- Johnson beats his rivals before Irene hits town
- Your Daily Phil at The Barclays Round 3
- The Barclays by numbers
- Kuchar leads as Barclays heads into an 18-hole shootout
- Par 3 over water breaks hearts and minds
- Your Daily Phil at The Barclays: Round 2
- Hurricane Irene cuts The Barclays to 54 holes
- Drivable par 4 steals the show
- Your Daily Phil at The Barclays
- Hurricane Irene threatens to throw The Barclays into chaos
- Mickelson, Donald & Bradley chase $10 million bonus
- Military caddies loop for the stars
- America's Baby Faced Assassin
- Donald banking on world domination
Kuchar leads as Barclays heads into an 18-hole shootout
Defending champion Matt Kuchar holds a one shot lead chased by Johnson, Singh, Rose, Baddeley and Harington.
By Paul Mahoney
Get ready for The Barclays 18-hole Shootout otherwise known as the Hurricane Irene Invitational. With the tournament reduced to 54 holes and a Saturday finish – weather permitting – spectators at Plainfield Country Club will be treated to a weekend dash to claim the first prize of $1.44 million before everybody runs for the hills, battens down the hatches, and hunkers down.
Defending Barclays champion Matt Kuchar is the 36-hole leader at 14 under par but Dustin Johnson and Vijay Singh are just one shot back and the chasing pack at 10 under par includes stellar names and multiple tournament winners Padraig Harrington, Justin Rose and Aaron Baddeley.
There was universal acceptance and understanding of the tour's decision to reduce the tournament because of the certainty that Hurricane Irene would wash out Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. There is no guarantee that Saturday will escape the early effects of Irene either with rain, thunderstorms and winds gusting 30-50 mph forecast for late Saturday. "They definitely made the right decision," Kuchar said after a six under par 65. "The forecast just looks terrible. All of us are going to be excited to wrap this thing up and get out of here as quickly and safely as we can. It has the potential to be pretty scary. So finishing up as early as we can Saturday I think is the right decision. It's going to turn into a bit of a shootout. I knew today that was the potential, to cut to 54 holes and I needed to make as many birdies as I could." He did just that with three birdies on each nine and not a single dropped shot.
On a glorious sunny morning in New Jersey (the calm before the storm), the sell-out crowd at Plainfield Country Club was treated to exhibition golf from by Dustin Johnson. He teased them into thinking they were about to witness a rare 59 on the PGA Tour. The course was playing short and the greens were soft and receptive. Perfect conditions for the big-hitting Johnson. The holes must have looked like storm buckets as he rattled off seven threes in a front nine of just 29 strokes. A 59 looked on the cards. Especially when he birdied the par three 11th. But a run of six pars and one more birdie meant he only posted a 63. Was it possible to feel deflated by a 63 after such a scintillating start? "There's no way I can say I'm disappointed by any means," Johnson said smiling after his round. "But as far as I could have done a little better, you know, with the short game. On 18 I hit an okay chip but hit a bad putt, and the same thing on 16, you know, 3 putting. Don't really like to do that. But you know, overall, I mean, a 63 is a 63. I'm going to be smiling."
Johnson, like Kuchar, was looking forward to the prospect of a Saturday Shootout for the title. "I think it's going to be good. It's going to be definitely fun for the crowds to watch," Johnson said. "There's a lot of stuff that can happen. You make a couple eagles, it's going to be exciting, for sure." Johnson is an East Coast guy but can barely remember experiencing a Hurricane much less playing golf as fast as possible to get out of town before Irene arrives at the front porch. "I've never really had any bad ones," he said. "I mean, when I was really little, I remember Hurricane Hugo and Hurricane Andrew, but other than that I was so small. I just remember a bunch of trees and stuff being down."
Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington has had a wretched season losing his form and plummeting from a top 10 player to World No.75. He has rediscovered his mojo in New Jersey and is just four shots adrift of Kuchar. But the deep thinking Dubliner, as ever, put the golf tournament into perspective. "It's a clear call and that's all you can ask from the tournament director," he said of the decision to cancel the fourth round. "You can't ask any more. They haven't got a crystal ball, and there are more serious things going on than golf tournaments this weekend."