Looking Back at the Barclays

It’s Monday, so let’s talk about the golf action that took place over the weekend at the Barclays in New Jersey.

Trading Places

So be honest, who really thought that Heath Slocum would be the one that would come out of the final round as the winner? He had four guys behind him that are all stars of the game, but yet Slocum hit the putt on 18 that I gave him no chance of hitting.

After he and Steve Stricker hit their tee shots into the bunker on the final hole, you just knew that Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington, and Ernie Els were licking their chops, and getting ready for a playoff. I was pretty exciting at the prospect of seeing a Tiger-Paddy-Ernie-Stricker-Slocum playoff, as that would have made for some great drama and suspense.

But Slocum gave us that suspense anyways on that final putt, and shot down my hopes and dreams of seeing that star-studded playoff.

However, instead of blaming Slocum, maybe it’s Woods whose to blame. After all, did anyone expect him to miss that putt on 18? I thought for sure it would go in, but it never even had a chance. Roles were reversed yesterday at Liberty National, as Slocum was the one hitting a Tiger-like putt on the final hole, and locking up a huge win in the process.

All in all though, it was a dramatic Sunday, and very enjoyable to watch. Glad to see Paddy make a run towards the top of the leaderboard, as there’s no doubt in my mind that he has finally turned the corner, and is back to the Paddy of old.

Speaking of turning the corner, Els has been playing some great golf lately, and showed that again yesterday. Like Harrington, he’s a first-class guy, so I love it when those two are playing well. It makes the game a whole lot better. I think we’ll see both of those guys in contention this week at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Is Shorter Better?

Another hot topic this week was the course itself. It seemed as though some players liked it, some players hated it. It’s safe to say that Tiger wasn’t shy about giving his feelings on the course. After the third round on Saturday, he commented on the “ladies tees,” and then after the final round yesterday, he talked about the tricky greens.

While I’m sure there were players that liked it, including Harrington, who called it a major course, Woods was obviously on the other side of the spectrum. I didn’t play the course, so I can’t make a judgment on whether or not is was fair. From a TV standpoint, there were times when the course looked good, and times when it looked a little odd.

It will probably take a few more tournaments on the course to really be able to gauge whether or not this can become a major destination. At first glance, this is a place that might not get much admiration, though it does have a unique setting. There will certainly be some tweaks here and there on the course, especially the greens, but we should probably reserve judgment on the course as a whole until we see another tournament there in the future.

Mass Confusion

Want to know how far Slocum moved up in the FedEx Cup standings after the win? How about 121 spots. Yes, that’s right. 121 spots. I believe a guy should certainly move up with a victory, but going from near the very bottom to near the very top after one win? I’m not sure about that.

Again, it’s clear that the PGA Tour wants us to buy into the whole “worst to first” mentality, and it showed just how accurate this can be after the win yesterday.

I would sit here and try to explain my position on this, but I simply don’t know how to, because this format makes no sense. So honestly, your guess is as good as mine when it comes to figuring out this whole playoff format.

Good luck.