The Barclays preview

The PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs get under way this week with The Barclays at Bethpage State Park. Dustin Johnson defends the tournament and Bill Haas the FedEx Cup itself.

Dustin Johnson defends The Barclays (Getty Images)
Fergus Bisset's avatar
By
published

Lowdown: The PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs get under way this week with The Barclays at Bethpage State Park. Dustin Johnson defends the tournament and Bill Haas the FedEx Cup itself.

The top 125 players from the FedEx Cup standings through the regular PGA Tour season are eligible to take part in The Barclays and they'll all be looking to make it into the top 100 in order to progress to the second playoff event next week - the Deutsche Bank Championship.

It's an extremely difficult layout and one that's sure to test the players this week. Narrow fairways and small, slick greens will place a premium on accuracy. But it's also, potentially, a long layout. It could be stretched to 7,468 yards for the tournament.

Rory McIlroy - The World Number 1 is riding the crest of a wave following his eight-stroke victory in the USPGA Championship. Don't expect him to come down for this event. He could be tough to beat.

Tiger Woods - Winner of the US Open at Bethpage in 2002, he's the current FedEx Cup leader. No Major wins in 2012 but he'll be hoping to secure a third FedEx Cup title.

Steve Stricker - He was joint runner-up in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and tied 7th in the USPGA Championship. He's traditionally played well in the playoffs, look for him to do so again.

Key hole: 15th. It's 478 yards but uphill for the final 180 yards to an elevated green protected in front by deep bunkers. The green is two-tiered sloping from back left to front right. Expect to see a number of three-putts here.

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?