McLachlin blog: Trying to contend in the Playoffs

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Aloha from Boston!

We're here for the second event of the PGA TOUR's FedExCup playoffs, the Deutsche Bank Championship.

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Parker McLachlin missed the cut at The Barclays but took the time to explore New York City.

Last week was OK, but I felt a little rusty and missed the cut at The Barclays. The week before, I'd been home for the first time in a while, which was nice. But coming back to the course after a week off, I ended up being rusty during the first day of play on Thursday. I just wasn't as "tournament sharp" as I would have liked.

Overall, I think I made steps in the right direction. I definitely feel like this week is going to be much better all around with one week of playoffs under my belt.

Since I missed the cut at The Barclays, Kristy and I drove about 45 minutes into New York City. We saw "Jersey Boys" on Broadway, and got to walk around Little Italy and Greenwich Village. That was very relaxing and we had a great time.

But because I missed the cut, I dropped from 54th to 80th in the FedExCup point standings. That means that I need to make the cut this week to be in next week's top 70.

That's the thing about this year's Playoffs. The Playoffs last year were a big success, but the PGA TOUR knew they needed to change the points structure. So with this year's structure it's easier to move up the points list. It can mean good things and can allow somebody that you've never heard of to have a chance at winning the $10 million. The down side of that is a great player like Padraig Harrington, a player who has won two majors this season, might not qualify for THE TOUR Championship if he misses a few cuts during the Playoffs. That would be a huge disappointment.

Now that we're in Boston, I'm really excited about the week. On Saturday, Kristy and I are going to go to Fenway Park to see our first Boston Red Sox game. That's always been on my list of things to do. We might also have a chance to explore downtown Boston.

Since we arrived here at the beginning of the week, I've had a chance to play a couple practice rounds. The unique thing about the Deutsche Bank Championship is that it begins on Friday and finishes up on Monday, which is Labor Day. So that gives all of us some extra time to practice on the course.

I'm paired with a close friend of mine, Bill Haas. It's always a nice bonus to be paired with someone you really enjoy playing with, and makes for a very special week. So I'm looking forward to a great week on tour and look forward to talking to you all next week.

Mahalo,

Parker