The Barclays, Round 1
| PGATOUR.COM Instant Access | |||
| The Barclays | |||
|
By PGATOUR.COM
WHAT'S AT STAKE (7 p.m.): Want to know just what kind of impact it will have on a player's FedEXCup title hopes should he get the 2,500 points for winning The Barclays this week?
Consider PGATOUR.COM's projected points list after Thursday's first round. Should one of the three first-round co-leaders -- Paul Goydos, Steve Marino or Sergio Garcia -- go on to win this week, he will immediately jump to second in the standings behind Tiger Woods.
Should Marino win, he would only be 177 points behind FedExCup leader Woods -- should Tiger not move up from his current position (tied for 27th after a 1-under 70).
Marino is currently 30th in FedExCup points. Goydos is 49th. Garcia, should he win, would make the biggest leap -- he's currently 89th in points. Just a week ago, he was 115th before taking fourth place at the Wyndham Championship. -- Mike McAllister
OPENING ROUND DONE (6:25 p.m.): One round of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup is in the books. A handful of players had a chance to take the lead, but in the end no one could surpass the trio of Paul Goydos, Steve Marino and Sergio Garcia, all of whom are in at 6 under.
Charley Hoffman had the best, late opportunity to seize the lead at 7 under, but a bad par on the par-5 eighth (his 17th hole of the day) and a bogey on No. 9 dropped him back to 5 under.
The two biggest things to take away from the first round? That Liberty National has its share of quirks and players still aren't quite sure what to make of it, other than that they need to keep it in the fairway and hit a lot of greens. The other thing to take away is that Garcia has clearly forgotten about last week's loss at the Wyndham Championship. If he keeps playing the way he did Thursday, he'll be there at the end once again. -- Brian Wacker
GARCIA PLEASED (6 p.m.): Fresh off his best PGA TOUR finish of the year, fourth place at the Wyndham Championship, Sergio Garcia kept the momentum going with a 6-under 65, which allowed him to join the leaders late on Thursday.
"Overall, it was a good, solid day," said Garcia, who had a solid putting round -- at one point, he needed just six putts through a five-hole stretch.
"It's the kind of course that if you play well, you can shoot a score with the greens being a little soft like they are," Garcia said. "But at the same time, if you're a little bit off, you can struggle a little bit. ... I managed to hit the ball well today. Drove the ball nicely. Hit a lot of good iron shots and made a couple of birdies here and there."
Garcia is a two-time winner of The Barclays, but both of those wins were at Westchester (2001, 2004).
"I've been fortunate to play very nicely on that course," said Garcia, who lost in a playoff to Vijay Singh at The Barclays last year at Ridgewood. "But you know, you move on. ... It's good to see the tournament kind of move around a little bit and some different spots and some different people that can see it. I guess it would be nice to keep playing it there (at Westchester), but at the same time, I'm not regretting that we get the chance of playing and seeing these other courses." -- Mike McAllister
BOGEY-FREE ROUNDS (5:43 p.m.): Just three bogey-free rounds were recorded Thursday -- by Lee Janzen, Justin Leonard and Padraig Harrington.
Harrington had the best score of those three players with a 4-under 67. Janzen and Leonard recorded 68s.
"I'm thrilled with it. I know that it's not leading the tournament or whatever, but before you head out on this golf course, you don't know what you're going to shoot," Harrington said. "It really is a testing, intimidating golf course and to break 70 -- if I can continue that this week, I'll be a very happy man.
"My short game was sharp today and when I did miss, I missed in the right places and i'm happy that I holed the right putts at the right time. I won't say it was because I had some insight to avoid bogeys. This is a tough golf course and you just have to hit the shots a lot of times."
Leonard, by the way, hit all 14 fairways in the first round, while Janzen and Harrington each hit 12 fairways.
So just what made Liberty National so difficult and why did it play this hard? Click here for more. -- Mike McAllister
TWEET OF THE DAY (5:35 p.m.): "In NYSE terms, I would characterize my first round today as a sell-off at the opening, followed by serious bargain hunting. Shot 70(-1)." -- @stewartcink discussing his opening-round at Liberty National.
