Barclay's Classic .. Round 1

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Interesting week this past week, thought I had it capped to a tee, but my profits show other wise. Spent some time Sunday morning to look over course history and a few notes. Personally I think the playoffs could be a good thing, If Tiger wasn't so great. It is kind of like watching a thriller, but knowing the ending. Anyway I got 2 words for ya.. Ernie Els, will be the winner this week.

?m joining Liezl and the kids in the Bahamas for a holiday this week, basically just chilling out before I start a four-week stretch of tournaments leading up to the Tour Championship in September. My motivation now is to get the best out of me again. I need to start winning tournaments and that will create more confidence. Not so long ago I had a couple of years where I won a bunch of tournaments, and I remember how that was; you start feeling more comfortable on Saturdays and Sundays. Winning becomes almost a habit. I?ve been there before. I know I can be there again.

Anyway, flying out of Tulsa on Sunday night I have to say I felt pretty upbeat. As I said before I?ve got to take the positives out of a week like that. I didn?t win and that?s disappointing, especially when you give yourself a chance on Sunday afternoon, but I feel good about the game. My swing feels good. My putting stroke is not too bad. My game as a whole is good and I?m really enjoying my golf again.

I feel like I?m getting back to where I want to be. I don?t mind admitting, there have been times in the last 12 months when it?s felt like such a slow process for me. I?ve been so close at times, then at other times so far away. It?s been a battle, but it?s a battle that I feel I?m winning. The hard work is basically paying off. I just want to keep my head down now and keep grinding it out.

Okay then, that?s it for this week?s report. My next tournament is the Barclays at Westchester Country Club starting August 23. That?s a golf course I have fond memories of, having won the old Buick Classic a couple of times there in the mid-1990s, so I?m looking forward to that.

Good Luck this week everyone :SIB

 

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Ernie Els 14/1
Adam Scott 28/1
Immelman 50/1
Snedeker 55/1
Orbelhoser 66/1

Be back later with matchups.. Gonna be a fun week

 

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Interesting matchups.. Kind of like Poulter this week also. Lots of guys in good form have a good history here. There will be one matchup that i will definitely be on. Was on it at the PGA and at the British.. :SIB

 

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Dimarco -111 to beat Fred Funk

At Sportingbet

 

[Stanley]

Outright play (total stake: 1pt)

Jim Furyk to win 20/1 e.w. @ Coral
Taking a bit of a risk with Furyk's health, but he did say before the Bridgestone Invitational that his back was fit enough to compete that week, but that it was his game that was a concern as he had not been able to practice for a week and had only played 9 holes at Firestone. He played poorly in the first round of the PGA Championship, but he was back to being competitive in the 2nd round with a 71. With almost two weeks of practising since that last competitive round, I see no reason why he shouldn't be close to his best form this week. After all, he had just won the Canadian Open and finished in the top-5 in five of his last seven events and now he returns to a course on which he has three top-3 finishes in his last eight attempts, including a 2nd place finish in 2005 when he had led from start to finish but was overtaken following an outrageous eagle by Padraig Harrington on the last hole. Three weeks ago, he would have been half these odds, so any concerns over the lingering effects of his back injury are more than compensated by these odds.

 

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Adam scott -110 over Mickelson (72)

 

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Andres Hansen -120 over DL3

 

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Jeff Maggert -130 over Robert Allenby

 

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Ernie Els -140 over Phil Mickelson

Hoping Hefty doesnt have a good week :mj09:

 

[phar.lap]

Another matchup

Poulter -118 to beat Carl Petterson
At Centrebet

 

[Another Steve]

Date: August 23-26, 2007
Location: Westchester Country Club ? Harrison, NY
2006 Champion: Vijay Singh
FedEx Cup points: 50,000
2007 Purse: $7.0 million ($1,260,000 to the winner)



2006 Recap
In an event that was, at the time, a primer for the U.S. Open, Vijay Singh shot a final-round 68 to top Adam Scott for his third career Barclays title. With his victory, he joined Jack Nicklaus as the only players to ever win three times at famed Westchester Country Club. He also tied Sam Snead with his 17th victory after turning 40 years old. Scott had taken the lead after holing his second shot on the par-4 11th hole. He then went four-over on his next five holes before eagling the 18th to finish in second place, just ahead of Brett Quigley and Billy Andrade.


