Let the FedEx Cup Playoffs Begin

THE FEDEX CUP PLAYOFFS get underway on Thursday with The Barclays at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey. The four-event playoff series, which includes the Deutsche Bank Championship and BMW Championship, concludes in Atlanta with the Tour Championship.

After much criticism and formula tinkering, the FedEx Cup points race has slowly gained acceptance. No, it’s not the majors or the Ryder Cup. No, it can’t compete with football. But it’s far better than the days when everyone tuned out after the PGA Championship. With all that cash up for grabs, the top PGA Tour players surely welcome the playoffs and gladly play deep into the month of September. That’s good for core golf fans.

Above are PGATour.com’s top 10 shots from The Barclays. I remembered three of the shots. Four, actually. After seeing it again, I did recall Sergio Garcia’s putt in his 2008 playoff against Vijay Singh. Of course, I also remembered Vijay’s long one that he made on top of Sergio. And there was Matt Kuchar’s iron out of the rough to three feet. That was last year.

I think Heath Slocum got robbed, though. Slocum’s tournament-winning 20-footer in 2009—the biggest putt of his life and the one that beat Tiger Woods—is No. 6 on the list.

Really? Only No. 6?

That’s just wrong.

−The Armchair Golfer

Kevin Streelman Works the Playoff System

KEVIN STREELMAN WILL PLAY in the season-ending Tour Championship for the first time in his career. And that’s not all. Next year Streelman will make his first appearances at the Masters and British Open thanks to a FedEx Cup playoff run that has seen him rise 73 spots in the rankings.

The top 30 will play in the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta this week. A fat paycheck awaits. The 30 players will split a $7.5 million purse. Someone will also collect $10 million for winning the playoffs points race. At 29th, Streelman was the second-to-the-last man in the field, which also gets him into next year’s first three majors.

Streelman is an example of how the playoffs can work for someone who starts at the back of the pack. The Duke grad and mini-tour veteran who joined the PGA Tour in 2007 started the playoffs in 102nd out of 125 players. He made a big move with a T5 at The Barclays. Then he followed with a T45 and T43 at the Deutsche Bank and BMW Championship, respectively, to slip into the top 30.

Hello, East Lake. Hello, Augusta.

The only time Streelman has been to Augusta National Golf Club was to watch a practice round when he was a student at Duke. But Mike Christensen, Streelman’s caddie and Duke golf teammate, has played three rounds at the home of the Masters. That’s a start. They’ll just be thrilled to be there.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: The Gordons/Flickr)