Barclays Golf: Tiger Woods and Others To Watch at the FedEx Cup Playoffs
For the fourth time in four years, the FedEx Cup will attempt to produce the level of excitement it has been promising golf fans since 2007.
Tiger Woods skipped the inaugural FedEx Cup event at Westchester Country Club back in 2007 to “rest” after his win at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills, and still went on to win the playoffs going away.
In 2008, Vijay Singh needed only to finish the Tour Championship without being disqualified in order to secure the FedEx Cup and a $10 million payday, which he did despite the fact that Camilo Villegas won the final two playoff events. Go figure.
Last year we were finally given an exciting conclusion. However, it was exciting in that Woods and Phil Mickelson were battling it out down the stretch at the Tour Championship, before things turned comical when Mickelson won yet Woods was still given the FedEx Cup and an oversized $10 million check. Once again, go figure.
It’s anyone’s guess what severe mathematical flaw in the points system will be exposed this year.
But love it or hate it, the FedEx Cup has been successful in giving us four more weeks of the best players in the world competing against each other following the year’s final major, which wasn’t the case prior to 2007.
Here are 10 players to watch during the 2010 FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Camilo Villegas
1 of 10
Villegas won his third career PGA Tour event earlier this year at the Honda Classic, and combined with seven top-25 finishes in 16 events, he enters the FedEx Cup ranked 15th in points.
If the 2008 FedEx Cup Playoffs were contested under the 2010 rules, Villegas would have won the as a result of winning the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship.
Villegas tends to peak late in the season, which once again seems to be the case in 2010 as Villegas is coming off an eighth-place finish at the PGA Championship two weeks ago at Whistling Straits.
Perhaps Villegas can win the title that many thought he deserved in 2008.
Rory McIlory
2 of 10
Rory McIlroy has tied for third at each of the last two major championships and is entering the 2010 FedEx Cup Playoffs ranked 21st in points.
If McIlroy qualifies for all four events, it will be the longest stretch of tournaments he has played in the United States since joining the PGA Tour earlier this year.
It’s quite evident that McIlroy has what it takes to compete at the highest level. However, as talented as he is, McIlroy is still plagued by consistency issues, particularly with the putter. And winning the FedEx Cup is all about consistency.
McIlroy could go out and win this week at the Barclays just as easily as he could miss the cut. So, it will be interesting to see whether or not McIlory can play consistently solid golf for four consecutive tournaments.
Steve Stricker
3 of 10
Aside from Tiger Woods, no one has won more FedEx Cup playoff events than Steve Stricker over the past three years, which is why Stricker is now known as Mr. September.
With two wins and six top-10s during the 2010 regular season, Stricker enters the FedEx Cup playoffs ranked second in points.
Stricker is also ranked third in the World Golf rankings and he is close enough to Woods that a couple of wins over the next five weeks will not only lead to Stricker’s first FedEx Cup title and secure a PGA Tour Player of the Year award, but could also make him the new No. 1 player in the world.
Jeff Overton
4 of 10
In Steve Stricker we have Mr. September, and in Jeff Overton we have Mr. Consistency.
In 22 events this season, Overton has three second-place finishes, six top-10s and 10-top-25s.
Overton’s supreme consistency in 2010 was good enough to earn him a sixth place spot in the point standings heading into the playoffs—the highest ranked player without a win in 2010.
Overton’s solid play in 2010 has also earned him a spot on Corey Pavin’s 2010 Ryder Cup team that will head over to Wales in just six weeks with the hopes of retaining the cup for the first time since 1993.
Overton is high enough in the point standings that a single win in the coming weeks would go a long way towards securing the 27-year-old a $10 million payday.
Matt Kuchar
5 of 10
Similar to Jeff Overton, Matt Kuchar has been a picture of consistency in 2010.
With nine top-10s and 15 top-25 finishes, Kuchar has earned nearly $2.9 million and enters the playoffs ranked ninth in points.
To win the FedEx Cup, Kuchar will likely have to win at least one event, which is something he’s only done twice during his 10-year PGA Tour career.
However, if Kuchar keeps heading down the path of solid yet not exceptional golf over the next five weeks, he may not win the FedEx Cup, but he will certainly enjoy the hefty bonus that come with making it through to the Tour Championship.