Indeed it was. Starting on the back nine, the British Open champ made three bogeys in his first seven holes before recovering with four birdies over his final 11 holes. Three of his birdies came on his final six holes. -- Brian Wacker
| Sip of Maginnes | |
|
SERGIO GRABS SHARE OF LEAD (5 p.m.): The round didn't end like he wanted it to, but Sergio Garcia will gladly take the 6-under 65 he shot in Thursday's opening round. If nothing else, it shows there are no lingering effects from the Wyndham Championship, where he let a three-shot lead get away in the final round.
Garcia's lone bogey today also came on one of the toughest holes on Liberty National -- the 474-yard, par-4 ninth, which currently ranks as the third-most difficult with a scoring average of 4.33. On the day, Garcia missed just three fairways and four greens in regulation, which ranks for third-best in the field right now. His 27 putts were more than he'd like to have, but not by much. And as the first round starts to wind down a little, it doesn't look like many, if any, are going to go lower than 6 under. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Garcia's scorecard from today (click here to replay his round with Shot Tracker):
TOUGH TEST (4:45 p.m.): Since Steve Marino turned in his 6-under 65 earlier today, the scoring has most certainly slowed at Liberty National -- though Sergio Garcia is closing in on a similar round. Still, the PGA TOUR's first trip to the Tom Kite-Bob Cupp design is proving to be a tough one.
"Just every shot just seems so demanding," Marino said. "The rough, it's not terrible, but you can definitely get some bad vibes where you can't even think about getting to the green. Even if you're in the fairway, it seems like every green is raised a little bit and everything falls off to the side."
Robert Allenby, who shot a 68, had a slightly different take. "I really don't know how to answer that in the right way, because I could really get myself into a lot of trouble," Allenby joked when asked about there being some anxiety beforehand over some of the greens and playing a course that was a little different. "They set it up very well. That's as good as I can go on the course."
Whatever various players' takes on Liberty National are, they know the course won't be easy.
"I think the field staff has a challenging week, because there are some holes that are going to play very difficult, especially if it firms up," said co-leader Paul Goydos. "I think they did a pretty good job today, moved some tees around and get us around the golf course in a reasonable fashion. The golf course is what it is. It's a long, hard golf course with difficult greens. I don't think it's meant to be easy. I don't think Tom Kite was thinking, let's see how easy I can make this course." -- Brian Wacker
GARCIA CONTINUES TO GO LOW (4:20 p.m.): The more birdies Sergio Garcia makes, the further his mini-meltdown at last week's Wyndham Championship gets in his rear-view mirror.
Today, Garcia has yet to make a bogey to go with six birdies. He's on the par-5 eighth right now -- the easiest hole on the course. One more birdie, and Garcia will grab the lead.
Either way, though, he's in great position and displaying the kind of accuracy he's been come to be known for, hitting 11 of 13 fairways and 13 of 16 greens in regulation. He's also putting better with eight one-putts so far. On the verge of missing the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup altogether, Garcia certainly seems to be turning his season around. Better late than never. -- Brian Wacker
WOODS ON HIS ROUND (3:52 p.m.): When he finished his pro-am round on Wednesday, Tiger Woods went directly to the putting green before talking with reporters. After opening with a round of 70 at The Barclays, he headed to the range instead.
The source of his consternation? Woods only hit nine fairways and nine greens on Thursday at Liberty National. His putter was slightly more cooperative, though. He one-putted 10 times and used 26 total.
"They moved the tees up quite a bit today," Woods reported. "They definitely have a lot of room to go back. As of right now, only 6 under is leading, so I'm sure it will be a little bit tougher, with the wind and the weather coming in, we'll see what happens."
Woods started on the back nine Thursday and birdied the par-5 13th when he two-putted from 44 feet. He got another birdie at the second hole where he sank a 4-footer -- but shortly afterwards Woods started missing fairways.
Three in a row, to be exact, starting at the sixth hole. He only made one bogey during that stretch -- at No. 7 where he found both a fairway and a greenside bunker -- but he also couldn't capitalize on the par-5 sixth or eighth holes.
"(No.) 8, I hit a terrible tee shot there," Woods said. "I was fortunate enough to make par there, but you've got to make hay on the par 5s here. You don't get too many opportunities around this place and I only made one birdie on the par 5s." -- Helen Ross
HARRINGTON MORE THAN HOLDING HIS OWN (3:35 p.m.): Not that we would have expected anything else, but Padraig Harrington is showing no ill effects of his meltdown at the PGA Championship.
