2006 Barclays Classic Preview

The thoughts on many golfer’s minds this week may not be the Barclays Classic, being that the event comes the week before the U.S. Open, an event known for its drama and history. However, the Barclays Classic has provided plenty of drama in its own right, and should not be overlooked. While the term divine intervention maybe be a little strong, the luck of the Irish was on Padraig Harrington’s side last year as he took his second career PGA Tour victory.

Last Year
Having finished second after a playoff in the 2004 Barclays Classic, Padraig Harrington found himself in an all too familiar situation: trying to two-putt from 65 feet in order to force a playoff between him and Tour veteran Jim Furyk. The putt curled left up the hill, changed directions, broke downhill and curled into the cup. Brad Faxon, who knows a thing or two about putting said the putt was so perfect it would have landed in a thimble. Harrington, who was three-over after three holes and had battled his way back into contention by the sixteenth hole found himself on the winner’s podium.

The Course
The West Course at Westchester Country Club never gets the recognition many of its neighboring courses get simply due to the large number of fantastic courses in the Metropolitan New York area. However, the West Course has been used as a regular PGA Tour stop since 1967. Despite being short by today’s standards (the course measures a mere 6,839 yards) the yardage is deceiving due to the undulating terrain and tightness of the fairways. This decidedly old-school course makes a good prelude to the U.S. Open, which is most often played on historically significant and demanding courses.

The course sports only one par three of over 200 yards, while the other three par threes measure 190, 151, and 154 yards. These are par three yardages to which even weekend duffers can relate. The very atypical starting hole is the 191-yard par three, demanding an accurately placed mid to long iron off the tee placed somewhere on the multi-teired green.

The course also boasts a diverse range of par fours, ranging from the 314-yard tenth hole which can be driven, to the behemoth 485-yard twelfth hole which will require a mid-iron for the bombers and a long iron or hybrid from the mere mortals on tour. All the par fives of the West Course are reachable with accurate tee shots, as Padraig found out last year when he holed his 65-footer for eagle on the 526-yard eighteenth.

Who’s Hot
Phil Mickelson has really turned it on in the last month and a half. Lefty played some amazing shots around Muirfield Village last week, and if he can rein his drives in a little bit, he might just take the title this week. Zach Johnson and Adam Scott have also played a lot of great golf lately and I look for both of these young(er) guns to make some noise in the coming months. Richard S. Johnson has also poked his nose around in a few tournaments, but I don’t think the Swede has what it takes to seal the deal.

Who’s Not
Retief, Vijay, and Els. These three powerhouses have made very little noise in the 2006 season. Vijay might be getting a little old too excel like he normally does, only time will tell in that department. Ernie has looked iffy for a while now, not bringing his A game since his knee surgery. Retief, don’t even get me started on Retief. Don’t get me wrong, he’s on my list of favorite players, but the guy shot 74-72-75-75 at The Memorial. Come on Retief, make some noise.

TV and Radio Times
You can catch the Barclays Classic on USA and ABC or XM’s PGA Tour channel, XM 146 at these times:

              Television       Radio
Thu, 6/8      4-6, USA         12-8, XM 146
Fri, 6/9      4-6, USA         12-8, XM 146
Sat, 6/10     2-5, ABC         11-7, XM 146
Sun, 6/11     3-6:30, ABC       1-9, XM 146
* All times ET

Photo Credits: © AP Photo, © Golf Update, © PGA.