The Barclays: Top Stories for the Final Round

Round 2 is now in the books at the Barclays, and if anyone is looking to make a big move up the leader board, he has a mere 18 holes to do so.

This afternoon, the PGA Tour officially announced that due to Hurricane Irene, the tournament will be shortened to a 54-hole event.

Players will go off in a threesome beginning at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning with the hopes of completing 18 more holes before Irene begins battering the New Jersey coastline.

For those of you not boarding up your windows or on your way out of town, here are the top stories to watch as we head into the final round of the Barclays.  

Did We Get All Dressed Up for Nothing?

The PGA Tour is going to attempt to complete 18 holes early tomorrow morning prior to Hurricane Irene’s arrival in New Jersey, which is expected late tomorrow evening.

However, the weather forecast is calling for showers early in the day and a steady rain to develop by noon.

If everyone in the field is able to complete 18 holes tomorrow, each will have completed 54 holes for the week and a winner will be crowned before everyone hightails it out of here.

However, if tomorrow’s festivities are shortened due to the weather, the Tour will resort back to the 36-hole scores in order to decide a winner.

Anyone think 36-hole leader Matt Kuchar will be doing a rain dance tonight?

A Three Horse Race?

Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson and Vijay Singh have somewhat separated themselves from the field after 36 holes.

Kuchar is leading the tournament at 14-under par, while Singh and Johnson are tied for second at 13-under par.

The next closest competitors are at 10-under par (Justin Rose, Padraig Harrington, Jonathan Byrd and Aaron Baddeley are all tied for fourth at 10-under par).

Players will be going off in threesomes tomorrow morning, so these three thoroughbreds might have themselves some kind of race to the finish line at Plainfield Country Club.

Back-to-Back?

If Kuchar were to hold on to win his second-consecutive Barclays tournament tomorrow, he will join Ernie Els as the only other repeat-champion in Barclays history.

A win by Kuchar will also move him into the top spot in the FedEx Cup point standings, thus giving “Mr. Consistent” an excellent chance to remain within the Top 5 heading into the Tour Championship.

Although each of the top 30 players that advance to the Tour Championship can mathematically win the FedEx Cup with a victory at East Lake, the top five in the standings heading into the event are guaranteed to capture the FedEx Cup and a $10 million payday with a victory.

Watch out for the Mudder

If the players are faced with difficult weather conditions tomorrow morning, is there anyone in the field with more experience playing in these conditions than Padraig Harrington?

Heck, Harrington might view Hurricane Irene as nothing more extreme than the weather he has to contend with on a daily basis in Dublin, Ireland.  

Having experienced several winters in Dublin, I can tell you that golf umbrellas snapping like twigs are nothing out of the ordinary.

Harrington grew up playing in the wind and rain and he’s won two Open Championships in difficult weather conditions.

Harrington may just stay the course tomorrow while the rest of the field is swept away by the early traces of Irene.