The Dubliner, whose chance to successfully defend his title at Hazeltine evaporated in a quintuple-bogey 8 at the eighth hole on Sunday, is steadily climbing a leaderboard for the third straight tournament.
Harrington is 4 under through 12 holes at Liberty National, three strokes off the lead at The Barclays. His second pga TOUR win came in this tournament in 2005 when it was played at Westchester Country Club.
The Irishman, who has yet to make a bogey today, started on the back and turned in 32 after making an 80-footer from off the green at the par-3 11th, getting up-and-down at the par-5 13th and rolling in a 19-footer at No. 17. A pinpoint approach produced a 34-inch birdie putt at the third hole as well.
Harrington also made some new fans Monday night when he attended the "Wall Street 50" awards dinner co-hosted by Irish-America magazine and FTI. The dinner honors top Irish-American business leaders and was held at the New York City Yacht Club.
Harrington stayed well past 11 p.m. -- reportedly keeping his driver waiting for 90 minutes -- signing autographs for everyone, including the waiters and kitchen staff. He also poked fun at his recent penchant for hitting key shots into the water at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA.
"When I got home I got a voicemail with the theme tune to 'Jaws' on it," Harrington told the crowd. "And as I was traveling on my way here I was looking in my golf bag and I found a golf ball retriever for getting golf balls out of the water." -- Helen Ross
MICKELSON UP-AND-DOWN SO FAR (3:20 p.m.): Phil Mickelson is a member of Liberty National and has played the course a handful of times. That course knowledge doesn't appear to paying off all that much, however.
After getting off to a solid start with birdies on Nos. 4 and 6 to get to 2 under, Mickelson gave those birdies right back with back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8.
"It's one of the most demanding courses off the tee that we play on TOUR," Mickelson said yesterday. It's certainly been that way today -- he's hit just three of six fairways so far.
"And into the greens is every bit as demanding and the greens are fast and tough to putt, so it's just a tough test." Though Mickelson has hit six of eight greens in regulation, he has taken 14 putts through his first eight holes with just two one-putts so far.
To follow Mickelson's round live with Shot Tracker, click here. -- Brian Wacker
ALLENBY STILL ALRIGHT (3:09 p.m.): Robert Allenby flirted with the top of the leaderboard for much of Thursday morning before finishing with a 3-under 68.
Allenby shot a 32 on the front side that included an 8-foot eagle on the sixth hole, then birdied No. 12 from 10 feet. And even though he stumbled a bit coming home, making bogeys on the 13th and 18th holes, Allenby couldn't be too disappointed.
He hit 12 of 14 fairways and all but two greens. Had it not been for those two three-putts -- "That was just speed," Allenby said -- his score could have been even lower. All in all, he liked how the course was set up and noted that Mother Nature cut them all a break.
"I think they are lucky today that it's not blowing,' Allenby said. "When the greens are that fast, and especially 18, coming back down to that flag, if it was blowing, if it was blowing over the green and down towards the sea, that green would be unplayable.
"There are six or seven greens out there where they are so fast already. I think they got rid of the tricky flags today. But they are in fair spots. It's a tricky golf course."
Allenby is one of 10 players who have competed in all nine events in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. The Aussie, who came to The Barclays ranked 68th, finished the 2007 Playoffs ranked 23rd and the 2008 edition 19th. -- Helen Ross
THIS AND THAT (3 p.m.): Heath Slocum (66), No. 124 in the FedExCup standings coming into The Barclays, birdied his final four holes (Nos. 6-9) to get to 5 under with Webb Simpson (No. 85) and Fredrik Jacobson (No. 107).
Robert Allenby (68) is one of 10 players who have made a start in each of the nine events in the history of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Here's a look at the ten, their first-round scores, and previous FedExCup finishes. -- Mark Williams
|
MARINO'S MAGIC NUMBER (2:38 p.m.): Steve Marino matched the lowest first round of his career with his 6-under 65. It's the eighth time in his career that he has produced an opening 65. It would have been a stroke lower, but his drive on the 18th hole found the primary rough and his approach shot ended up in a bunker, where he failed to get up-and-down for par.
