29 Aug 2011
Summary of the Barclays
Dustin Johnson: The first round of the playoffs is in the books. Dustin Johnson did something he hasn’t done all year – he putted very well. Oh, and he won – something else he hadn’t done yet this year. A BIG Congrats to Dustin Johnson who moved up from 19th to 1st in the standings. If he keeps putting well, look out field!
To win it all, I believe Dustin still needs to work on his wedge game. Given his distance off the tee, he simply needs to hit his wedges and short irons closer to the hole. I think Dustin needs a better feel of down and through – past a firm left post axis. He needs to get the feel for less than full distance shots by how fast/slowly he spins his left hip,while maintaining handle/left pivot connection.
Matt Kuchar: Matt had a really good ball striking week. If he maintains his ‘connected’ feel throughout the playoffs, Kuch could make the top five going into East Lake again this year. Matt’s 2nd place finish moved him up to 2nd in point standings fr0m 12th.
Vijay Singh: Back from Germany where he had the same procedure as Fred Couple to heal his aching back, Vijay looked limber again. His 3rd place finish moved him up from 36th to 8th in the Fedex point standings. Let’s hope his back holds up.
Brandt Snedeker: This talented player can really heat it up when he gets in rhythm. He birdied 5 in a row out of the box in the final round, f inishing with 61 – shattering the old course record by3 shots! Brandt moved up to 6th from 18th with his 3rd place finish, tying Vijay. Brandt needs to avoid quickness, both in his preparation to feel his shot BEFORE he plays it and in his takeaway.
Luke Donald, Nick Watney and Webb Simpson: All played well enough to virtually hold their points position, but they will need to sharpen their games the next couple of weeks.
Luke needs to get closer to ball balanced over his insteps (instead of on the balls of his feet) so he can return the handle to his left pivot at impact. Currently it is returning 4 -6″ higher at impact than at address.
Watney needs to get his spine tilt into his left heel at address and keep it there throughout his swing. With his driver he must watch his ball placement. He tends to let it sneak back in hs stance. It should be directly opposite his left heel.
Webb struggles with his connections, causing a timing problem with his swing moton. When he feels connected, he’s pretty good.
Other players who did themselves some good athe Barclays:
Camilo Villegas: He moved up 58 places from 109th to 51st. He’s back in the hunt, but will need another good showing this week at the Duetsche Bank Classic to ensure a trip to Chicago for the BMW Championship. Camilo needs to work on his rhythm at 80 – 90% power to improve both his accuracy and consistency.
Justin Rose: Justin moved up to 27th from 44th. He is now looking at making the top 30 and East Lake. If he finally puts it all together these next two events, Justin has the talent and game to be a surprise winner of the whole ball of wax.
Brian Davis: Brian tends to fly under the radar but he moved up from 57th to 30th at the Barclays. We’ll have to wait and see if he has his timing back for the duration.
Charlie Hoffman: He’s the defending champ in Boston this week. Charlie did himself some good at Plainfield last week, moving up from 49th to 33rd in the Fedex points standings. Charlie has the talent, but he needs better routines to properly focus his attention each and every shot. He has a good short game, though he can be a little too streaky with the flat stick.
Trevor Immelman: Healthy again after two years of left wrist weakness, Trevor gave himself a good shot at making the top 70 and going to Chicago by moving up to 79th from 95th. He will need to keep the pedal to the metal this week as well.
Padrig Harrington: He barely squeaked into the playoffs at 124th by cancelling a family vacation to play in the Wyndham. But he played well enough at the Barclays to move up to 80th. He will need another good week in Boston to make Chicago. Perhaps those 18 swing keys he was changing at the start of the year are finally yielding fairways and greens. One can only hope. Padrig is such a gentleman.
Next its off to Boston and the 2nd round of the Playoffs. Any Predictions?
