The 44th event of the season - and the first event of the postseason - is upon us, as the PGA Tour heads to New Jersey for The Barclays. A field of 120 will tackle Plainfield Country Club, with the top 100 in the standings advancing to next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship.
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Hunter Mahan won this event a year ago at Ridgewood Country Club. Here are 10 players to watch in the Garden State:
1. Jason Day: The Aussie makes his first start as a major champion, and there is no reason to suspect a letdown. Day’s last five starts include a pair of wins and nothing worse than a T-12 finish, while his record in this event includes a runner-up finish last year at Ridgewood and a T-13 result at Plainfield in 2011.
2. Jordan Spieth: Spieth was beaten only by Day at Whistling Straits, and that trend continues with this week’s preview. The world No. 1 hasn’t played Plainfield before, but he cracked the top 25 each of the last two years at this event and he hasn’t finished outside the top 10 since the AT&T Byron Nelson in May.
3. Justin Rose: Rose ran into a buzzsaw at a major for the second time this year, as both the Masters and PGA Championship eluded him despite strong play. The Englishman finished T-6 at Plainfield in 2011 and has finished sixth or better in five of his last six starts dating back to the Memorial.
4. Brooks Koepka: The list of names who are playing better than Koepka right now is seriously short. His T-6 finish at Sedgefield came thanks to a Sunday 65, and Koepka now has three straight top-6 finishes and seven straight top-18 finishes. With a possible Presidents Cup bid in sight, he’ll likely remain hot.
5. Dustin Johnson: Johnson won this event the last time it was held at Plainfield, when Superstorm Sandy reduced play to 54 holes. While he has struggled with closing the deal on the weekends at majors this summer, he did win a WGC event earlier this year and boasts eight top-10 finishes this season.
6. Paul Casey: The Englishman had a great week in Greensboro, finishing T-3 after three straight rounds of 66. It was his fourth top-3 since February, and his stat line remains impressive: fifth this season in GIR percentage, eighth in scoring average and 10th in strokes gained tee-to-green.
7. Matt Kuchar: Kuchar was a runner-up at Plainfield in 2011 to go along with his win in 2010 and T-5 finish a year ago, both at Ridgewood. After a slow summer, he is finally showing signs of form, with a T-7 finish at the PGA among four top-25 finishes across his last five starts.
8. Bubba Watson: Watson never really contended at Whistling Straits, but his T-21 finish was still his fifth top-25 in his last six starts. That streak includes a win and a pair of runner-ups, and Watson leads the Tour in strokes gained tee-to-green and ranks second in both driving distance and scoring average.
9. Robert Streb: He may be unassuming, but his results speak volumes. Streb now has a string of eight top-20 finishes across his last nine starts, a run that dates back to the Wells Fargo in May and includes his playoff loss at The Greenbrier. He finished T-10 at Whistling Straits after a solo-fifth place finish at Firestone.
10. Tony Finau: The long-hitting rookie has found his stride this summer. Finau’s run up the leaderboard in Wisconsin gave many a first glimpse, but he has been solid since May with nine top-25 finishes in his last 11 starts. That includes top-15 finishes at both the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship.