"I just wanted to go out there today and just do the best that I could and try to put up a good number," said Marino, who lost in a playoff to Steve Stricker at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial earlier this year. "If you had asked me yesterday, if 65 is possible out there, I would have said no. I thought 2, 3 under was a good score." -- Mike McAllister
GOYDOS ON HIS ROUND (2:30 p.m.): Paul Goydos teed off in the morning group Thursday and grabbed a share of the early lead with a 6-under 65, and he'd be very surprised if somebody matches that number from the afternoon group.
"I think the morning round is going to play easier, a lot softer and a lot more moisture on the greens," Goydos said. "The greens were basically perfect today. "I think the golf course will be a much different golf course in the afternoon." -- Mike McAllister
| Paul Goydos: Results when leading/co-leading after first round | |||||||||||||||
|
GARCIA SERGING (2:08 p.m.): Last week, Sergio Garcia let the Wyndham Championship slip away with three straight bogeys late in the final round. His pain was compounded when his bunker shot on the 18th hole came up agonizingly shot, stopping an inch from the hole, leaving him one shot out of what would have been a four-way playoff. Apparently, Garcia isn't carrying any of that negative momentum over to this week -- he's 3 under with three birdies through his first seven holes.
So far, Garcia has hit all but one fairway and one green in regulation and his approach on the 17th -- he started on the back -- just landed a yard from the hole. Remember, Garcia played well in this event last year, albeit at a different course, before losing to Vijay Singh in a playoff. Garcia then went on to finish in a tie for fifth at the Deutsche Bank Championship and a tie for second at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. Could he be about to go on a similar run? Follow Garcia's round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker
HARDEST HOLE OF THE DAY (1:52 p.m.): As much as the par-5 sixth is the easiest hole on the golf course, the 250-yard, par-3 11th is playing extremely hard on the difficult end of the spectrum.
The 11th is playing every bit of its yardage today and has yielded just three birdies, while surrendering 55 pars, 21 bogeys, five double bogeys and two "others." The approach shot proximity to the hole here? A whopping 49 feet, 5 inches (by comparison, the average approach shot on No. 6 is currently 18 feet closer). That makes a huge difference -- though there have only been four three-putts out of 86 putts, there have only been two one-putts. -- Brian Wacker
WOODS IN WITH 70 (1:30 p.m.): Tiger Woods did what he does in many opening rounds -- he grinded. Woods' 1-under 70 was solid and unspectacular with two birdies and one bogey. That leaves him five shots off the current lead -- one that looks like will hold up for most of if not the entire day -- after hitting nine of 14 fairways and nine of 18 greens in regulation.
The round certainly could have been worse given those statistics, but that's Woods. His bad rounds are usually a little better than everyone else's. However, his 70 is almost a full stroke higher than his first-round scoring average for this year, which is a shade over 69. But that's nitpicking. The real clue to Woods' week will come in Rounds 2 and 3. (Click here to replay Woods' round with Shot Tracker.) -- Brian Wacker
MARINO, GOYDOS GRAB EARLY LEAD (1:05 p.m.): Steve Marino is in the clubhouse and has a share of the lead with Paul Goydos after opening with a 6-under 65 today.
Though Marino bogeyed the last hole for his second bogey on the back nine, going low isn't exactly new to the former University of Virginia standout. Nor is it for Goydos -- Marino has now shot 65 or lower five times this year, while Goydos has turned the trick seven times this season.
Neither player, however, has been able to turn any of the performances below into a win. Both are obviously hoping to change that this week. -- Brian Wacker
| Going low in 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sip of Maginnes | |
|
MAJOR MOVES (12:33 p.m.): Two of this year's four major championship winners -- Stewart Cink and Y.E. Yang -- are currently in red numbers.
Cink has gamely fought back after making bogeys on three of his first seven holes. The reigning British Open champ made a 26-footer at the 17th hole to turn 2 over, and he now has made three birdies in his last four holes.
Yang, who overcame Tiger Woods to win the PGA Championship, also started on the back and turned in even par, but made bogeys on Nos. 1 and 2. He stemmed the tide with a 9-foot birdie putt on the third hole and added two more from 20 inches on Nos. 5 and 6.
Masters champ Angel Cabrera tees off at 1 p.m. while Lucas Glover, who won the U.S. Open, starts his round at 1:11 p.m. ET. -- Helen Ross
FIREMAN TO THE RESCUE (12:25 p.m.): When Kevin Streelman's tee shot on the 18th hole flew left and landed in between the cart path and the stands lining the left side of the fairway, there were no marshals close enough to immediately guard the ball from being stepped on by unaware spectators.
