FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Sunday’s final round of The Barclays, the opening event in the FedExCup Playoffs, is finished. Here’s a look at the key FedExCup moves and notes from the Black Course at Bethpage State Park.

FEDEXCUP: Official standings | FedExCup Tracker

NO. 1 WATCH: Nick Watney, who won The Barclays by three shots, is the new FedExCup points leader. With points in the Playoffs quintupled, Watney received 2,500 points to take over the No. 1 spot from Tiger Woods. Barclays runner-up Brandt Snedeker also received enough points (1,500) to pass Woods. Snedeker is now second while Woods drops to third.

A year ago, Watney opened the Playoffs ranked No. 1 in points in the regular season. But he did not take advantage of his position and eventually finished ninth. Now a year – and a week – later, he’s No. 1 again.

“With the way things were going, I don’t know if anybody would have expected this this week,” Watney said. “But you know, Bill Haas proved last year that if you make it to Atlanta, you have a chance. … The way they have the FedExCup formatted, it’s pretty neat. You need to be in Atlanta.

“So I wanted to have a good week. And to be No. 1 now is amazing.”

BIGGEST MOVERS: The biggest moves by players at The Barclays in the FedExCup standings.

Player	Scoreboard position	FEC rank last week	FEC rank after Barclays	Movement
Graham DeLaet	T5	106	44	+62
Brian Harman	T5	97	41	+56
Nick Watney	Won	49	1	+48
Bob Estes	T10	103	62	+41
David Hearn	T10	108	67	+41

BUBBLE WATCH: Roberto Castro, who started the week as the FedExCup bubble boy at No. 100, successfully kept his spot inside the bubble by finishing at 1 under for the tournament, good enough for a tie for 24th. That moves him to 80th in the standings.

Next week’s bubble boy at the Deutsche Bank Championship is Brian Davis, who is 70th in points. Only the top 70 after the Deutsche Bank Championship advance to the BMW Championship.

TOP FIVE WATCH:  Only the top five entering the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola control their fate. The top five after The Barclays are: 1. Nick Watney; 2. Brandt Snedeker; 3. Tiger Woods; 4. Rory McIlroy; 5. Zach Johnson.

Jason Dufner, who was ranked No. 2 entering The Barclays but did not play this week, dropped to No. 6.

MOVING IN/FALLING OUT: Only the top 100 in FedExCup points will advance to next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship. Here’s a look at the six players outside the top 100 who moved inside and the players who fell outside the top 100. (Last year, eight players from outside the top 100 entering The Barclays moved into the top 100 after the tournament).  * – Missed cut

Moving in	Movement	Falling out	Movement
Graham DeLaet	106 to 44	*John Mallinger	88 to 101
Bob Estes	103 to 62	*Will Claxton	89 to 102
David Hearn	108 to 67	*Chad Campbell	91 to 104
Jason Day	113 to 88	Fredrik Jacobson	95 to 105
Tommy Gainey	102 to 91	*Andres Romero	93 to 106
Jonas Blixt	101 to 97	*Chris Stroud	99 to 110

ELIMINATED PLAYERS: Click here for an alphabetical list of the 25 players who were officially eliminated from the FedExCup Playoffs.

ODDS AND ENDS: Just two players who started the Playoffs inside the top 20 improved their positions – Brandt Snedeker, who went from 19th to 2nd, and Luke Donald, who went from 16th to 14th. Everybody else took a step back …

Rookie Bud Cauley used a tie for 10th at The Barclays (thanks to a 4-under 67 on Sunday) to move from 35th to 26th in the standings. That gives him an inside shot at advancing to the TOUR Championship, and certainly puts him in the next two events. “It’s great,” Cauley said. “Nice to be able to play the next couple of weeks but obviously the big goal is to get in the TOUR Championship.” …

Nick Watney is only the second player to be ranked No. 1 in consecutive years at any point in the FedExCup Playoffs. Watney, as mentioned above, went into last year ranked No. 1; now he’s No. 1 after Sunday’s win. Tiger Woods was ranked No. 1 in winning the FedExCup in 2007, the entered 2008 ranked No. 1 (an injured Woods didn’t play in the Playoffs that year). Tiger, incidentally, made it three straight years when he was won the FedExCup again in 2009.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Sergio Garcia was extremely gracious and at times, positively philosophical, after squandering a two-stroke advantage to Nick Watney at The Barclays on Sunday.

Granted, the Spaniard was disappointed with the 75 he shot on the treacherous Black Course at Bethpage State Park that snapped a string of seven straight rounds in the 60s and cost him a shot at a second consecutive PGA TOUR win.

