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Final-round notebook – THE BARCLAYS

by Wire Services, August 30, 2009  * Tiger Woods, remained No. 1 in the FedExCup Standings

Tiger Woods made his 250th start on the PGA Tour, and for the first time in his professional career in a stroke-play event, he’s played with the same player for the fourth consecutive day.

Woods was paired with Zach Johnson for all 72 holes at Liberty National and the two posted identical scores the first three days (70-72-67). Woods and Johnson were paired together in the first two rounds due to their proximity on the regular-season FedExCup points list -- Woods entered The Barclays ranked first with Johnson third. Second-ranked Steve Stricker was the other member of their threesome. Woods shot 67 on Sunday while Johnson posted 76.

 * Heath Slocum holed a 21 foot putt for par at the final hole of regulation to shoot 4-under 67 and win The Barclays by one stroke over four players who tied for second – Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker. Slocum finished at 9-under 275. Nick Watney and Fredrik Jacobson tied for sixth at 7-under 277.

 * The win for Heath Slocum moves him from 124th on the FedExCup standings to third, behind Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker. It also guarantees him a start at THE Tour Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

 * Heath Slocum entered the week at No. 197 on the Official World Golf Ranking. Woods (1), Stricker (60), Harrington (11) and Els (25) all began the week ranked in the top-25.

 * Players who make THE Tour Championship field gain entry to the following events in 2010:
1. Masters Tournament
2. U.S. Open
3. British Open
4. World Golf Championships-CA Championship
5. All Invitationals, except the SBS Championship.
6. All full-field, open Tournaments

 * The Barclays win also earns starts at the 2009 WGC-HSBC Champions and the 2010 SBS Championship.

 * Heath Slocum captured his third PGA Tour win coming from four strokes back after 54-holes at The Barclays. He was tied for the lead through 54-holes at the 2004 Chrysler Classic of Tucson and was one stroke behind after 54-holes at the 2005 Southern Farm Bureau Classic, his two previous PGA Tour victories.

 * The largest come-from-behind victories in The Barclays history:
Five strokes 1993, Vijay Singh (shot 66 on Sunday)
1973, Bobby Nichols (shot 65 on Sunday)
Four strokes 2009, Heath Slocum (shot 67 on Sunday)
2004, Sergio Garcia (shot 67 on Sunday)
1975, Gene Littler (shot 66 on Sunday)
1969, Frank Beard (shot 67 on Sunday)

 * Heath Slocum’s previous victory in 2005 came in the last event of the season, 111 starts ago.

 * Heath Slocum recorded his third top-10 finish of the 2009 season.

 * Heath Slocum has now made five starts at The Barclays with a previous-best T14 finish in 2007.

 * Heath Slocum earned the largest check of his career with The Barclays victory ($1,350,000) making it the sixth consecutive season breaking $1 million in earnings. He also passed $10 million in career earnings.

 * Ernie Els, moved from No. 47 in FexExCup points to 11
Ernie Els’ 5-under 66 in the final round boosted him to a T2 finish at The Barclays, an event he has won twice before (1996, 1997). This is Els’ seventh top-5 finish at The Barclays, the most in Tournament history (heading into the 2009 event, he was tied with Vijay Singh – who missed the cut this year – with six top 10s). Els has now recorded six top-10 finishes this season, including four in his last six starts.

 * Ernie Els used a back-up driver in Sunday’s final round after his regular driver-head cracked before the final round. He hit 12 of 14 fairways, his best result for the week.

 * Steve Marino, moved from No. 30 in FedExCup points to 23
Steve Marino has made more birdies on Tour than any other player in the last three years. Marino posted 292 birdies in 2007 to rank 7th in Total Birdies. He was second behind Kenny Perry (319) in 2008 with 317 birdies and this season he has recorded 318 birdies through The Barclays - a total of 927 birdies.

Steve Marino’s T15 was his best finish at The Barclays. He missed the cut in 2007 and T69 in 2008.

 * Webb Simpson, moved from No. 85 in FedExCup points to 41
Webb Simpson is now the highest-ranked rookie on the FedExCup standings at No. 41. Jeff Klauk, who missed the cut this week, dropped from 60th to 79th. Along with James Nitties (91st), Marc Leishman (93rd) and Scott Piercy (96th) they are the only remaining rookies in THE PLAYOFFS.

 * Steve Stricker, remained at No. 2 in FedExCup points
His top-10 finish this week is Stricker’s fifth top 10 in a PGA Tour Playoff event.
Most top 10s in PGA Tour Playoffs
Player Starts 2007 2008 Top 10s Wins
Camilo Villegas 9 3 3 6 2
Sergio Garcia 9 2 3 5 0
Steve Stricker 9 3 1 5 1

Stricker’s nine top-10 finishes are second on the PGA Tour in 2009 (Tiger Woods – 12).

