiger Woods.
With the four-tournament series set to tee off Thursday with the Barclays and two-time winner Woods home in Orlando, Fla., after failing to qualify, there is a decided lack of buzz for the FedEx Cup, now in its fifth year.
– Kevin Dunleavy
| Five to watch at the Barclays |
| Steve Stricker |
| One of five players with two wins on the PGA Tour this year, Stricker ranks second in the FedEx Cup standings. He’s amazingly consistent with 11 straight finishes in the top 20. He won the Barclays in 2007 at Westchester and is fifth in FedEx Cup career earnings with $5.97 million. |
| Sergio Garcia |
| Garcia won the Barclays in 2001 and 2004 and was a playoff runner-up in 2008. He hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since the 2008 Players Championship, but his recent results indicate he is returning to form at age 31. He has eight top-20 finishes in 13 starts this year, including three in majors. |
| Stuart Appleby |
| After failing to make the cut in 12 of 13 starts and finishing dead last at the no-cut WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Appleby switched to a long putter last week and tied for 30th at the Wyndham Championship. He aims to be fourth straight player to win on tour with a long putter. |
| Keegan Bradley |
| The PGA Championship winner is No. 5 in FedEx Cup points and is playing in a drawing-card threesome with Phil Mickelson, who ranks sixth, and Luke Donald, who is No. 4. Bradley, 25, has been mentored by Mickelson, 41, and played college golf at nearby St. John’s. |
| Vijay Singh |
| He has twice as many victories at the Barclays (1993, 1995, 2006, 2008) as any other player in the field but none at Plainfield Country Club. The first three Barclays wins came at Westchester and the last at Ridgewood, catapulting Singh to the FedEx Cup title. |
But after much critiquing and tweaking, the Cup has settled into a comfortable, less-ambitious groove as fans have slowly come to understand the format, designed to create interest at both the top and bottom of the leader board as players face elimination.
“I think it’s matured a lot,” Furyk told reporters about the evolution of the Cup. “I think the guys have gotten increasingly, as the years have gone on, excited about starting the playoffs.”
After the Barclays, 25 of the field of 125 will be sent home, based on the point standings. After next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship, 30 more will be eliminated. Then 40 are lopped off after the BMW Championship. That’s the fate that befell Woods last year even though he finished in the top 20 in the first three FedEx events.
“I think most fans, it’s pretty simple, it’s five times more points, so there’s a lot of movement and cuts from 125 to 70 to 30,” said Barclays defending champion Matt Kuchar, who is No. 12 on the points list. “It’s a fun format. I think it does give you a bit of that knockout. That last week was fun to watch the guys right on the bubble.”
The NFL has been a ratings killer on Sundays for the later FedEx Cup events. John Hawkins of the Golf Channel has suggested changing the Tour Championship to a match-play format and playing it on the West Coast with a prime-time finish to set it apart. Other arguments include reducing the number of players at the start of the FedEx Cup.
Alex Miceli, also of the Golf Channel, believes players shouldn’t be allowed to skip FedEx Cup events as Charl Schwartzel is doing this week. At No. 21 in the FedEx standings, Schwartzel is assured a spot in the Deutsche Bank.
Last year, Furyk won the FedEx despite missing the Barclays, though not intentionally. He was disqualified from the tournament after arriving late for the Wednesday pro-am, a rule that has since been changed.
“That was a bad rule. So I can say that now,” Furyk quipped. “Last year at this time I couldn’t say that because it would have sounded like I was crying and whining about it.”
But Furyk survived his embarrassment to compete for the biggest prize in golf, which provides drama in itself.
“Gosh, having $10 million on the line is pretty exciting,” Kuchar said.