But Garcia fielded each question in his press conference with candor and good humor, obviously relaxed and content with the state of his game.

Someone wondered, for example, if he had thought about what might have happened had he made that 6-footer for a birdie at the fourth hole or the 10-footer at No. 7. But the 32-year-old veteran, who did birdie No. 6 and was still clinging to the lead at the holes in question, refused to revisit the past. 

"You know, obviously MetLife is the only one that has the ifs in life," a grinning Garcia said, alluding to the slogan of the insurance giant that sponsors the blimp hovering in the sky. “We don't go with ifs here:  If this would have gone in; if I would have hit a better shot on 8, you never know. It's still 10 under there. There's so many ifs that you could say about."

The truth is, Garcia, who had broken a four-year victory drought on Monday, just didn't feel as comfortable as he had in the first three rounds.

Garcia had trouble reading the greens that looked as baked as they had been Saturday but with overnight water weren't as fast. He hit the wrong shot at the wrong time, too – like the one into a bunker and the next that skidded through the green at the par-3 eighth, contributing to the first of a pair of two-shot swings.
   
"Yesterday, I felt really, really at ease," Garcia said. "I felt really, really calm. I didn't feel nervous at all.  Today I was a little bit jumpy. I could feel that I wasn't quite there. So that doesn't mean that I didn't try as hard as I could, and at the end of the day, there can only be one winner, and Nick obviously deserved the win more than I did.'

Still, Garcia couldn't be too disappointed with the way he performed over the last two weeks. And with his tie for third, the ebullient Spaniard has now posted three top-10s on an extremely stern test in the Black Course, two of which came in U.S. Opens.

"It's been two very good weeks," Garcia said. "Obviously I would loved to finish in a different way. But to me, to be able to win last week and put myself in contention here again this week, I had a good shot at winning this tournament on this golf course, which is really, really tough and is testing you all the time. It was good.

"I would have loved to do a little bit better, but you know, there's always things that you can improve on, and you know, that's what I want to try to do."

Garcia, who played his way onto the European Ryder Cup team with the win at the Wyndham Championship six days ago, plans to take this week off. Obviously, he risks losing ground in the FedExCup by not playing at the Deutsche Bank Championship, but Garcia, who has played four straight weeks -- including two handling the pressure of contention -- wants to be rested for the stretch run.

"I think it's great," Garcia said when asked about the momentum he’s gained over the last two weeks. "I think it's been a great way to kind of start finishing the year here in the U.S., it obviously gives me a lot of confidence. I still have a couple more weeks hopefully with Indianapolis and TOUR Championship.
   
"So hopefully I'll be able to play well there, too, and then have a strong Ryder Cup for my team, for The European Team, and then I'll take a nice rest that I'll need.”

By Fred Albers, PGA TOUR.COM Correspondent FARMINGDALE, N.Y. --Nick Watney won The Barclays with his ball striking. He hit his first 15 greens and wound up hitting 17 of 18, despite some inconsistent driving. Watney led the tournament in birdies making 23 of them including six in the last round. He did take an unusually large amount of putts, 34 in the final round, but that’s a reflection of his hitting 17 greens. Watney ranked 16th in strokes gained - putting this week and that’s a huge improvement over his performance this season. Watney came into The Barclays ranked 122nd on TOUR in the statistic. Green speed: Sergio Garcia lamented his putting in the final round and said green speed was one reason for the inconsistency. The greens were watered on Saturday night and were much slower on Sunday. Garcia also regretted his par 5 performance. He did not birdie a single par 5 in the final round. Rules quiz: Tiger Woods had an interesting situation in the final round. He hit his tee shot into the water hazard fronting the eighth green. His ball was inside the yellow demarcation line but just outside the water. A marshal marked the ball in the hazard with a red flag. When Woods arrived at the ball, he asked the marshal to remove the flag, saying he did not know if he could touch something in a hazard. Woods then chipped to 20 feet and made “par of the day” by sinking the putt. What about touching that flag in the hazard? It would have been fine, similar to removing a rake in a bunker. Woods just wanted to err on the side of caution. New grip: It was almost exactly a year ago, Phil Mickelson experiment with a long putter. This season he is working on the “brush stroke.” Mickelson modified his grip while putting for the weekend rounds, using something similar to a modified claw. How did it turn out? Mickelson took 28 and 30 putts on Thursday and Friday then took 28 and 30 putts on the weekend. He made eight birdies in the first 36 holes and seven birdies on the last 36. Wind direction: The Black Course at Bethpage State Park was much different for the final round. Greens had to be saturated overnight to result in such a dramatic change in speed. It was noticeable on the first hole where putts repeatedly came up short of the cup. There was also a change in wind direction. It blew out of the east for the first time this week. Players had to make quick adjustments. Tiger stroke: It was not a good weekend of putting for Tiger Woods. After taking 28 putts on Thursday and 29 on Friday, he had 31 and 30 strokes on the weekend. Woods ended the tournament ranked 41st for the week in strokes gained - putting. It appears to me, Woods gets quick in transition, which does not give the blade time to close. He frequently missed putts to the right of the cup. It’s the exact same stroke he struggled with at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Fred Albers is a course reporter for SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio. For more information on SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio, click here .