2005 Recap
In one of the most dramatic moments of the 2005 season, Padraig Harrington drained an improbable 65-footer for eagle on the 72nd whole to beat Jim Furyk by a stroke. Furyk had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by bogeying his two previous holes, allowing Paddy to avoid his second runner-up finish in as many years. Harrington's eagle was his third of the tournament and second of the day on Sunday.


The Course
Westchester is one of the most picturesque and well known courses in the country. Set amidst the stately hardwoods and rocky terrain of northeast New York, the course features lush fairways and elevation changes that help make it one of the tougher tracks on the PGA TOUR circuit. The 11th and 12th holes annually rank among the most difficult on Tour, and the heavy rough and well-protected, small greens make it a very good test for the premier event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.


The Field
It wouldn't do fantasy golfers much good to play their top draft pick when he doesn't plan on teeing it up, which is why fantasy owners have to be very cognizant of who is playing each week. As a courtesy, we've provided this link to the official field as provided by PGATOUR.com.

Note: It's a good idea to check this list for the official field of players again on Wednesday, as it is not unusual for golfers to drop out of tournaments in the days leading up the first round.

**The Barclays Official Field.


Leaderboards

The Barclays (2006 Top 20)
Player Scores Total To Par Earnings
Win Vijay Singh 70-64-72-68 274 -10 $1,035,000
2 Adam Scott 65-72-69-70 276 -8 $621,000
T-3 Billy Andrade 66-70-69-72 277 -7 $334,500
T-3 Brett Quigley 71-66-70-70 277 -7 $334,500
T-5 Fredrik Jacobson 67-68-72-71 278 -6 $202,969
T-5 Luke Donald 72-65-71-70 278 -6 $202,969
T-5 Jeff Sluman 69-69-72-68 278 -6 $202,969
T-5 Tom Pernice, Jr. 70-71-70-67 278 -6 $202,969
T-9 Ian Poulter 72-71-65-71 279 -5 $155,250
T-9 Mathew Goggin 73-68-68-70 279 -5 $155,250
T-9 Jason Bohn 76-64-72-67 279 -5 $155,250
12 Graeme McDowell 70-68-71-71 280 -4 $132,250
T-13 David Howell 66-68-73-74 281 -3 $115,000
T-13 Trevor Immelman 72-71-67-71 281 -3 $115,000
T-15 David Toms 68-70-72-72 282 -2 $98,750
T-15 Jeff Maggert 71-71-70-70 282 -2 $98,750
T-15 Ryuji Imada 73-66-75-68 282 -2 $98,750
T-18 Stuart Appleby 72-70-66-75 283 -1 $70,986
T-18 Bo Van Pelt 71-69-70-73 283 -1 $70,986
T-18 John Senden 73-68-69-73 283 -1 $70,986
T-18 Geoff Ogilvy 69-68-74-72 283 -1 $70,986
T-18 Phil Mickelson 70-70-71-72 283 -1 $70,986
T-18 Tom Lehman 68-71-75-69 283 -1 $70,986
T-18 Brad Faxon 70-72-73-68 283 -1 $70,986


