The “Race for the FedEx Cup” has officially begun boys and girls! If you thought the first playoff event of the 2013 season was going to be a real sleeper, then WAKE UP, because you’re in for a heap of fun and adventure! The Barclays provided us with some world-class drama and a star-studded leaderboard Sunday evening. Somehow…some way…the playoffs cease to fail us when we begin to think the PGA Championship marks an end to the PGA Tour season.
Phil Mickelson got the day going with his set of fireworks, making 8 birdies in an 11-holes stretch, including a 53-footer at the 10th. Lefty’s miraculous run drew to an end with pars at 16 and 17 and a deflating bogey at the lengthy closing hole. I’ve come to believe the only way the dude is ever out of a tournament is if Shooter McGavin hires the guy in the Volkswagen to take him—and even then I still give him an outside shot.
Master’s champion, Adam Scott, posted a bogey-free final round score of 66, giving him the clubhouse lead with eight groups remaining on the golf course. After his round he told Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo that he was pretty confident his lead wouldn’t hold up. Thanks to a ‘little’ help from Justin Rose’s three-putt from 25 feet, the local Holiday Inn’s soft-top bed mattresses and Tiger Woods’ back spasms, and Gary Woodland’s three missed birdie putts within 10 feet at the final three holes, Scott managed to hang around for an hour and a half in the clubhouse locker room and hang on for his first FedEx Cup playoff victory.
In other news…Camilo Villegas came close to playing his way out of the playoffs by posting three rounds over par after playing lights-out on Thursday—when he posted a first-round 65. Geoff Ogilvy missed a 2½-footer at the last and Aaron Baddeley bogeyed his final three holes to put themselves outside of the top 100 in the FedEx Cup standings that will compete in next week’s event, the Deutsche Bank Championship. Baddeley’s missed 5-footer on 18 placed Villegas back into the top 100.
Here are some fun facts for you:
- Jonas Blixt, who was paired with Rickie Fowler on Sunday, dressed identical to Fowler—the guy was literally wearing Rickie’s pants—and to make things even weirder, they had the same colored bag (neon pink) and managed to place each other’s tee shot off the first tee within a foot of each other. Rickie had the last laugh as he posted a final round 70 compared to Blixt’s 9-over 81.
- With his win on Sunday, Adam Scott has now moved to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Rankings and second in the FedEx Cup Standings.
- Although Gary Woodland failed to capture his third career PGA Tour victory, he made the biggest jump of the week, moving up 50 spots to 10th in the Cup standings.
- Graham DeLaet moved to 7th from 34th. Tiger Woods has five Tour wins this season, but posted all four rounds in the 60s for the first time this year.