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Nick Watney moved to the top of the FedExCup standings Sunday by winning The Barclays, the opening event in the FedExCup Playoffs.

Watney won by three strokes, outdueling playing partner Sergio Garcia, who had entered the final round with a two-shot lead.

A year ago, Watney entered the FedExCup Playoffs ranked No. 1 in points but didn’t make an impact in the four events. This year he entered 49th in points and still searching for his first win of the year. Now he’s No. 1.

“I feel amazing,” Watney said. “It’s been a long season. It was a really long round. It wasn’t always pretty but to win on this course is amazing. … I’m just super-excited.”

Watney shot a 2-under 69 to finish at 10 under while Garcia shot 4-over 75. Garcia, with a bogey on his final hole, finished at 7 under and in a tie for third with defending Barclays champion Dustin Johnson.

Brandt Snedeker, who shot 70, finished solo second.

Garcia was looking for his second consecutive PGA TOUR win, having claimed the weather-delayed Wyndham Championship on Monday.

“Obviously I didn’t play the way I know I could play,” Garcia said. “To me, to be able to win last week and put myself in contention this week .. it was good. Would’ve loved to do a little bit better.”

With points in the Playoffs quintupled, Watney received 2,500 points for the win. Snedeker moved into second place in the FedExCup standings. Regular season leader Tiger Woods dropped to third after shooting a final-round 76 to finish at 1 over. Garcia moves to 10th in points.

Six players from outside the top 100 in points played their way into next week's Deutsche Bank Championship: Graham DeLaet, Bob Estes, David Hearn, Jason Day, Tommy Gainey and Jonas Blixt.

The six players who fell outside the top 100 were: John Mallinger, Will Claxton, Chad Campbell, Andres Romero, Chris Stroud and Fredrik Jacobson. Of those six, only Jacobson made the cut this week but he shot 79-73 on the weekend to fall below the top 100 cutoff.

Watney had a superior ball-striking round with his irons on Sunday, hitting 17 of 18 greens at the Bethpage State Park Black Course that turned extremely difficult on the weekend, particularly on the greens.

“It was so tough to play the last two days,” Snedeker said. “The greens were just as firm as I can remember on TOUR; the fairways were as firm as I can remember on TOUR.

“Just a great test of golf, and more importantly, a great test of how mentally strong you could stay on the course over the last 36 holes.”

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Catching up with a few of the notables and how they finished at The Barclays:

TIGER WOODS – Was 5 under through two rounds but struggled on the weekend, shooting 72-76 to finish at 1 over. His round on Sunday included a back-nine 40. Woods three-putted five greens on the weekend, including a career-high four in the third round. His ball-striking disappeared in the final round, as he hit just six of 18 greens after hitting at least 12 in each of the first three days. Suffered a sore back this week but it didn’t prevent him from playing. He dropped from first to third in the FedExCup standings.

PHIL MICKELSON – Shot 76 in the final round, same as Woods, to finish at 1 over. Had seven bogeys on Sunday, including five in a eight-hole stretch. Putted with a modified claw grip for the first time Saturday and finished 18th in the field in strokes gained-putting.

LEE WESTWOOD – Quietly moved up the leaderboard Sunday with a final-round 1-under 70 to finish tied for fifth in his first start in a FedExCup Playoffs event. Moved from 51st to 27th in points. Ranked second in field in proximity to hole, just ahead of eventual winner Nick Watney.

LUKE DONALD – Finished top 10; what’s new? It’s his seventh top-10 of the season and third in his last four starts. Shot 69-70 in tough conditions on the weekend to finish at 3 under.

BUBBA WATSON – Masters champ joined Donald at 3 under with a consistent performance – three rounds in the 70s, with a final-round 71. Hit just four fairways on Sunday. Feel from fifth to seventh in FedExCup points.

