Golf - The Barclays Recap and FedEx Cup Standings

The first tournament in the FedEx Cup Championship finished this Sunday with a surprise winner. Heath Slocum won the $7,500,000 tournament by sinking an almost magical 21 ft 2 inch putt on the 18th hole to secure a one shot lead over Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Else.

When the person playing with him, Steve Stricker, failed to sink his par putt, Slocum earned the victory. It was an amazing feat for Heath Slocum who was the 124th man to make the 125 FedEx Cup Playoff field. Now, the field goes to 100 next week and look who is suddenly in the top five in the FedEx Cup Points Standings?

That’s right, Heath Slocum who is now third in the rankings. Tiger Woods remains at number one for his terrific second place finish and Steve Stricker remains at number two.

Sinking that par putt, Slocum suddenly vaulted himself into the FedEx Cup Championship arena.

Besides the terrific 21 footer, Slocum also played a fantastic game throughout the day. He took very few chances but did enough to keep himself in the game while having to battle the more heralded Stricker. Some would argue that what really happened, was that two of the best in the world, Padraig Harrington and Tiger Woods, failed to live up to their top billing on Sunday.

Join BetUS Sportsbook Today!

Harrington actually made a nice run by making a birdie on the 18th in order to get within one stroke of the lead. But Woods? That was another story.

For the second straight tournament he has played in, Woods just couldn’t do enough to close the deal. He definitely had a chance of tying Slocum going into the 18th, but he failed on his birdie putt. Then, he had to wait and hope that both Stricker and Slocum would fail. When Slocum did not, Tiger was the first person out of the special room that housed those players waiting to see if they were going to golf in a playoff.

As always, Tiger was gracious in defeat but the fact that he missed putts that he normally would have made, no doubt will bring the Tiger naysayers out of the woodwork. What’s wrong with Tiger’s short game? Why did he fail again to a lesser known opponent?

The truth is that Tiger really didn’t fail. It was Slocum who made the improbable putt on the 18th. Gamblers must remember that when odds are posted for the second tournament of the FedEx Cup, the Deutsche Bank Championship.

After Tiger, Stricker and Slocum, nobody else made enough of a move to put themselves into the top five in the FedEx Cup Standings. Here is the top five in the rankings with a note about each of them.

1. Tiger Woods - - Still tops because he’s striking the ball beautifully. If he gets his short game going, he’s still the favorite to take home the FedEx Cup.

2. Steve Stricker - - He had a shorter putt for par, but he couldn’t sink his and Slocum did. He still played a fantastic game and no doubt should be tough this week in the Deutsche Bank Championship.

3. Heath Slocum - - An amazing putt on the 18th sealed the deal. The man barely made it into the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Now, he has a shot to win it.