The Barclays (2005 Top 20)
Player Scores Total To Par Earnings
Win Padraig Harrington 71-65-68-70 274 -10 $1,035,000
2 Jim Furyk 65-69-70-71 275 -9 $621,000
T-3 Brian Gay 69-66-71-73 279 -5 $299,000
T-3 Brad Faxon 72-68-66-73 279 -5 $299,000
T-3 Kenny Perry 68-68-72-71 279 -5 $299,000
6 Dean Wilson 72-71-66-71 280 -4 $207,000
T-7 John Senden 69-67-72-73 281 -3 $173,219
T-7 Vijay Singh 68-71-69-73 281 -3 $173,219
T-7 Justin Leonard 72-71-67-71 281 -3 $173,219
T-7 Billy Mayfair 72-68-75-66 281 -3 $173,219
11 Tom Pernice, Jr. 70-69-72-71 282 -2 $144,750
T-12 Len Mattiace 71-65-73-74 283 -1 $113,700
T-12 Dudley Hart 71-69-70-73 283 -1 $113,700
T-12 Jeff Brehaut 70-70-72-71 283 -1 $113,700
T-12 Chris DiMarco 71-72-69-71 283 -1 $113,700
T-12 Tim Clark 74-70-68-71 283 -1 $113,700
T-17 Brett Quigley 73-68-68-75 284 Even $89,125
T-17 Loren Roberts 74-69-72-69 284 Even $89,125
T-19 Franklin Langham 73-71-68-73 285 1 $75,750
T-19 J.P. Hayes 70-72-73-70 285 1 $75,750
T-19 Omar Uresti 70-73-74-68 285 1 $75,750


Recent History
Year Champion Runner Up
2004 Sergio Garcia Rory Sabbatini / Padraig Harrington
2003 Jonathan Kaye John Rollins
2002 Chris Smith P. Perez/L. Roberts/D. Gossett
2001 Sergio Garcia Scott Hoch
2000 Dennis Paulson David Duval

FedEx Cup Points Leaders
The following are the Top 30 players on the FedEx Cup Points list. The Playoff field will gradually be whittled down from the Top 144 for the Barclays to just the Top 30 for the decisive TOUR Championship on September 13-16:

FedEx Cup Points ( Top 30)
1. Tiger Woods
2. Vijay Singh
3. Jim Furyk
4. Phil Mickelson
5. K.J. Choi
6. Rory Sabbatini
7. Zach Johnson
8. Charles Howell III
9. Brandt Snedeker
10. Adam Scott
11. Scott Verplank
12. Steve Stricker
13. Sergio Garcia
14. Woody Austin
15. Hunter Mahan
16. John Rollins
17. Boo Weekley
18. Aaron Baddeley
19. Ernie Els
20. Mark Calcavecchia
21. Padraig Harrington
22. Justin Rose
23. Luke Donald
24. Geoff Ogilvy
25. David Toms
26. Jonathan Byrd
27. Robert Allenby
28. Stewart Cink
29. Heath Slocum
30. Stuart Appleby

 

[Another Steve]

Nobody really knows how well ? or even if ? the FedEx Cup Playoffs will work in the PGA TOUR inaugural foray into the world of playoff golf. What we do know is that Tiger Woods likes his odds of winning the $10 million check in four weeks despite playing in only three of the four tournaments. This is great news for the mere mortals, at least one of whom will get off to a great head start this week with a win at Westchester.



The Favorites
With Tiger out of the picture, there are a handful of frontrunners this week. At the top of that list sits defending champion Vijay Singh. Veej hasn't dropped out of the top seven in three years at this event. He'll have to turn things around after missing the cut at the PGA Championship, however. Vijay will be given a stiff challenge by a trio of foreigners who all have played very well at Westchester in the past. None Ernie Els' five top 10s at Westchester have come in the last six years, but the two-time Barclays champion (1996 and 1997) is extremely dangerous based on the fact he's finished inside the top four in each of the last two majors. Sergio Garcia hasn't exactly proven he's over his British Open disappointment (T20, DQ in his last two events), but two of his six career victories came at Westchester (2001 and 2004), and he's finished outside the top 12 just twice in his seven career appearances. It's not out of the question that Sergio and Open Championship foe Padraig Harrington could meet again this weekend. Harrington hasn't done much since his Carnoustie breakthrough, but he has a runner-up finish and a win in his three trips to Westchester for this event.