So Jersey City fireman Stanley Tyminski -- who had finished his shift and was taking in a few holes with his captain and another fireman -- took up the slack and became the unofficial marshal.
While waiting for Streelman to reach the ball, Tyminski had a quick peek and noticed that it was a Titleist Pro V1X. "Those don't look like my Intechs from Kmart," he laughed.
And then when Streelman arrived, Tyminski told him, "I got it for you, brother. Go ahead, hit a good shot."
Streelman obliged. Despite a tricky lie against some high grass, he found the green. He promptly gave Tyminski a high-five, and then they walked together for a few steps. "I told him I usually just kick it out and put it on a tee," the fireman said.
Streelman ultimately parred the hole on his way to a 3-under 68. And Tyminski left with a nice memory from Liberty National.
"You don't usually get so close to players," he said. "That was really fun." -- Mike McAllister
ROOKIE WATCH (12:12 p.m.): The PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year race is decidedly wide open this year.
Players like Webb Simpson, James Nitties, Jeff Klauk, Marc Leishman, Matt Bettencourt and Scott Piercy have all had spurts where they contended. None have won yet, though, like the last seven Rookie of the Year winners did.
So the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup -- as well as the Fall Series -- could help bring some clarity to the race. There are eight rookies entered in The Barclays and Klauk is the highest ranked at No. 60.
Simpson is currently the highest on the leaderboard at 2 under through 11 holes, three strokes off the current lead. Bill Lunde is in a big group tied at 1 under, while Nitties is finished at even par.
Piercy, Klauk and Bettencourt are having their difficulties, though. Piercy is 3 over through 11, Klauk is 4 over through 12 and Bettencourt finished with a 77.
David Mathis, who played his way into The Barclays with a tie for 17th on Sunday in Greensboro, tees off at 12:05 p.m. ET. Marc Leishman's first round gets under way at 1:33 p.m. -- Helen Ross
SURVIVE AND ADVANCE (11:50 a.m.): Any player ranked 42nd or better in the current FedExCup standings is guaranteed to advance to next week's Deutsche Bank Championship outside of Boston. That's good news for Jason Dufner, who's currently 42nd in the standings and not-so-good news for John Mallinger, who dropped from 42nd to 43rd this week.
Looking ahead, the 100th position after The Barclays will likely have somewhere between 600-700 total points. For example, Sergio Garcia currently has 501 points. To continue in the Playoffs, he will probably need to earn at least an additional 100 points this week (or 51st place or better).
Keep in mind this is an estimate based on the most probable outcomes for the event; the actual points value of the 100th position could end up being slightly higher or lower. Given the number of possible outcomes this week, it is difficult to make accurate projections for future playoff events, so we'll have to wait for the weeks to progress, field sizes to reduce and Playoff points rankings begin to take shape. -- Kin Lo
MAY I CUT IN? (11:30 a.m.): After rolling in a 4 foot, 4 inch birdie putt on the picturesque par-3 second -- the Statue of Liberty is in the background as the players hit their tee shots -- Tiger Woods quickly scooted over to the men's room while his playing partners putted out. Often, the players have access to roped-off facilities. But not at the second green, where the closest facilities are public. While Woods was rushed to the head of the line, he still had to wait his turn. But after a security guard offered a polite knock on the door, the occupant soon came out -- no doubt a bit startled to see who was following him. -- Mike McAllister
TIGER UPDATE (11:15 a.m.): Tiger Woods has made the turn at Liberty National, where he started his day on the back nine. So far, Woods has made two birdies nine pars. The good news: He's hit seven of eight fairways, seven of 11 greens in regulation and taken a respectable 17 putts. The better news: He still has two of Liberty National's three par-5s to play, including the sixth, which is playing as the easiest hole on the course right now. (Click here to follow Woods round live with Shot Tracker.). -- Brian Wacker
EASY PICKINGS (11:05 a.m.): The par-5 sixth hole here at Liberty National measures just 548 yards and as a result, perhaps, it's playing as the easiest hole on the golf course with a current stroke average of 4.515. Already, the sixth has yielded three eagles, 15 birdies, just 10 pars and only five bogeys.