Bubba Watson
6 of 10
Until recently, Bubba Watson was considered to be a sideshow attraction on the PGA Tour.
The guy hits the ball as far as anyone on the planet, and instead of playing a draw or fade, like most mere mortals, Watson plays a controlled hook or slice.
It’s not uncommon to see Watson hit a 30-yard hook into a back-right pin location with a 54-degree wedge in his hand.
For years, Watson was the type of player that was fun to watch on the driving range, yet no one really considered him a legitimate threat to win big-time events.
That has all changed in 2010.
Watson won his first PGA Tour event at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, CT, in June and recently lost to Martin Kaymer in a three-hole playoff at the PGA Championship.
Watson will be representing the United States at the Ryder Cup matches in Wales, and now has everyone asking themselves whether this guy can be a perennial winner on tour playing the unorthodox style of golf that he has not strayed from since first picking up a club and smacking waffle balls around his house in Bagdad, Florida, as a child.
Phil Mickelson
7 of 10
Phil Mickelson has had a prototypical up-and-down season in 2010.
He headed to Augusta in April with just one top-10 finish all year, and then managed to win the Masters.
Mickelson tied for second two weeks later at the Quail Hollow Championship, indicating to most that his second Players Championship victory was just around the corner, only he tied for 17th at TPC Sawgrass and was never in contention.
Mickelson tied for fourth at the U.S. Open, indicating that his first career British Open victory could be on the horizon, but as has been his custom, the San Diego native with a high ball flight severely struggled in the punishing winds at St. Andrews.
After opening with rounds of 66-68 at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, it was looking increasingly likely that Mickelson would overtake Woods as the new No. 1 player in the world. That thought quickly faded when Mickelson posted scores of 71 and 78 on the weekend.
So what in the world will Lefty do over the next five weeks?
He could go on a streak, win the cup, move into the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings and secure his first PGA Tour Player of the Year award…or, he could be all but forgotten about by the time the Tour Championship rolls around in late September.
That’s just the way Mickelson rolls…it’s all or nothing.
Ernie Els
8 of 10
The Big Easy enters the 2010 FedEx Cup playoffs atop the points standings for the first time in his career.
Els took over the top spot back in March after winning the WGC-CA Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Five month later and Els has still yet to relinquish his place atop the FedEx Cup standings.
A FedEx Cup title would not make up for the fact that Els let the 2010 U.S Open slip right through his hands after carding a four-over-par 40 on the back nine when a two-over-par 38 would have forced a sudden death playoff with eventual winner Graeme McDowell. But, it would be yet another accolade to add to Els’ already highly decorated, Hall of Fame career.
Anthony Kim
9 of 10
Anthony Kim will enter the 2010 FedEx Cup playoffs ranked 14th in points, which is actually kind of embarrassing for many members of the PGA Tour considering that Kim missed more than two months with a thumb injury.
Kim will of course be looking to win the FedEx Cup, but he is also taking part in a two-week tryout to make the 2010 Ryder Cup team.
Corey Pavin will announce his four Ryder Cup captain’s picks on September 7th in New York.
Kim finished the year outside of the top eight that automatically qualified for the team based on points.
Since returning to the tour three weeks ago, Kim has finished 76th at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and missed the cuts at the PGA Championship and the Wyndham Championship.
Kim has two weeks to prove to Pavin that he is physically able to compete in the 2010 Ryder Cup matches.
Tiger Woods
10 of 10
Woods has barely snuck into the 2010 playoffs, which is a far cry from 2007 when he was so far ahead in points that he was able to skip The Barclays and still win the cup with ease.
Woods is currently 112th in the standings, and early estimates by the mathematical geniuses needed to decipher the FedEx Cup point system is that Woods will need to finish 58th or better at Ridgewood Country Club in order to advance to The Deutsche Bank Championship.
Woods may, however, have some added motivation to win the 2010 FedEx Cup Playoffs—he and ex-wife Elin Nordegren officially announced their divorce earlier this week, which means that for the first time since the start of the FedEx Cup, Woods may actually need a $10 million payday.
