PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON has made it to the party, even if his presence in the US Tour’s play-off series – aka the FedEx Cup – had been in danger for much of the season. Now, though, the Dubliner enters this week’s Barclays Championship, at Liberty National across the river from Manhattan, aware that he has considerable work to do if he is to make it to the fourth and final tournament, the Tour Championship, in a month’s time.
Since its inception just three years ago, the FedEx Cup has endured more cosmetic surgery than a Hollywood old fogey. Each year, the qualifying system has been tweaked and altered; and this time is no exception with players carrying forward all of the points accrued this season before a readjustment takes place ahead of the Tour championship by which time the players in with a chance of winning will have been pared down from 125 to just 30.
Harrington is the only Irish player in the US Tour’s play-offs, his performances in the Bridgestone Invitational (second) and US PGA (tied-10th) pushing him up to 66th in the standings. Only the top 100 after the Barclays will move on to the following week’s Deutsche Bank championship in Boston, with the field reduced further to 70 players for the BMW championship . . . and then cut to 30 for the finale.
“I’m going to need to play well in the first two to make sure I’m in the third. But I’m trying to win tournaments. I’d be very happy if I won one of the first three tournaments even if it didn’t get me into the Tour Championship. I’d prefer doing that than just playing in all four, that doesn’t appeal to me,” said Harrington, who is unlikely to play in Europe again until the Dunhill Links.
Harrington, without a win on tour since his USPGA title last year, is also chasing a tournament win for another reason: to get into the €4.8 million HSBC Champions tournament in China on November 5th-8th.
“I am very aware that I haven’t yet qualified for the WGC-HSBC Champions and the uncertainty makes me very uncomfortable. It is one of the most important tournaments of the year. Currently I would qualify via my world ranking but I would obviously like to win my first title of the season as soon as possible to secure my place as I am determined to qualify.”
Also, Harrington’s assertion after the USPGA at Hazletine that he would “love to be playing big golf courses under tough conditions” will be granted this week, as the newly created Liberty National measures 7,400 yards with a par of 71. Tiger Woods will be returning to competition at the Barclays, as will Phil Mickelson.
The latest tweaking with the system for the US Tour’s play-offs has been designed so that anyone who makes it to the Tour Championship still has a mathematical chance to win, unlike a year ago when Vijay Singh’s wins in the first two tournaments meant he had an unassailable lead by the time he got to Atlanta for the final counting event. Points awarded to players in the play-offs have been quintupled compared to regular tour events.
Sergio Garcia’s decision to belatedly include the Wyndham Championship – won by Ryan Moore – in his schedule paid off, as his fourth placed finish there copper fastened his place in the FedEx Cup. Apart from Harrington (66th) and Garcia (89th), other Europeans who have qualified for this week’s Barclays Championship include Paul Casey (18th), Luke Donald (24th), Ian Poulter (34th), Brian Davis (40th), Justin Rose (91st), Greg Owen (99th), Fredrik Jacobson (107th), Richard S Johnson (108th).
While Harrington continues to prioritise the US Tour at this stage of the season, there will be a strong Irish contingent competing in the Johnnie Walker championship at Gleneagles in Scotland, starting on Thursday. Peter Lawrie, beaten in a play-off by Simon Dyson in the KLM Open in the Netherlands on Sunday, will be joined by Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane, Shane Lowry, Gary Murphy, Gareth Maybin and Jonathan Caldwell. Lawrie, who has moved up to 40th position on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai after his tied-second place finish, also intends competing in the European Masters before taking a break, as his wife is expecting the couple’s third child.
Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy – who are in the second week of a break from tournament play after the USPGA – will return to competition at next week’s Omega European Masters in Crans, which will mark the start of the European qualifying for next year’s Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor. Darren Clarke is also set to resume tournament play there, having taken this week off.
Meanwhile, the Barclays Singapore Open has been added to this season’s European Tour schedule as a co-sanctioned event with the Asian Tour. The event will be staged on October 29th-November 1st (clashing with the Volvo World Matchplay at its new home in Spain).
