Playoffs are off to weird, wonderful start after Barclays

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Jim Furyk was out of the Playoffs opener before it even began.

If the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup was trying to find a way to stretch its most meaningful part of the season through another month, with the NFL and college football on the horizon, let's say the first tournament was mission accomplished.

THE BARCLAYS

Round 4 Wrap-up
Kuchar's biggest win
FedExCup standings
Craig Dolch archive

The Barclays had more storylines than a John Grisham novel. It was as crazy as the first day of kindergarten.

Where to start? How about before the tournament even started? When Jim Furyk, the fourth-ranked player in the world, had to run to Ridgewood Country Club sans socks and a belt, only to be ruled ineligible because he missed his Wednesday pro-am tee time due to a dead cell phone that no longer worked as an alarm clock, that only set the stage for a bizarre week.

"It was my fault," said Furyk, while many of his fellow pros questioned the severity of a rule that applies to less than half the field.

Don't count Furyk out completely. Last year he finished in the top 10 of the last three Playoffs events: T8 at the Deutsche Bank, T2 at the BMW Championship and T7 at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. With two wins already this season, it's not like Furyk's game needs a wakeup call. Rest assured -- OK, maybe that's not the best phrase -- Furyk will probably have five alarm clocks sitting around his bed this week.

Or who would have thought Tiger Woods, just three days after his divorce became final, would open with a 65, close with a 67, birdie the 18th hole three times and at times still venture out of the top 100 in the FedExCup standings during the middle two rounds? Woods' inner alarm woke up, however, and he closed to a T12 to assure he'll be playing in this week's Deutsche Bank Championship.

"Looking forward to it," he said.

Mickelson

How many expected No. 2 Phil Mickelson -- the top golf endorser for The Barclays -- checking out early after missing the cut? At least he didn't have to worry about all the ways he could have supplanted Woods as the No. 1 player in the world.

Then there's Dustin Johnson, who reminds you of that inflatable punching clown we used to pound as kids. Watch Dustin take a hit with a final-round 82 in the U.S. Open -- then watch him pop back up. Watch him take another hit to the noggin with the final-hole triple bogey that cost him the PGA Championship (i.e. BunkerGate) -- then watch him pop back into contention at The Barclays.

Playing in the final group, the long-hitting Johnson once again failed to get it done on a Sunday, shooting a one-over 72 that dropped him to T9 (although it did improve his final-round scoring average to 72.69).

Anyone expect Johnson to not again be in contention this week at TPC Boston? He is, after all, learning. He admitted last week he made a huge mistake on the 72nd hole of the PGA -- but not by ignoring the rules sheet that declared all sandy areas as bunkers.

Says Johnson: "I never should have hit driver there." That's progress.

It was certainly no surprise that Steve Stricker shot a final-round 66 for a quiet T3. Nobody does better work on the PGA TOUR with less fanfare. Stricker, by the way, has more top-10s (eight) and rounds in the 60s (33) in the four-year history of the Playoffs than anyone else. Don't look now, but he's third in the FedExCup standings and, by the way, he's this week's defending champion.

"Big momentum," Stricker said.

Third-round leader Martin Laird had plenty of mo-jo when he opened Sunday with a pair of birdies to stretch his lead to five shots in search of his second PGA TOUR win. Laird wobbled from there, but still had a chance to win if he two-putts the 72nd hole from 23 feet.

Alas, to the dismay of his girlfriend and Scots everywhere, he knocked his first putt seven feet by and missed the comebacker to force a playoff with Matt Kuchar.

Many golf fans will always remember Kuchar as the fresh-faced kid who won the 1997 U.S. Amateur and the following year finished 21st in the Masters and 14th in the U.S. Open as an amateur.

Kuchar stunned everyone when he turned down millions of dollars in endorsements to remain at Georgia Tech, then even got a job in finance after graduation. He can use those monetary skills now that he's taken over the PGA TOUR's earnings lead at $4.2 million and also has the inside track on the $10 million bonus.

Kuchar's win was no fluke. He leads the PGA TOUR in scoring average (69.62) and has had more top-10s (10) in the last year than anyone else.

So it's on to Boston for stage two of the Playoffs. There won't be as many players (100), but the plot lines shouldn't lessen. Tiger was right.

We're all looking forward to it.

Craig Dolch is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.