The Best of the Rest
Rarely will you find stalwarts like Jim Furyk, Adam Scott, and Phil Mickelson among the "best of the rest" crew, but all three face some questions as the FedEx Playoffs kick off. Furyk had to withdraw from the WGC-Bridgestone a few weeks ago because of a back injury and missed the cut at Southern Hills two weeks ago, leaving plenty of doubt about the state of his game this week in New York. He's played well at Westchester in the past and fantasy owners can't possibly afford to bench him, but it wouldn't be a huge surprise if he isn't himself this week. Scott was last year's Barclays runner-up and is coming off a tie for 12th at the PGA Championship in his last outing, but the only thing he's done consistently all season long is play inconsistently, so he's anything but a sure thing. Mickelson has loudly proclaimed that he's fully recovered from a well-documented wrist injury, but his play (Cut, Cut, Cut, T46, T32 since suffering the injury) says otherwise. K.J. Choi, Steve Stricker, and Justin Rose have all played well enough virtually every week this year to be considered dangerous every time out, while darkhorses with a lot of momentum include Hunter Mahan, Woody Austin, and Brandt Snedeker.


Who's Hot?
Billy Mayfair: Mayfair has made the cut in six straight events, a span that includes four top-11 finishes and a tie for second last week at the Wyndham Championship.

Anders Hansen: Hansen just barely snuck into the Playoffs on the strength of six straight missed cuts, including ties for 12th and 11th place in his last two events.


Who's Not?
Charles Howell III: Chuck's the No. 8 seed going into the Playoffs, but he's playing more like the 80th (or worse). Since the Masters, Howell has not finished better than T39 in 11 tournaments. He's missed the cut or withdrawn six times in that span.

Aaron Baddeley: Badds comes into the Barclays ranked 18th in the FedEx Cup standings, but he'll have to turn things around in a hurry; he's played only four times since mid-June, missing the cut twice and finishing no better than T20 in those events.


Player Trends
It's not a fool-proof indicator of future success, but golfers who fare well at a particular venue tend to do so time and again. With that in mind, we provide a list of players who have notable trends at this week's event (most recent results are listed first).

The Good
Sergio Garcia (Four top 10s in seven attempts; two wins)
Ernie Els (Five top 10s in 10 attempts; two wins)
Padraig Harrington (T36, Win, T2)
Brett Quigley (T3, T17, T16 last three years, never missed the cut in 10 tries)
Fredrik Jacobson (T5, T61, 8, T36)

The Bad
Geoff Ogilvy (T18, Cut, Cut, Cut)
Carl Pettersson (Cut, Cut, T30)
Mark Calcavecchia (No top 10s in 12 career appearances)
Tim Petrovic (Cut, Cut, T28, Cut, Cut)
Chad Campbell (Cut, Cut, Cut)

The Ugly
Brett Wetterich (Cut, Cut, T71, Cut)


Weekly Rankings
1. Ernie Els
2. Sergio Garcia
3. Vijay Singh
4. Padraig Harrington
5. Adam Scott

 

[Stanley]

Ian Poulter to finish in the top-ten +667 @ The Greek
I can't see Poulter winning in the United States, but if he is to come close, it would be on this course. It is a "more English style parkland course" in his owns words and the bentgrass fairways, poa annua greens and recent wet weather have added to the European course feel to this venue. It can help explain why he finished 9th last year when he had just one top-10 finish in his previous eight PGA Tour starts that season. His form is good enough to give himself a decent shot at another top-10 finish so I'll bite at these odds.

Lucas Glover to finish in the top-ten 7/1 @ Paddy Power and William Hill
And at these odds as well. I thought the "wild card factor" (he has been nominated as one of the wild cards on the Monday before last week's event and for evidence of this factor, see Stewart Cink's performance in the 2004 NEC Invitational) would have propelled Glover to victory last week and after he finished the first round in 2nd place, it was looking good, but he did no more than finish in the top-20. But it was his fifth top-20 finish in his last six starts in the U.S. so maybe the place market is the best option for backing Glover at the moment. He has played well on this course over the last two years (apart from the weekend last year), so the "wild card factor" may still give him the confidence and adrenalin to maintain his form for this week.

