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Barclays Preview, Picks & Analysis

By: Golfshake Editor | Mon 22 Aug 2016


Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements


AND so it begins. We are still in August but we now head off to the Barclays Championship for the first of the four FedEx Cup playoff tournaments, with a $10m jackpot waiting for some lucky individual.

The top 125 players will be teeing off at Bethpage Black as Jason Day defends his title. There are five municipal courses at Bethpage, with the Black course being the most famous, and the toughest. It is a par 71 and it measures 7,065 yards. It may not be long, but it is a fantastic challenge, with tight fairways, thick rough and plenty of trees. 

Past winners include Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Seve Ballesteros, and recent winners are Matt Kuchar (2010), Dustin Johnson (2011),  Nick Watney (2012), Adam Scott (2013), Hunter Mahan (2014) and Day (2015).

Watney and Mahan have fallen a long way since those victories, but it would be no surprise to see Kuchar, Johnson, Scott and Day battling it out again. Kuchar won the bronze medal at the Olympic golf tournament and is one of the most consistent golfers in the world. Week after week he seems to be in contention, and week after week he seems to come up short. He is a genuinely nice man and is very popular on the PGA Tour among fellow professionals and spectators alike. He works tirelessly for charity and does so quietly, working away behind the scenes without blowing his own trumpet.

Johnson has moved to a different level in 2016 after winning the US Open, but he struggled at The Open and missed the cut at the US PGA Championship. He has always been a big hitter. But there have been some big changes this season - he now finds most fairways, he has worked out a way to control his distances with short irons in his hand (crucial for anybody who hopes to score low) and his putting has improved out of sight.

It has been a bitterly disappointing season for Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy. These are young men who judge themselves on success in majors. McIlroy hasn't looked like contending in any of the year's four majors, and Spieth's season went south after he folded during the final round of The Masters, when he came to the 12th hole with the Green Jacket within his grasp, only to hit two balls into Rae's Creek.

Spieth is a strong character, and most of us expected him to shrug off that disappointment and win at least one of the remaining three majors, but he has spent much of the season struggling with his swing. His driving, never the strongest part of his game, has been wildly inaccurate and, as any top professional will tell you, it is impossible to win tournaments when you are consistently playing your second shots from the rough. Worse than that, he started to miss short putts. He remains the best on tour from around 25 feet.

McIlroy keeps telling us that he is approaching his best, but the evidence of our eyes tells a rather different story. His driving remains a thing of beauty - McIlroy hits the ball miles and he hits it straight. But he has lost the ability to get the ball dancing around the hole with short irons in his hand. As if that were not bad enough, his putting has been giving him nightmares this season.Things got so bad that he started putting left hand below right and duly won the Irish Open. By his own admission, he won that tournament because of his brilliant ball striking and he quickly reverted to right hand below left.

It has made little difference. Time and time again he has played superbly from tee to green, only to suffer huge frustration on the greens through not being able to get the ball in the hole. Having missed the Olympics, it is to be hoped that he has been at home working hard on his game and that he has found the answer to his putting woes.

Two men who will arrive at Bethpage Black in high spirits are Justin Rose, the Olympic champion, and Russell Knox, fresh from his second victory of the year and riding high in both the FedEx and world rankings.

Rose played quite wonderfully in Rio as he maintained his record of winning at least once every year. He has played consistently all year and it was only a matter of time before he won again. My guess is that he will bring his Olympic form to Bethpage and is the man to beat. Knox, meanwhile, is surely now a shoo-in for the European Ryder Cup team, having holed a stunning 15-foot putt on the final green to win the Travelers Championship. It answered a lot of questions about the Scot - many critics have suggested that his putting really isn't good enough at this level, but they are not saying that now.

Barclays Picks & Tips

To Win: Justin Rose. On the crest of a wave

Each Way: Russell Knox. Has had a brilliant season

Each Way: Dustin Johnson. Finally turned the corner

Barclays Fantasy Picks

Justin Rose. The man to beat

Russell Knox. Looking for a Ryder Cup berth

Dustin Johnson. This course could be made for him

Rory McIlroy. Has he sorted out his putting?

Jason Day. Can win anywhere, any time

Hideki Matsuyama. Looking for a big finish to a poor year

Jordan Spieth. Write him off at your peril

Adam Scott. Finally shaken off the putting wobbles

Phil Mickelson. Must surely win again soon

Justin Thomas. Most improved player of the year


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Tags: PGA Tour FedEx Cup



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