RICKIE FOWLER --  Suffered a double bogey in each of his final two rounds to finish1 under for the tournament. Was in contention until midway through his third round, as he finished with 6 over in his last seven holes. Dropped from 18th to 19th in FedExCup points.

RORY McILROY – Said his putting let him down on the weekend, although he shot a 2-under 69 in tough Saturday conditions. Stats bear him out – he ranked last in the field in strokes gained-putting. Dropped from third to fourth in FedExCup points.

STEVE STRICKER – Mr. September was 5 under for the tournament seven holes into Saturday’s round and appeared to be moving into contention. But then he bogeyed four of the next five holes and was a collective 8 over on his last 29 holes to finish at 3 over. Dropped from 10th to 16th in points.

ERNIE ELS – British Open champ opened with a 68 but was a collective 6 over after that. Dropped from 11th to 18th in points.

· Nick Watney won The Barclays with a final round in which he hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation. It ties a career high for Watney in greens in regulation in any round on the PGA TOUR In the last five years, only four other players have hit 17 greens in regulation in the final round to win: Bo Van Pelt at the 2009 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, Hunter Mahan at the 2010 Waste Management Phoenix Open, Geoff Ogilvy at the 2010 Hyundai Tournament of Champions, and Brandt Snedeker at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year.

· Sergio Garcia entered the final round of The Barclays with a two-stroke lead but shot a final round 4-over 75. It is the worst score in a round on the TOUR in which he entered the round in the lead by himself.

· Tiger Woods struggled in the final round of The Barclays with a 76 that included six bogeys and a double-bogey. Seven holes played over par ties the second-most holes over par that Woods has ever had in a final round on TOUR. In the final round of the 2010 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational Woods had six bogeys and two double-bogeys.

· Graham DeLaet posted the lowest round of the day with a final round 65 at The Barclays. It is the fifth time since 2010 that DeLaet has posted the lowest round of the day on TOUR. Amazingly this is only the 52nd event on the PGA TOUR for the Canadian since 2010. Some notable players who have had at least a share of the lowest score in a round five times on TOUR since 2010 include Garcia, Woods, Keegan Bradley and Vijay Singh. The leader in that category since 2010 is Phil Mickelson with 13.

Nick Watney won for the first time this season on Sunday, shooting a final-round 69 that included a birdie on the final hole for a three-shot victory at The Barclays. With the win, Watney moves to the top of the FedExCup standings after the first of four Playoffs events. Send him a note of congratulations here and we’ll pass it along.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – With the final round of The Barclays now complete, here are the 25 players who did not make the top 100 going into the Deutsche Bank Championship and were eliminated from the FedExCup Playoffs (in alphabetical order):

Click here for standings

Robert Allenby – Missed the cut

Jason Bohn – Missed the cut

Chad Campbell – Missed the cut (started week inside top 100)

Kevin Chappell – Missed the cut

Gary Christian – Finished tied for 46th at 2 over

Will Claxton – Missed the cut (started week inside top 100)

James Driscoll – Finished 75th at 11 over

Harrison Frazar – Missed the cut

Brian Gay – Finished tied for 54th at 3 over

Trevor Immelman – Finished tied for 67th at 7 over

Fredrik Jacobson – Finished tied for 67th at 7 over (started week inside top 100)

Jerry Kelly – Missed the cut

Troy Kelly – Finished tied for 54th at 3 over

Colt Knost – Missed the cut

Davis Love III – Missed the cut

Jeff Maggert – Finished tied for 73rd at 9 over

John Mallinger – Missed the cut (started week inside top 100)

Billy Mayfair – Finished tied for 46th at 2 over

Rod Pampling – Finished tied for 4th at 2 over

Andres Romero – Missed the cut (started week inside top 100)

Heath Slocum – Missed the cut

Henrik Stenson – Finished tied for 54th at 3 over

Kevin Streelman – Finished tied for 63rd at 5 over

Chris Stroud – Missed the cut (started week inside top 100)

Boo Weekley – Missed the cut

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Bob Estes had visions of winning The Barclays after 36 holes. Instead, he’ll get a spot in next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship.

Estes, who started the week ranked 103rd in FedExCup points, shot a final-round 3-over 74 to finish at 3 under for the tournament, tied for 10th. That will project him to 62nd in the FedExCup standings, which puts him in next week’s event and gives him an excellent shot at reaching the 70-man BMW Championship.

Estes was tied for third after 36 holes at 7 under but shot 72-74 on the weekend to drop out of contention.

Still, he will make his first start at the Deutsche Bank Championship since 2009.