The Barclays: Slow start to FedEx Cup Playoffs for Lefty
PGA Tour | 
Written by BigRed
Phil Mickelson finished the first leg of the 2008 FedEx Cup Playoffs in a tie for 19th after rounds of 70, 70, 72 and 68 for a final score 280 (-4) on the tough Par-71 layout at Ridgewood Country Club.
Hunter Mahan and Steve Stricker got off to a great start and lead the tournament at -9 (Mahan) after the first and -11 (Stricker) after the second day, respectively. With Phil at -2 after two rounds I thought that he was already out of it. However, things only got worse over the weekend for the two Americans and the final score of tournament champion Vijay Singh was -8. It turned out that the poor third round effectively ended Phil’s chances of taking both the tournament trophy and the lead in the FedEx Cup standings.
With the new FedEx Cup point system good performances in the playoffs bring a lot more points than last year. That’s the reason why the top three spots in the standings are now taken by the three players who made it to the sudden-death playoff at The Barclays:
| Rank | Player | Points |
| 1 | Vijay Singh (FIJ) | 109,500 |
| 2 | Sergio Garcia (ESP) | 104,375 |
| 3 | Kevin Sutherland (USA) | 101,950 |
| 4 | Phil Mickelson (USA) | 101,856 |
| 5 | Justin Leonard (USA) | 101,830 |
In the second event of the 2008 Playoff series, Phil Mickelson will defend his title at the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston next week. He won that tournament in spectacular fashion against Tiger Woods a year ago.
August 27th, 2008 at 4:04 am
I really hope Phil is successful in defending his title. One thing is for sure though he is definitely facing some stiff competition from Sergio who is getting closer and closer each week to making the big score