
PARAMUS, N.J. -- Lest we forget, he's right there on the leaderboard.
Heath Slocum, who came out of FedExCup no-man's land last year to win The Barclays, is tied for 14th at 4 under. He's the man who made the 2009 PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup by a mere two points, then caught lightning in a bottle at Liberty National, and eventually finished eighth in the FedExCup race.
Slocum is hardly in that category this year, though. He entered the Playoffs ranked 50th -- more than likely safe for at least the first three Playoffs events -- after a solid season that has featured three top-10s to date.
So who's this year's Slocum? Who'll be the Playoffs' Cinderfella? In looking at the top 13 players on The Barclays leaderboard going into this weekend, there are several worthy candidates.
Not tournament leader Jason Day, of course. The 22-year-old won the HP Byron Nelson Championship earlier this year and tied for third at the AT&T National to come in ranked 28th in the FedExCup. He played with the eventual champ, Martin Kaymer, on Sunday at the PGA, too, so the young Aussie must be doing something right.
Not the two major champions, either. Stewart Cink, the 2009 British Open champ is two strokes behind, and three-time major winner Padraig Harrington is tied for seventh. Each is looking for some Ryder Cup love this week, not the slipper with the glass spikes.
But two of the lucky 13 -- Kevin Streelman and Ryuji Imada -- came to New Jersey fighting for their Playoffs lives, ranked outside the top 100 that will make the field for next week's Deutsche Bank Championship. Streelman, tied for second behind Day, came in 102nd while Imada, who is three strokes off the pace, was 107th.
Three others are ranked in the 90s in FedExCup points, trying to hang onto their spots at TPC Boston. One of those, John Senden, who led most of the afternoon until he made double bogey from the bushes at the 16th hole, is for all intents the current bubble boy at No. 99 after Jeff Maggert withdrew due to a shoulder injury.
Senden, who hasn't won since 2006, is now tied with Martin Laird, who ranks No. 95, at 6 under. Laird missed the Playoffs last year, then quietly picked up his first PGA TOUR victory last year in the Fall Series at the Justin Timberlake Shriner's Hospitals for Children Open.
But in 2008, the quiet Scotsman came from 164th at the start of the Wyndham Championship to make the Playoffs and stuck around for the first three before being eliminated. So he knows how things can turn on a dime.
So does Webb Simpson, who ranks 94th and is three strokes off the lead. He entered the Playoffs with some momentum -- finally -- after picking up his first top-10 of the season at Greensboro on Sunday where he closed with a 63 after reassessing his goals with his dad, his coach and his wife.
"We all worked really hard on my swing and kind of my mental process," said Simpson, who is looking for his first PGA TOUR win. "So it was great last week to have some great results that quickly. ... We didn't necessarily put a premium on winning. We just want to give ourselves a chance to be there at the end of the year.
"So I'm focused on that, and trying to take it one day at a time."
Streelman, like Simpson still seeking his first win, has the benefit of history at Ridgewood, though. His parents grew up nearby and his grandparents' final resting place is in a cemetery adjacent to the seventh hole. Family, friends and frat brothers playing hookey from their jobs in New York City have been offering support, too.
More importantly, though, is the confidence he gained two years ago when he tied for fourth the first time The Barclays was played at Ridgewood. He took a one-stroke lead into the final round, shot 72 and ended up one stroke shy of the playoff within the Playoffs between Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia and Kevin Sutherland.
"I'll never forget that applause," Streelman said, remembering his walk that Sunday to the 18th green. "It felt like I was one of their sons here."
Like the rest of the current contenders, Streelman knows he has a "ton" of work to do before anyone, perferrably him, hoists that trophy on Sunday night.
"I hopefully want to give myself a shot come Sunday," he said. Maybe the slipper will fit, too.
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