Barclays Golf: Who's Hot and Who's Not Going Into Saturday's Play

With 36-holes completed at the 2010 Barclays, here’s a list of players that are hot and not heading into the weekend.

Hot:

Jason Day

After tying for 10th at the PGA Championship three weeks ago, Day is once again making headlines.

Day is currently leading The Barclays at eight-under-par through 36-holes after posting back-to-back rounds of 67.

Although the 22-year-old Australian native won his first PGA Tour event earlier this year at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, a win this week at The Barclays would be by far the biggest win of his career.

Kevin Streelman

2010 has been Kevin Streelman’s weakest year since joining the PGA Tour back in 2008. He has three top-10 finishes in 23 events and has earned just over $700,000, which places him 108th on the PGA Tour’s money list.

Streelman’s claim to fame is winning the inaugural Kodak Challenge in last year, which earned him a $1 million pay day.

However, after an incredible low second round score of 63 on a very difficult golf course, Streelman finds himself in second place and just one stroke behind Jason Day heading into the weekend.

Adam Scott

Adam Scott won his first PGA Tour event in almost two years earlier this year at the Valero Texas Open, and appears to be making strides towards breaking out of the worst slump of his career.

Scott had just one top-10 on 19 events last year and finished 108th on the money list, which was a long way to fall considering he was the number three ranked player in the world heading into he 2008 U.S. Open.

Scott is currently sitting at five-under-par through 36-holes – three strokes off the lead – at The Barclays and is in prime position to capture his biggest win since the 2006 Players Championship.  

Not:

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods is in contention heading into the weekend at a PGA Tour event…and no, you are not reading an article from 2009.

However, after opening with a six-under-par round of 65 on Thursday and playing his front nine (the back-nine at Ridgewood Country Club) in two-under-par, the wheels came off after a missed two-foot tap-in for par at the 273 yard par-four fifth.

Following his hiccup on the fifth, Woods missed four out of his last five greens in regulations and bogeyed two-out of his last four holes to finish with a four-over-par 39 on his back nine and a two-over par 73 for the day. 

Not the kind of momentum Woods was looking for heading into the weekend.

Phil Mickelson

Although we have an interesting leaderboard heading into the weekend, Barclays must not be thrilled about their flagship player – Phil Mickelson – posting rounds of 72-74 and missing the cut by four strokes.

There will be no loveable lefty gracing Ridgewood’s pristine fairways on this weekend.

Ernie Els

Following back-to-back wins earlier this year at the Arnold Palmer Invitation and the WGC-CA Championship, Els took over the top spot in the FedEx Cup point standings and has yet to be overtaken.

However, the reason why Els has yet to be overtaken in the FedEx Cup point standings has more to do with the inconsistent play of others rather than his ability to pad his points.

Els has had just two top-10 finishes since April (a third at the Valero Texas Open and a third at the U.S. Open).

In his last three events, The Big Easy has missed the cut at the Open Championship, tied for 22nd at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and tied for 18th at the PGA Championship.

The last time Els was really in contention was at the U.S. Open back in June.

Els has made the cut right on the number (142) at The Barclays and will need to have a huge weekend in order to retain his top spot in the FedEx Cup standings.