Translation: If you're going to score here today, that's a hole to do it on. Half of the 22 players who have gone for the green in two have reached it successfully and 25 of the 33 players who have played the hole have hit the green in regulation with a proximity to the hole a ridiculously low 27 feet, 5 inches for the field. And no one has three-putted it (yet). -- Brian Wacker
GOYDOS GOING LOW (10:55 a.m.): Paul Goydos has made five birdies in his last six holes to move into sole possession of the lead at 6 under.
Goydos' birdie barrage began on the 16th hole when the man they call "Sunshine" rolled in a 12-footer. He added a 15-footer at the 17th to make the turn in 32, then dropped three more putts of 4, 7 and 12 feet as he started the front nine. Goydos had also made a 10-footer at the par-5 13th.
The affable Californian, who has yet to make a bogey, started the week 49th in the FedExCup standings. The top 42 are mathematically safe to advance to next week's Deutsche Bank Championship, but the way he's playing, you've got to believe that Goydos will be there, too. -- Helen Ross
CALC ON THE MARK (10:47 a.m.): Mark Calcavecchia is one of the players who needs a big week to advance in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.
He entered The Barclays ranked 111th and only the top 100 players in the standings at the end of the tournament get to play in next week's Deutsche Bank Championship.
Calcavecchia's making up some ground on Thursday at Liberty National, though. He may have opened with a bogey at the first hole, but the 49-year-old veteran has fought back and he's currently 4 under through 14 holes and tied for the lead.
Calcavecchia has made six birdies and two bogeys. He's birdied all three of Liberty National's par 5s on putts of 12, 6 and 6 feet. He also rolled in a 4-footer at the fifth hole and made a 30-footer from just off the green at the 10th hole. -- Helen Ross
GLOVER LOVING NYC (10:40 a.m.): Lucas Glover is a South Carolinian, but is also a closet New Yorker.
"I've gotten to know some people up here," Glover said yesterday. "I know my way around a little bit. My wife and I enjoy it up here, so it's great."
Like many of the players in the field this week, Glover is staying across the river in Manhattan. Unlike most tournaments, he had an unusual method of getting to the golf course, ferrying back and forth.
"It's a nice perk to be able to stay over there and have fun and still be able to get here in 15 minutes," said Glover, who also attended Tuesday night's Rangers-Yankees game, where he threw out the first pitch.
Glover will tee off today at 1:11 p.m. ET with Phil Mickelson and Kenny Perry. -- Brian Wacker
WEATHER UPDATE (10:29 a.m.): Gray clouds are hanging over the Manhattan skyline this morning. Some sunshine is expected to arrive as the day progresses, but the temperatures will remain in the 70s. Winds from the north/northeast will blow at 6-12 mph and shift to the southeast after 3 p.m.
There is a threat of rain on Friday, though, and the weather is expected to intensify Saturday as Tropical Storm Danny passes by well to the east. There is an 80 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms and winds will be in the 15-25 mph range with higher gusts possible.
Rain remains in the forecast on Sunday with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. -- Helen Ross
TIGER BIRDIES PAR-5 (10:20 a.m.): When Tiger Woods birdies a par 5, it's not big news, right? After all, he leads the PGA TOUR in birdies or better conversion rate on par-5 holes (56.76 percent).
But his failure to maintain that rate cost him in his last start at the PGA Championship when he couldn't hold onto a four-stroke lead entering the weekend. Woods was 0-for-4 in the third round on Hazeltine's par-5s, and just 1-of-4 in the final round as he was caught by Y.E. Yang -- the first time Woods has failed to hold onto a 54-hole lead at the majors.
It looks like Tiger is back on track at Liberty National, though. Starting Thursday's round on the back nine, Woods birdied the first par-5 he faced, the 563-yard 13th, when he reached the green in two, landing his approach shot on the back right edge, thus avoiding the water that guards the pin, which sits near the front edge of the green. Woods then two-putted from 44 feet, 6 inches for his birdie and is 1 under on his round.
The 13th is the only par 5 on the back side. Woods will have two more par-5s on the front, the 548-yard sixth and the 611-yard eight. -- Mike McAllister
UP-AND-DOWN START FOR BYRD (10:10 a.m.): Jonathan Byrd's round has been an adventurous one so far. He started on the 10th hole and made a two-putt par and ended with another on the 18th hole. In between, the South Carolinian made four birdies and three bogeys to shoot 1 under. Byrd's birdie putts came from 21, 4, 9 and 7 feet. He's two strokes off the early lead being held by Robert Allenby, Paul Goydos, Steve Marino and Rod Pampling. -- Helen Ross
TIGER UPDATE (10 a.m.): Much has been made about Tiger Woods' record in the New York City area, but so far today he's off to a good start at 1 under through his first six holes as he plays the par-4 16th, our LIVE@ hole for this week.