Stricker is one of three players who have played in all 36 rounds of the FedExCup before the start of The Barclays.
Player 07 Finish 08 Finish
Jim Furyk 11th 5th
Sergio Garcia 9th 3rd
Steve Stricker 2nd 14th

Stricker also leads the PGA Tour Playoffs for most rounds in the 60s
Player PGA Tour Playoffs Rounds in the 60s
Steve Stricker 25
Sergio Garcia 21

 * Dustin Johnson, moved from No. 19 in FedExCup points to No. 20
Dustin Johnson, a winner earlier this year at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, carded the lowest round of The Barclays during the final round with a bogey-free 64 (-7). Johnson was T51 after 54 holes, but thanks to seven birdies, including five birdies on the back nine, he climbed to T15.

Much of Johnson’s 7-under par score can be attributed to the two birdies and an eagle he made on the par 4 16th. On Thursday, Johnson made a 19’ 5” putt for birdie. On Friday, he chipped in from 36’ 6” for eagle. On Saturday, he made par after his birdie attempt stopped just 5 inches from the hole. And during the final round, he chipped in again for eagle from 16’ 5” off the back of the green.

Miscellaneous

 * Chris Riley, ranked T17 in Putting Average on Tour this season, missed a putt for par from 5 feet, 6 inches on the 72nd hole to finished No. 103 on the FedExCup standings, 5 points behind No. 100 Daniel Chopra. Only the top 100 progress to next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship for the second Playoff event. Riley made par the 18th hole the first three rounds.

 * Bogey-free rounds this week:
Thursday: Padraig Harrington (67); Justin Leonard (68); Lee Janzen (68).
Friday: None
Saturday: Bo Van Pelt (66); Greg Owen (65); Jonathan Byrd (67); Brandt Snedeker (67); Steve Stricker (68)
Sunday: Dustin Johnson (64); Ernie Els (66); Jerry Kelly (66).

 * For the 30th time in the 43-year history of The Barclays, no player in the field was able to record four rounds in the 60s (Note: Statistic does not include 1998, when the event was shortened to 54 holes).

 * Statistical leaders at The Barclays:
Statistic Player Numbers
Driving Distance J.B. Holmes 309.8
Driving Accuracy Tim Clark 85.71%
Richard S. Johnson
Greens in Regulation Robert Allenby 72.22%
Putting Average Jason Day 1.524

 * Scoring averages:
Front 9 Back 9 18
Rd 1 36.44 35.52 71.96
Rd 2 37.50 36.87 74.36
Rd 3 36.07 39.35 71.00
Rd 4 35.95 34.92 70.87
All 36.74 35.88 72.62

 * The hardest hole for all four rounds of The Barclays was the 508-yard par 4 10th hole, playing to a 4.393 average.

 * The short 16th hole has played at our around 300 yards through all four rounds depending on placement of the tees. During the final round, the yardage was 288. Below is how the field has faired by attempting to drive the green or laying up:
Went for it Laid up Reached the green
Round 1 3.71 3.95 1/7
Round 2 3.56 4.06 4/48
Round 3 3.73 3.91 1/22
Round 4 3.58 3.88 8/53
Cumulative 3.61 3.95 14/130

 * A total of four players jumped out of the “danger zone” of No. 101-125 and into the field for next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship:

 * Previous Rank Player The Barclays finish Current Rank
107 Fredrik Jacobson T6 48
108 Richard S. Johnson T31 85
124 Heath Slocum 1 3
125 Troy Matteson T20 83

 * At the 2007 Barclays, only two players were able to advance in the PGA Tour’s Playoffs for the FedExCup (from Nos. 121-144) into the following week’s Deutsche Bank Championship: Doug LaBelle II and Rich Beem. In 2008, 15 players were able to move from outside the top 120 and into the Deutsche Bank Championship: Richard S. Johnson; Tim Petrovic; Jason Day; Marin Laird; Angel Cabrera; Ryan Palmer; Tim Herron; Michael Allen; J.J. Henry; Frank Lickliter II; Jesper Parnevik; Justin Bolli; Jeff Overton; Glen Day; and Lee Janzen.

 * Five players moved into The Playoffs for the FedExCup with top-25 performances at last week’s Wyndham Championship. None of these players advanced to the Deutsche Bank Championship next week:
Player Wyndham Finish Advanced The Barclays-finish FEC rank
Kevin Stadler T2 57 spots to No. 76 MC Eliminated
David Mathis T17 8 spots to No. 118 MC Eliminated
Chris Riley T13 10 spots to No. 119 T46 Eliminated
Todd Hamilton T24 7 spots to No. 121 77 Eliminated
Jeff Maggert T13 13 spots to No. 123 MC Eliminated

 * Eliminated from the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedExCup this week
Previous Rank Player The Barclays finish
92 K.J. Choi MC
94 Ben Curtis MC
95 George McNiell MC
97 Matt Bettencourt MC
101 Michael Allen MC
102 Robert Garrigus MC
103 Aaron Baddeley MC
104 James Driscoll MC
105 Jeff Quinney MC
106 Tim Herron MC
109 Bill Lunde T64
110 Alex Cejka T73
111 Mark Calcavecchia MC
112 Harrison Frazar T52
113 Chris DiMarco MC
114 Steve Flesch DQ
115 Vaughn Taylor T64
116 Adam Scott T58
117 Chris Stroud WD
118 David Mathis MC
119 Chris Riley T46
120 Joe Ogilvie 76
121 Todd Hamilton 77
122 Roland Thatcher MC
123 Jeff Maggert MC

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