Lessons from the practice round

I had the opportunity to follow Vijay Singh and Sean O'Hair for a couple holes of their practice round late this afternoon. The shadows were already long, it was well past 5:00 and they were still out there looking at the course very closely.

The duo spent an especially long time on the 9th green. Sean hit his approach shot to the very back edge. He tapped his putt toward the middle of the green, and it rolled, and rolled, and rolled — all the way off the front edge. The four of them (the two players and their caddies) spent the next several minutes dropping balls on various spots on the green, only to watch them roll all the way off the front. There was a lot of head shaking going on.

The players had similar reactions on the 11th green.

As a matter of fact, I saw several caddies working diligently after their practice rounds on the greens — they had pencils and notepads in hand and slope detectors at their feet.

If the practice round is any indication, it could be the putting that will make this tournament very interesting.

posted by Chadwick 7:15pm EDT

The Youth Clinic

All morning the grounds around The Barclays swarmed with kids — many waving hats and flags and Sharpie markers, calling for their favorite player's autograph. Several of the PGA TOUR players seemed genuinely surprised at the sheer number of boys and girls. At the driving range, the signatures were flying as fast as the balls.

At 1:00, about 400 kids all gathered on the grass with box lunches in lap. They fanned themselves with round Barclays disks while they listened to some golf instruction co-hosted by the PGA TOUR's Jim McGovern and Nets' point guard Devin Harris. The children were from the Metropolitan New York Chapter of the First Tee, the Pioneer Junior Golf Tour, the Metropolitan Golf Association and Bergen Recreation. These fine organizations strive to impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs and opportunities that promote character development through the game of golf.

After the clinic, the kids were able to watch the players during the practice round, take pictures, and, of course, scramble for more autographs — the players were happy to give them out.

posted by Chadwick 4:04pm EDT

The playoffs begin — on Wall Street.

No grass. No tee boxes. There wasn't even a caddie in sight. Phil Mickelson kicked off The Barclays and the 2008 FedExCup Playoffs this morning by ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

Phil was accompanied by executives from Barclays, the company whose name is behind this event — and whose logo adorns the front of Phil's shirts.

The fact that Barclays is one of the largest financial services companies in the world is a not-so-subtle reminder of what's on the line with this tournament. The Barclays offers a $7 million purse with the winner taking home $1.26 million. At the conclusion of the four-tournament Playoffs, the FedExCup will award a total of $35 million in bonus money, including $10 million to the FedExCup Champion, the largest single bonus payout in sports.

posted by Chadwick 9:30am EDT

Who's here — and who's not.

It's worth noting that there are only 136 players scheduled to tee it up at The Barclays this week. Of the 262 players who accrued FedExCup points this year, only the top 144 qualified to make it here. And of those 144, only 136 are healthy enough (or have the room in their schedule) to play.

The cut to the final 144 made for some exciting "bubble hopping" this past weekend. Five players used their performance at the Wyndham Championship to gain entry into The Barclays field: Rich Beem rocketed from number 166 to 114; Martin Laird went from 164 to 128; J.J. Henry climbed from 177 to 135; Justin Bolli from 153 to 141; and Lee Janzen barely squeaked into the last spot, moving from number 154 to 144.

Players who found themselves on the wrong side of the bubble include: Y.E. Yang (145), Gavin Coles (146), Tag Ridings (147), and Todd Hamilton (148). The list of players who didn't make it to the Playoffs also includes some household names such as Greg Norman (153), Davis Love III (154), and Billy Andrade (182).

Here's where you can read the final Vijay Singh's victory at The Barclays caps successful tournament week.

Only the top 120 players in the FedExCup point standings after The Barclays advance to the next Playoff event in Boston.

posted by Chadwick 9:30am EDT