Aug. 27, 2008
The PGA TOUR heads to TPC Boston in Norton, Mass., this week for Deutsche Bank Championship -- the second event in the 2008 PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Here are some groups of players to keep an eye on.
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GROUP: Carpe Diem | POSITIONS: 67th, 93rd, 95th, 96th, 97th, 99th, 105th, 106th, 108th, 110th, 111th, 112th, 115th, 116th, 119th
Fifteen players "seized the day," and played their way into the second playoff event, despite an initial seed of worse than 120th. All of them will need to have another good week some need to have a great week to move on in the Playoffs following the Deutsche Bank Championship. Martin Laird, JJ Henry, Justin Bolli and Lee Janzen all made it into The Barclays on the strength of their play at the Regular Season-ending Wyndham Championship; they all made the cut at The Barclays and are all now faced with their third straight single elimination event they must play well at Deutsche Bank or be eliminated.
MORE: Laird profile | Henry profile | Bolli profile | Janzen profile |
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GROUP: Outta nowhere | POSITIONS: 3rd, 37th
The Kevins Streelman and Sutherland both used The Barclays to propel themselves upward in the FedExCup points standings. Sutherland has had five top-10s this year, but came into the Playoffs ranked 57th in points. His T2 makes him third, 7,550 points out of first. He should be a lock for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca Cola, but hell need to play great to contend for the FedExCup. Streelman missed a putt on the 72nd hole to get into the playoff with Singh, Garcia and Sutherland, but his T4 put him 37th in the standings, up from 102nd. He needs another good finish to get into THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, and probably needs to make the cut this week just to play in the BMW Championship.
MORE: Sutherland profile | Streelman profile |
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GROUP: Hot players | POSITIONS: 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 23rd
Harrington came into hottest, with two victories in his last three events, both majors, but he missed the cut at The Barclays, and is now 23rd in the points. A good finish this week will put him right back in the chase, however. Perry won twice in the last eight weeks of the Regular Season, but withdrew from the PGA Championship, had a T66 at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and T48 at The Barclays to slip to seventh. Mickelson played solidly at the Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship, but hasnt won since the Crowne Plaza Invitational. He was T19 at The Barclays. Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia obviously had great weeks this week, and both had the putter going when they needed it. Either could be a threat this week.
MORE: Harrington profile | Perry profile | Mickelson profile | Singh profile |
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GROUP: Non-winners | POSITIONS: 10th, 12th, 16th
Robert Allenby at 11th and Jim Furyk at 15th were the highest ranked players without a win coming into the Playoffs, which means they've been playing very well. If either can break through in the next couple of events, they will be serious contenders for the Cup. Stuart Appleby, in 19th, played well all year and made a surge with a T2 at the Bridgestone Invitational and a T15 at the PGA Championship, for his eighth and ninth made cuts in a row. Last year, Steve Stricker won for the first time at The Barclays, moving from 12th to first. This year, he's 16th and looking to repeat the magic.
MORE: Allenby profile | Furyk profile | Stricker profile |
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