Slocum's outta-nowhere win at The Barclays? It changed his life

A year ago Heath Slocum was fortunate to even be in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. He slipped in there under the wire, like one of those guys who drops his income tax return at the post office with a minute to spare. Then Slocum did the most unexpected thing: he won. And it changed his life.

THE BARCLAYS

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Slocum went from having to take a three-week vacation to enjoying the security of a two-year exemption. When The TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, the final playoff event, rolled around at East Lake Golf Club, Slocum had a chance to win the big money.

This week he's the defending champion at The Barclays, although the event has moved back to the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J., where it was held in 2008. It puts him in the odd position of defending his title at a different course. None of that matters to Slocum, who is happy to be on the right side of the fence this year.

"It is a bit different," Slocum said. "I still feel confident. I feel good. You come in and you kind of have to relive a little bit of what happened last year, which is a good thing, because it just starts putting those same memories into my head. So my job this week is to take that confidence, put last year's win out of my mind and go play golf and enjoy it."

A year ago Slocum made a crucial birdie on the final hole, which enabled him to hold off a World Golf Hall of Fame list of challengers that included Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington and Tiger Woods.

"A win is a win regardless of who you play against or who you beat at what golf courses," Slocum said. "But confidence wise, just for your own self, to know that you came out on top with the quality of the field and the guys finishing second, those were pretty big names with nice pedigrees behind them."

The win was good enough to propel Slocum into The TOUR Championship and give him a chance to win the FedExCup. It also afforded him new scheduling opportunities. Barclays offered him a spot in the Barclays Scottish Open, which he accepted. And while playing with the president of the French Golf Federation, Slocum was invited to play in the Alstom French, which he also accepted. Those two events, coupled with an appearance in the Open Championship at St. Andrews, put Slocum on the continent for a month.

"I had pretty much secured my place in the FedEx, so I took a chance with missing some tournaments with some points to play golf in other places," said Slocum, who starts the week No. 50 in the points list. "It was a long trip, but it was fun. I was a good experience."

Now that he's a world traveler, Slocum is planning to compete in the World Golf Championships-HSBC in China in November, then possibly an event in Malaysia.

"I'm thinking, why not make a year of it," Slocum said.

But first things first. Right now his mind is on getting back to East Lake Golf Club in his adopted hometown of Atlanta, where he's competed in The TOUR Championship for two of the last three years.

"Last year I felt like my game wasn't in bad shape. I just couldn't put anything together," Slocum said. "This year I've done a better job of putting and had some flashes of brilliance in the middle of the season. That's where I'm trying to get back to."

Starting with the Masters, where he tied for 18th, Slocum had a very nice run. He nearly won at Hilton Head, where he tied for eighth, and tied for fourth at The PLAYERS Championship. Throw in a tie for 12th at the HP Byron Nelson Championship and sixth at the St. Jude Classic presented by Smith & Nephew and you can see what Slocum didn't have any worries about qualifying for the Playoffs this year.

Now it starts over again and Slocum is looking forward to the four-week sprint to the finish line. He plans to take the same approach into the Playoffs and view them as an opportunity to peel away the pressure and simply play.

"It was a mindset I was trying to get into that whole year, just going in and playing golf," he said. "I will say that expectations get in the way of all of us golfers and I would say that I haven't done that as well this year. At times I have, but that's the battle, to go in without expectations. That doesn't mean you don't want to play to win. It means you're living in the moment, playing golf and just allowing yourself to play good golf."

Who knows, you might even roll in a big putt that will change your life.

Stan Awtrey is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.