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It's hard to imagine any more drama, suspense and theatrics at The Barclays than what happened Sunday afternoon at Ridgewood Country Club. The back-and-forth down the stretch, two sudden-death playoff holes and clutch putting by Sergio Garcia and Vijay Singh.

Now, imagine all that taking place against the backdrop of the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan.

Pretty appetizing, isn't it? The PGA Tour certainly thinks so.

Continue reading "Barclays coming to Liberty National next year" »

In this week's First Tee feature, Star-Ledger staff writer Brendan Prunty touches base with Oradell's Jim McGovern, who's enjoying his return to the PGA Tour after a 10-year absence.

With the sun slowly sinking behind the towering oak trees that line Ridgewood Country Club's 18th green, Sergio Garcia, stood over his ball and drew back his putter hoping to not be betrayed once again by his notoriously balky blade. As the ball traveled up the incline and broke slightly to the right, he pumped his fist as it circled in the cup. Game over, right? Had this been a half-hour earlier, that would have been the putt that won him The Barclays. But this was the first hole of a sudden-death playoff, so he had to sweat out Vijay Singh's equally unnerving putt. Continue reading "The Barclays: Singh prevails in playoff thriller" »

Phil Mickelson's got a big week coming up.

Tuesday he's having a little get-together with a guy named George H. W. Bush -- also known as the former President of the United States -- at the Bush family compound in Maine.

And on Wednesday, he'll begin preparing to defend his title at the Deutsche Bank Championship outside Boston, which begins Friday.

This type of schedule might leave lesser golfers a bit nervous, especially after the kind of messy final round Mickelson experienced yesterday at The Barclays, where he finished tied for 19th with a 3-under 68 on the last day.

Continue reading "The Barclays: Mickelson looking ahead after tying for 19th" »

Kevin Streelman closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them. Two practice swings of the putter and he was ready to sink the 16-foot birdie putt that could put him into a playoff for The Barclays title.

He swung. The putt went straight and true for 10 feet as the crowd roared ... then it curled left and missed the hole by 2 feet.

Streelman, the PGA Tour rookie who had led the field after the first three rounds, crumpled like someone had just punched him in the stomach.

"I hit it right where I wanted to and the speed I wanted to," the 29-year-old said. "And it looked real good with about 4 or 5 feet to go and just curled left on me. So, wasn't meant to be."

Continue reading "The Barclays: No shortage of support for Streelman" »

NOTEBOOK

Kevin Sutherland was good enough to get into The Barclays playoff with Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia at 8 under Sunday, but not good enough to sustain his momentum past another go-around on the 18th hole.

Sutherland struggled off the tee on 18 at both the end of regulation and at the start of the playoff. He put both drives into the rough to the right of the fairway. Then on the playoff 18th, he put his second shot into the rough on the steep slope in front of the green.

Continue reading "The Barclays: Sutherland felled by tee shots" »

LEFTY WATCH

Phil Mickelson was his usual yo-yo self during Sunday's final round, climbing up the leaderboard, only to slide back down. But hey -- at least he puts on a good show. Lefty began the day at 1-under and was pretty much counted out before play even began yesterday. But he got off to a quick start and had Ridgewood buzzing. He birdied the first and then made eagle on the par-5 third to move to 4-under. After that he went bogey-birdie over the next four holes. He made par on the next four holes, before one last stand with a birdie on the 12th. But a bogey on No. 13 sealed his fate. He finished at 4-under.

Continue reading "The Barclays: News and notes from Day 4" »

At some point during Kevin Streelman's surge to the top of the leaderboard at The Barclays yesterday, a spectator approached his father on the course at Ridgewood Country Club.

"You following Streelman?" the fan asked.

Streelman's father told him the Streelman in question was, in fact, his son.

Continue reading "Kevin Streelman, a golfer with New Jersey ties, leads The Barclays" »

NOTEBOOK

The Barclays leaderboard heading into the final round today is a free-for-all, and players think that makes for a great Sunday afternoon.

Kevin Streelman is the leader by a stroke at 8 under, but four players -- Vijay Singh, Mike Weir, Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia -- are right behind him at 7 under, followed by a group of five players all at 5 under.

Casey, who shot a 2-under 69, is just as keen as anyone to see how it plays out today.

Continue reading "The Barclays is lined up for fantastic finish" »

It's the final round of the tournament, and you're so far behind it would take a massive outbreak of food poisoning in the clubhouse to get within striking distance. What's a golfer to do?

Since it's the FedEx Cup Playoffs, just play a decent final round and look ahead to the next leg of the event, the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston next weekend.

That's what Phil Mickelson, who shot a 1-over-par 72 yesterday at The Barclays and is seven strokes off the lead, is planning to do.

Continue reading "Phil Mickelson hopes for solid final round at The Barclays to better chances in FedEx Cup" »

Kevin Streelman shouldn't get too comfortable in that top position on The Barclays leaderboard. Vijay Singh and Mike Weir have him right where they want him.

Singh vaulted into contention with a 5-under 66 in the third round of play yesterday at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, putting him at 7 under overall, one stroke back of Streelman.

Meanwhile Weir -- sporting a hockey-style playoff beard -- shot a 4-under 67 for the second straight day to also sit at 7 under overall, in a four-way tie for second along with Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey.

Continue reading "Vijay Singh, Mike Weir enter final day of The Barclays tied for second place" »

PINEHURST, N.C. -- Wyckoff's Morgan Hoffmann ran into the hottest player in the field and was eliminated from the U.S. Amateur Friday at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club.

Danny Lee, who hasn't needed more than 15 holes to win any of his four match-play rounds, beat Hoffmann, 4 and 3, in the quarterfinals.

If the line at your local Dunkin' Donuts is a little bit more crowded this morning, don't be surprised. If you are a hotel wake-up call service and you get more requests for 5 a.m. calls, don't be surprised either.

And if you're the starter at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, take the receiver off the hook and bury it in the bunker on the 18th hole, because you might have 36 of the remaining 72 PGA Tour players calling and trying to get their rounds moved up to the morning.

Continue reading "Barclays: Stricker grabs second-round lead" »

Two rounds, each a stroke under par.

Normally, that would be enough for a golfer to at least be in the running going into the final two rounds of a tournament. At 2 under, that's the exact position Phil Mickelson is in at The Barclays heading into the third round Saturday.

Except his chances don't look so promising.

Continue reading "Barclays: Mickelson has lots of ground to make up" »

The fans at The Barclays might have found the next best thing to Tiger Woods.

With golf's most famous player out of the picture, the galleries at Ridgewood Country Club have bestowed their affection on rising star Anthony Kim over the first two days of play.

It's easy to see why.

Continue reading "Barclays: With Tiger out, Kim fills some of the void" »