Betting on the FedEx Cup: The Barclays Betting Preview

by Bodog Sportsbook | Aug 26 2009

Who says they never remember who came in second?

Golf is as much about failure as success. We remember Greg Norman more for his many dramatic second-place finishes (including three times at The Masters) than for winning the British Open twice. And we're still buzzing after Tiger Woods finished a Normanesque second to Y.E. Yang at the 2009 PGA Championship. Yang chipped in from 60 feet for an eagle on the par-4 No. 14, and he drained a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to seal a three-stroke victory over Woods, the 2-1 favorite at Hazeltine and the clubhouse leader after three rounds. Woods had gone 14-0 at major tournaments when taking the lead into the final round.

It's not the first time Woods has finished second to a virtual unknown - including at Hazeltine, where Rich Beem beat Tiger by a stroke to take the 2002 PGA Championship. Even Woods can't win 'em all. But he's still winning more than half the time: four of his last seven PGA Tour events and 13 of his last 24 since the 2007 British Open. That's enough to keep Woods well on top of the odds list for The Barclays (formerly the Buick Classic) this week at picturesque Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey. Woods is priced at 13-8, followed by Padraig Harrington at 20-1, and Phil Mickelson at 25-1.

Harrington is the lone member of this threesome ever to win The Barclays, thanks to a dramatic 65-foot eagle putt on No. 18 to beat Jim Furyk by a stroke back in 2005 (Woods wasn't part of that field; he's only played this event five times in his career, most recently in 2003). After a very poor start to the 2009 season, Harrington has been working on his swing mechanics and found himself neck-and-neck with Woods at Hazeltine before hitting the wall in the final round. Harrington finished in 10th place to make it back-to-back Top-10 results - his only two of the year.

Mickelson was unable to crack the Top 50 in either of his last two PGA events since taking time off to attend to his family. But Mickelson has an important advantage this week: He's a member at Liberty National, which is hosting this event for the first time after 42 years at the Westchester Country Club. Liberty National (established 2006) is playing at a par-70 for The Barclays at a total of 7,400 yards. Mickelson will be one of the few lucky people in the world to have played there enough to know what to expect from the course.

Here's how the top three favorites stack up in this situation.

Tiger Woods

Barclays victories: none
2009 victories: 5 (Arnold Palmer Invitational, Memorial, AT&T National, Buick Open, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational)
2009 PGA Tour Money Ranking: No. 1 ($7.688 million)
2009 average score: 69.2

Padraig Harrington

Barclays victories: 2005
2009 victories: none
2009 European Tour Money Ranking: No. 17 (€0.840 million)
2009 average score: 70.9

Phil Mickelson

Barclays victories: none
2009 victories: 2 (Northern Trust Open, WGC-CA Championship)
2009 PGA Tour Money Ranking: No. 5 ($3.869 million)
2009 average score: 71.1

Whatever growing pains the FedExCup may be going through, it's given Woods the added incentive to make just his second career PGA stop in New Jersey. The inaugural 2007 champion is first in the standings this year and widened his lead over the field with his second-place result at Hazeltine.

1. Tiger Woods        3,431
2. Steve Stricker        2,155
3. Zach Johnson        2,019
4. Kenny Perry        1,993
5. Lucas Glover        1,742

The Barclays is the start of the FedExCup playoffs; the Top 125 golfers in the Cup standings (minus Tom Watson, who had yet to commit to the event at press time) have qualified, which makes this week's field tougher than at most non-majors. The Top 100 will advance to next week's Deutsche Bank Championship, then it's the Top 70 at the BMW Championship and finally the Top 30 at the Tour Championship - where the points will be reset to prevent a repeat of last year's anticlimactic win by Vijay Singh.

Singh is the defending and four-time champion at The Barclays, but he hasn't won anything on the PGA Tour since his 2008 victory at Westchester. You'll find Singh at 40-1 this week, behind two-time winners Sergio Garcia and Ernie Els at 33-1. On the props market, Garcia is available at -115 in a head-to-head matchup with Hunter Mahan (-115). Els squares off at the same price with Retief Goosen, and Tiger Woods is a chalky -400 to outperform Harrington (+300) at Liberty National.

Check out the Bodog Sportsbook for all the latest lines!