Philadelphia, PA – PGA TOUR - THE BARCLAYS, Plainfield After months of competing, the FedEx Cup playoffs finally begin this week in Edison at The Barclays.
The first of the four-event series comprises the top 125 players in the points standings, with Nick Watney leading the way as the top points collector in 2011.
The points are weighted five times as heavily for playoff events as they were for regular season events. The points from the regular season carry over into the postseason, but the fields are reduced from 125 to 100 to 70 to only 30 for The Tour Championship.
At The Tour Championship, the points are reset to give each player a fair chance to win the $10 million prize for capturing the FedEx Cup, although the higher ranked players will still have a better chance.
This year's Playoffs field will be bereft of the man who has won the title more than anybody else: Tiger Woods. Woods, who has won two of the four FedEx Cup titles, including the inaugural one in 2007, finished seven spots out after playing in only eight events.
The other two winners of the FedEx Cup will play this week: 2010 winner Jim Furyk and 2008 champ Vijay Singh. Both players have fallen on hard times somewhat this year, though, combining for zero victories.
Defending champion Matt Kuchar is also without a win this season, but he still managed to finish higher on the points list (12) than any winless player on the PGA Tour in 2011. No player has successfully defended his title at this event since Ernie Els, who won in 1996-97 and will go for another win this week.
The win helped Kuchar finish second to Furyk in the final standings, and, at No. 12 currently, he is all but guaranteed to advance to the Deutsche Bank Championship. All but two of the top 125 players are scheduled to play this year, with the lone exceptions being No. 21 Charl Schwartzel and No. 66 J.B. Holmes, who will miss the entire Playoffs after announcing he will undergo brain surgery on September 1.
The surgery will keep Holmes out for three months, but he is expected to make a full recovery.
The Barclays dates back to 1967, when it was the Westchester Classic and won by Jack Nicklaus in its inaugural running. Singh has won it more times than anyone with four victories dating from 1993 to 2008.
Golf Channel and CBS will have television coverage of all four rounds.
Next week, the top 100 points leaders will take part in the second postseason event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, which Charley Hoffman won by five strokes in 2010.
EUROPEAN TOUR
JOHNNIE WALKER CHAMPIONSHIP AT GLENEAGLES, The Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, Scotland - The European Tour heads to Scotland this week for the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, which Edoardo Molinari won in 2010.
Molinari birdied the last three holes of last year's event to edge Brett Rumford by a stroke, winning his second title of 2010 -- both in Scotland. He has yet to win again since and has not finished in the top 10 since an eighth place finish in the Volvo Golf Champions, his second tournament of the year.
The win catapulted Molinari onto the European Ryder Cup team last year, becoming the first player to play in The Ryder Cup the year following graduation from the Challenge Tour.
Colin Montgomerie is serving as the tournament host, though he is still winless since 2007. Other high-profile names in the field include Ross Fisher, Thomas Bjorn, Paul McGinley and Jose Maria Olazabal, who will be the next Ryder Cup captain for Europe.
Golf Channel will carry coverage of all four rounds.
The European Tour heads to Switzerland next week for the Omega European Masters, where Miguel Angel Jimenez won by three strokes over Molinari last year.
BOEING CLASSIC, TPC Snoqualmie Ridge, Snoqualmie, Washington - The Champions Tour heads to Washington this week for the Boeing Classic, where Bernhard Langer looks to defend his 2010 title.
Langer, who dominated the senior tour in 2010, posted a three-shot victory for his fifth and final victory of the year. This year has been a bit different, and, although the German has a win, a thumb injury earlier this year has really taken him off his game.
He's played in only seven tournaments since winning the ACE Group Classic in February, and, after missing several months due to injury, he hasn't finished in the top five. Langer has started to round into form, however, finishing sixth in last week's Senior Players Championship and ninth at the U.S. Senior Open.
Four of the five all-time winners of this event are in the field this week, including two-time winner Tom Kite, Loren Roberts and David Eger. Fred Couples is also participating after winning his first senior major last week at the Senior Players.
Golf Channel will have television coverage of all three rounds.
After two weeks off, the Champions Tour heads to Asia for the Songdo Championship Korea, which Russ Cochran won last year.
CANADIAN WOMEN'S OPEN, Hillsdale Golf & Country Club, Mirabel, Quebec, Canada - The LPGA Tour is in Quebec this week for the Canadian Women's Open, where Michelle Wie will try to defend her only title of 2010.
The much-heralded Wie has yet to win this year after posting her second career victory at St. Charles Country Club last year.
Wie has struggled of late, however, without a top-10 finish in a stroke play event since finishing sixth at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. She has still made six of her last seven cuts in such events, with her best finish as 12th at the LPGA State Farm Classic.
Each of the top five players in the world will be in action this week: Yani Tseng, Suzann Pettersen, Cristie Kerr, Jiyai Shin and Na Yeon Choi.
Golf Channell will have television coverage of all four rounds.
Following a week off, the LPGA Tour will head to Arkansas for the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, where Tseng beat Wie by a stroke last year.
NATIONWIDE TOUR
NEWS SENTINEL OPEN PRESENTED BY PILOT, Fox Den Country Club, Knoxville, Tennessee - J.J. Killeen and Mathew Goggin will both have another opportunity to post that elusive third win this season in Knoxville.
Killeen had his best chance last week by heading into the final round one stroke off the lead, but faltered on Sunday, as James Nitties won the Midwest Classic. Three wins earns an automatic promotion to the PGA Tour, and while it seems as though Killeen and Goggin will earn their tour cards based on their results this year, they'd both like to earn it by winning tournaments.
With last year's champion Chris Kirk playing on the PGA Tour, this week's spotlight remains squarely on Killeen and Goggin to see if either can get the win that has not yet come to fruition.
Next week the Nationwide Tour heads to Canonsburg, Pennsylvania for the Mylan Classic, where Kevin Kisner won in 2010.
CANADIAN TOUR
CANADIAN TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP, Ambassador Golf Club, Windsor, Ontario, Canada - The Canadian Tour is in Ontario this week for the Canadian Tour Championship, which Aaron Goldberg won in 2010.
Goldberg isn't on hand to defend his title this week, but each of the top 10 on the money list will be in the field to compete in the last event on tour until November.
Brian Unk will also participate in his quest to win in two straight weeks.
The Canadian Tour is off for over two months following this event until November 3-6 for the Desert Dunes Classic, where Adam Hadwin won in 2010.
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