Brian Gay shot a 5-under 66, one shot off the pace, in Thursday’s first round. In doing so, he hit 11 of 14 fairways, a success rate of 78.6 percent.

That’s no surprise, given that Gay is one of the PGA TOUR’s most accurate drivers. He ranks third in driving accuracy this year, was sixth last year, 17th in 2008 and ninth in 2007.

But it’s in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup that Gay really shows off his accuracy off the tee.

No player in the first three years of the Playoffs has been more accurate than Gay. In 34 Playoffs rounds coming into this week, Gay has hit 76.5 percent of his fairways.

The second-most accurate player in the Playoffs, Heath Slocum, also played well on Thursday. The defending Barclays champion opened with a bogey-free 4-under 67. Like Gay, he hit 11 of 14 fairways.

Here’s the ShotLink stats for driving accuracy in the first three years of the Playoffs (minimum of 18 rounds).

ALL-TIME DRIVING ACCURACY LEADERS IN THE  PLAYOFFS