Woods has yet to miss a fairway and has hit five of six greens in regulation so far. It's also fair to say his record in the New York City area is actually not as bad as you might think -- he has two wins, including a U.S. Open, and two other top-10s in eight total events played in the region. Of course, the standard is a little higher when you're talking about Woods. Only once, though, has he missed a cut in the New York City area (see chart below and click here to follow Woods' round live with Shot Tracker). -- Brian Wacker
| Tiger Woods in the New York City area | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
VILLEGAS OFF TO ROUGH START (9:40 a.m.): Different year, same result, at least so far anyway. Had Camilo Villegas not missed the cut at last year's Barclays, he could have won the FedExCup. And even though this year's Barclays is being held at a new venue, Villegas is off to another slow start -- he's 3 over through six holes and that includes an eagle on his scorecard.
Villegas bogeyed three of his first four holes with a double bogey on the par-4 third sandwiched in between. He's also hit just two greens in regulation and already taken 11 putts.
Historically, this has been the toughest event for Villegas in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, especially when you consider he hasn't finished outside the top 10 in any of the other events each of the last two years (see chart below).
If Villegas can straighten out his iron play, he should be OK. If not, it could be a short week for the Colombian, who has three top-10s this season and enters this week 35th in the FedExCup standings. -- Brian Wacker
| Camilo Villegas in the Playoffs | |||||||||||||||
|
MAIDEN VOYAGES (9:26 a.m.): Given that Liberty National is hosting a PGA TOUR event for the first time and that just a handful of players in the 124-man field have even played the course prior to this week, it's only natural to expect that the lack of familiarity with the par-71 layout may have an impact on deciding who emerges as The Barclays champion this week.
The players who can adapt the fastest, understand the nuances of Liberty National the quickest, and make the necessary adjustments obviously should have an edge.
"You can be somewhat prepared," said Tiger Woods, who is playing in his first Barclays since 2003. "I won't say completely, because you don't know how the TOUR is going to set it up. You don't know the feel of how they are going to do it.
"I don't know how aggressive they are going to be on pin locations and how tough they are going to make it. The complexes are very difficult. But they could even make the pins even more difficult if they wanted to. So I think that's the feel we are going to get over the next probably two days and we'll have a better idea going into the weekend.
"Generally the first two days, guys go pretty low. Depends how low, is it going to be a few under par or 10 under par, you start to get a feel for that."
Even Phil Mickelson, who is a Liberty National member and has played the course "five or six times," may not have that much of an edge. That's because the course is not a predictable one.
"You can go out there and play, practice for a whole month, and not have the same shot at some of the greens out here," said defending Barclays and FedExCup champion Vijay Singh. "It's so different, so much undulation in them and slopes and bounces. ... It's a really tough golf course. It's long. It's tight. It's grueling. So you've got to bring your game, as well." -- Mike McAllister
THIRD HOLE'S SMALL GREEN (9:15 a.m.): One of the more interesting holes on the course is the 402-yard, par-4 third hole. Not only will the Statue of Liberty be in view for players as they stand on the tee box, but they will be hitting second shots into the smallest -- "and arguably the toughest," said course designer Tom Kite -- green on the course.
"Guys are going to miss that green all day long," said Kite, the Hall-of-Fame golfer who, along with Bob Cupp, designed Liberty National.
Those players who do miss the green will face a tough decision on their third shot -- should they putt it, chip it, hit a flop shot? Their creativity will be put to the test. "You will see the imagination oozing out of them," Kite said. -- Mike McAllister
FIRST-TIMERS (9 a.m.): The PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup are officially here. There are 11 players who are participating in them for the first time. Of the 11, only Y.E. Yang has won a tournament (in Yang's case, two) this season. -- Mike McAllister
|
| Groups We're Watching | ||||||||||||
|
| Live Essentials | ||||
|
Shop your favorite brand name golf equipment and accessories at SHOP.PGATOUR.COM
FAN ZONE
PGATOUR.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network