Hunter Mahan to be the first round leader 50/1 e.w. @ Stan James and William Hill
Very attractive odds for a player who has held the first round lead in three of his last six events, is in a very rich vein of form at the moment and was 11th after the 1st round on this course last year. He is a player who has needed little justification for backing over the last three months.

 

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Ernie Els +100 for the top 10 hitting this one for 3 units

 

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Brandt Snedeker -125 over Carl Petterson (72)

Thinking he stays hot. Great track for him.

 

[Stanley]

Matchup plays (2pts)

Robert Allenby to beat Jeff Maggert +118 @ Pinnacle
On the surface, it appears as though Maggert is in the better form, but he broke his run of four missed cuts with finishes of 5th in the U.S. Bank Championship (played the same week as the British Open), 30th in the Reno-Tahoe Open (played the same week as the Bridgestone Invitational) and 11th in the Wyndham Championship (when everyone was taking a week off to prepare for the gruelling FedEx Cup). So he has only done well in very weak fields and this is a huge step-up in class. Given that he has finished ahead of Allenby just once over the last 12 months, the step-up in class to Allenby's level should be too much.

Henrik Stenson to beat Angel Cabrera +110 @ The Greek
Opposing Cabrera who has struggled since winning the U.S. Open with finishes of 60th, 19th, 34th, 69th and mc over that period. Stenson is hardly a player in form, but he did enough to beat Cabrera by a total of nine shots over the recent PGA Championship and Bridgestone Invitational, so there should be value at these odds.

Vijay Singh to beat Sergio Garcia -122 @ Pinnacle
A gruelling four-week end to the PGA Tour season is the last thing that Garcia needs at the moment and that was summed up exactly by his "the world is against me" response when he found out that he had been disqualified in the PGA Championship two weeks ago. Such an attitude may have been justified after his British Open loss, but for all his good play, he is clearly someone who can be counted upon to throw in the towel over the next few weeks if things aren't going well on the course. Vijay may not be playing as well as Sergio, but he should be optimistic about his chances of winning the FedEx Cup on these courses over the next four weeks. This week, for example, his course history reads 4th, 7th and 1st in the last three years. He will certainly keep trying until the last putt drops.

 

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wow stan posting matchups :scared And fading me :SIB This should be very interesting. Stan it was less a play on Maggert but more of a fade of Allenby who has 2 mc and 81 out of like 83 in his last 3 events.

Should be interesting. Pretty sure it will cash by Friday Afternoon :idea:

 

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Top 10's

Els +100
Immelman +333
Orbelhoser +417

Love all of these guys this week. :mj23: And thats it for plays. I want to add vijay over singh. Stan touched on it, but his recent form is scaring me off, although he seemed confident today in the press tent.

 

[Stanley]

wow stan posting matchups :scared And fading me :SIB This should be very interesting. Stan it was less a play on Maggert but more of a fade of Allenby who has 2 mc and 81 out of like 83 in his last 3 events.

Should be interesting. Pretty sure it will cash by Friday Afternoon :idea:

For one week only as I am covering for the regular Tour-Tips guy for these plays

Yep, should know which of us is right on Friday night :142smilie

 

[Agent 0659]

Getting some VJ at 20-1 WSEX live betting, and taking these match-ups.

08/22/2007 18:22:30 Unsettled
G 19 8/23-26 BILLY MAYFAIR VS STEVE FLESCH (BARCLAYS 72 HOLES)


08/22/2007 18:22:59 Unsettled
G 35 8/23-26 PAT PEREZ VS BOO WEEKLEY (BARCLAYS 72 HOLES)

Both -110