Inaugural PGA playoff series begins at The Barclays

2007-08-23

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HARRISON, New York (Ticker) -- The playoffs are about to begin on the PGA Tour.

The inaugural FedExCup playoff series starts on Thursday withthe $7 million Barclays Classic.

There is plenty of incentive since a $10 million bonus will beawarded to the points leader of the series played over fourstraight weeks, ending with the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

One player missing among this week's 144 entries is world No. 1Tiger Woods, who has cited fatigue following a busy summerschedule. He won the PGA Championship two weeks ago at steamySouthern Hills.

Each tournament in the series features a $7 million purse and a$1.26 million first prize. The other tournaments in the playoffseries are the Deutsche Bank Championship, the BMW Championshipand the Tour Championship.

Next week's field will include 120 players. Fifty players willbe eliminated there, making it a 70-man field for the BMW before30 players compete in Atlanta.

Since he holds a huge points lead, Woods already is guaranteed aspot in Atlanta.

Highlighting the field at the Barclays is Vijay Singh, who wonthis event for a third time last year. He also captured thetitle in 1993 and 1995.

Singh is one of five multiple winners on tour in 2007, joiningWoods, Phil Mickelson, Zach Johnson and K.J. Choi. The nativeof Fiji won the Mercedes-Benz Championship in January and theArnold Palmer Invitational in March.

At 6,839 yards, the Westchester County Club's West Course is oneof the shortest on tour.