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By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Contributor

HARRISON, N.Y. -- If you want personalities on the PGA TOUR, look no farther than the penultimate group on Sunday at The Barclays. No cookie cutter, country club personalities here. Rich Beem, Woody Austin and Rory Sabbatini all come into the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup from a different angle and at various stages of their careers.

Woody Austin performing one of his happier reactions at the PGA Championship. (Getty)

This has been one of Woody's best years on TOUR. His win earlier this summer at the Stanford St. Jude Classic in Memphis was his third on TOUR. However, his play is often overshadowed by his reactions. Rarely, if ever, does Woody hit a shot that doesn't warrant some type of reaction. He hasn't beaten his putter into submission over his head in quite a while, though, so maybe he has mellowed now that he's past the age of 40 -- a little.

Woody's interviews are never scripted. If you ask him a question he will give you an answer. He actually professed to "outplaying" Tiger Woods in the PGA Championship a couple of weeks ago on the day that Tiger equaled the all-time low score in a major. By the way, Woody shot even par the day that Tiger shot 63. You have to love Woody. No one has ever questioned his ball-striking. Over the last several months, Woody has finally learned that putting is the great equalizer. He holed key putts down the stretch at Southern Hills and finished second, his best finish in a major.

Rich Beem made more than his fair share of important putts at the 2002 PGA Championship when he held off a charging Tiger to capture his only major. His candor of late about his mediocre play has been a breath of fresh air. He comes into The Barclays needing to finish in the top 12 to have a chance of advancing to the Deutsche Bank Championship next week. Over the past couple of years, Rich has had his fair share of disappointments on the golf course. Asked after the third round if he "understood why guys slam clubs" on the PGA TOUR, Rich responded, "Do you play golf?"

Rich always seems on the brink of picking a fight. I don't mean a bar-room brawl, though. I mean that when he plays well, he has the type of fiery instincts that have enabled him to win three times on the PGA TOUR. When he gets hot, he is hard to beat. Think back to that magical 2002 season when he won back to back at The INTERNATIONAL and the PGA. Afterwards, he is one of the most likable and entertaining players on the TOUR.

Rory Sabbatini is in contention at The Barclays. (Getty)

If Rich and Woody bring a junkyard dog mentality to the golf course, the third member of this group brings that attitude to a new level. All you have to do is ask him. Yes, Rory Sabbatini won the Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial earlier this year. He has played extremely well the rest of the year and entering the Playoffs, he was ranked sixth in the FedExCup points race.

The press insists on remembering Rory for his controversial protest against slow play at Congressional a few years ago. They constantly remind him that he pulled Tiger's tail earlier this year.

All three of these guys get baited a little into saying things that may seem controversial. Rarely do they disappoint. They want to be in the fight. Like every other player on TOUR, they relish the opportunity to mix it up on Sunday afternoon.

These guys are more like the rest of us, though. If they hit a bad shot, they let you know it. They are emotional on the golf course and entertaining off. If I had a day to watch golf and enjoy a cold beverage, this is the group that I would watch on Sunday. The winner may or may not come out of the penultimate group on Sunday, but they are sure to give the fans their money's worth.