Perfect Day at The Barclays: Talking points

Jason Day is on fire and could become World Number 1 next week. Brian Harman also achieved something pretty special at Plainfield Country Club.

Jason Day of Australia was 15-under-par for the last two rounds at Plainfield Country Club in winning The Barclays by six shots from Sweden’s Henrik Stenson.

Day went into the final round of the first FexEx Cup playoff event tied for the lead with Sangmoon Bae of South Korea, but the USPGA champion took to the front immediately as he opened with two birdies.

The South Korean faltered with four dropped shots on the front nine, he faded and ended the week in a tie for sixth place.

It was Henrik Stenson who emerged as Day’s strongest challenger as he reeled off three straight birdies at the start of his back nine. But a dropped shot at the 16th put paid to his chances and Day was able to cruise home for the victory.

Four Talking points from The Barclays

1 – Jason Day now has three victories in his last four starts. He won the Canadian Open after narrowly missing out on a playoff for The Open Championship, then claimed a memorable victory in the USPGA Championship at Whistling Straits. This title continues an incredible run for the 27-year-old. He has moved to first place on the FedEx Cup standings and has guaranteed that he will have a shot at the $10 million first prize.

Jason Day swing sequence:

2 – The battle to be World Number 1 has a new challenger. Jason Day is still third on the ranking but he, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy now all have a mathematical chance to take the top spot at next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship. McIlroy didn’t play at The Barclays and Jordan Spieth had a disappointing week, missing the cut by five shots.

3 – Camilo Villegas kept himself in the playoffs by the skin of his teeth. The top-100 go through to the Deutsche Bank at TPC Boston and the Colombian looked to be safe with nine holes to play. But he bogeyed three straight then needed a par on the home hole to make it through. He missed the green and pitched to 10 feet. He knew what he had to do, and he holed it. Stewart Cink wasn’t so lucky, he bogeyed the last to miss out, finishing 102nd.

4 – Brian Harman had an exciting Sunday. He became only the third player in the history of the PGA Tour to score two hole-in-ones during the same round. He aced the 3rd and 14th holes at Plainfield CC using a 7-iron and a 4-hybrid. The only other players to achieve the feat are Yusaku Miyazato in the 2006 Reno Tahoe Open and amateur Bill Whedon in the 1955 Insurance City Open.

The Barclays Plainfield Country Club, Edison, New Jersey Aug 27-30 Purse: $8,250,000, par 70

1    Jason Day (Aus)        68    68    63    62    261    $1,485,000 2    Henrik Stenson (Swe)    68    66    67    66    267    $891,000 3    Bubba Watson (USA)    65    68    67    69    269    $561,000 T4    Zac Blair (USA)        69    68    67    66    270    $363,000 T4    Zach Johnson (USA)    69    65    67    69    270    $363,000 T6    Sangmoon Bae (Kor)    69    67    63    72    271    $276,375 T6    Ryan Palmer (USA)    69    67    65    70    271    $276,375 T6    Daniel Summerhays (USA) 67 70    68    66    271    $276,375 T9    Jason Bohn (USA)    71    64    72    65    272    $231,000 T9    Dustin Johnson (USA)    70    70    67    65    272    $231,000

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage