The Starter, Round 1: The Barclays

The first round of The Barclaysis set to begin Thursday. Here's a preview:

Groups We're Watching

Tee time Players   7:10 a.m. ET No. 1 Tiger Woods, Cameron Beckman, Troy Matteson Tiger needs to get started fast to move on in the Playoffs, and being in the first group will allow him to play on a softer course than afternoon players. 17:54 a.m. ET, No. 10 Bo Van Pelt, Anthony Kim, Camilo Villegas They're all ranked high in the FedExCup standings, but none have a win since the first weekend of April. 1:16 p.m. ET, No. 1 Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Jeff Overton Mickelson is looking for his first FedExCup while Overton has been oh so close to his first career victory with five top-3 finishes in 2010.

MORE ROUND 1: Tee times | Inside the field | Inside the course

EXPERT PREVIEW: PGA TOUR NETWORK on-site correspondent Brett Wright previews Thursday's action:

Charge your calculators -- it's FedExCup Playoffs time. The PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup start Thursday at the famous Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J. The Playoffs bring new meaning to the term numbers game. The key to the Playoffs is knowing who is on a bubble -- and there are more bubbles than you used to see in a duet on the Lawrence Welk show -- Wunnerful, Wunnerful. The players who can keep their position above each week's cut line will continue advancing to the next stage and ultimately to the TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

Thursday's forecast

Sunny Temp: 86 high/59 low Chance of precipitation 10 percent. Winds from W around 15 mph.

For example, Jeff Maggert is ranked 100th starting this week, but Kevin Streelman is at 102 and must move into the top 100 to advance to the Deutsche Bank Championship next week. Even further back is Scott Piercy, who squeaked in the Playoffs at 125. Piercy needs to pass 25 players to continue his Playoffs' run.

Also, look forward to week three at the BMW Championship, which has a field of 70. Compare Justin Leonard, ranked 70th and currently in, to Kenny Perry who at 71st is outside looking in. Watch the exciting quick projections on the scoreboards and here at PGATOUR.com to keep up with your favorite players' positions. Even No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking Tiger Woods needs to climb into the top 100 from his current position of 112.

The golf course this week is really intriguing to me and I am sure it will receive great reviews from the field. The golf course designer of Ridgewood is A.W. Tillinghast, who constructed this layout in 1929. It's a great classical design. The field will actually play a compilation from the three nine-hole courses here at Ridgewood, including seven holes from the East nine, five holes from the Central nine and six holes from the West nine. The 17th hole is actually one of Tillinghast subtle trademark holes, a double-dogleg par five.

The golf course received 2.5 inches of rain earlier this week and more rain on Wednesday. These conditions, similar to Sedgefield last week at the Wyndham Championship, will allow players to take dead aim at hole locations and have less fear of being above the hole. The greens will hold any well-struck shot and they will not be quick enough to discourage aggressive play. Look for some really low scores in Thursday's first round. One player in particular I expect to finally go low is Tiger Woods, who is in the first group off No. 1 at 7:10 a.m. ET. The greens will be receptive and perfect for the "dew sweepers," and with Woods still receiving plenty of off-course attention, he has an opportunity to squelch all critics with a vintage Tiger round.

The Film Room

Preview: The Barclays Get ready for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Casey Black previews the opening round of The Barclays. Watch it Fantasy Insider: The Barclays Need help with your fantasy picks for the 2010 Barclays? John Swantek and the Fantasy Insider can help! Watch it FedExCup Update David Toms and Justin Leonard moved up the rankings at the Wyndham Championship where Scott Piercy did just enough to slide into the final spot in this week's event. Watch it

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