The Barclays preview

The FedEx Cup play-offs get underway at The Barclays and a competitive four days lies in store at the Plainfield Country Club. Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood might be absent, but the rest of the world’s top players will be jockeying for position with the season’s biggest remaining prize now up for grabs. Fans of Betfair will be watching intently.

Luke Donald is rightly the man to beat. The world number one is the epitome of consistency this year, recording 10 top 10 finishes out of 14 and was runner-up in two of last year’s Playoffs events. Donald has proved himself on shot-makers’ courses such as Plainfield and there is now no weak link in his game.

Steve Stricker usually comes alive in the FedEx Cup play-offs, having finished inside the top 10 on 10 occasions in the 16 tournaments played since the event started. His blistering opening round at the US PGA Championship proved he is in the necessary form to prosper this week.

Nick Watney starts the event just behind Donald on the money leaders’ list thanks to an impressive start to the season that was capped by victory at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. He has lost consistency recently and has struggled at the majors but has the game to succeed on the exposed fairways of Plainfield. Those that will be Betting Online should be this in mind.

A slight outsider is Gary Woodland, who also has the power to prosper this week. He is the fifth longest driver on tour this season but is also accurate, ranking ninth for greens in regulation. A debut full season has seen him finish inside the top 25 finishes 10 times.