General / Paul Krishnamurty / 25 August 2009 / Leave a comment

The world's richest tour is getting down to business with the four-event Fedex Cup offering $35m in bonus money. Paul Krishnamurty rates the following quartet worthy of interest if you're playing the odds over the next four weeks...

"Until three weeks ago, Harrington had achieved precisely nothing in 2009. Now, after matching Woods for 142 out of 144 holes at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and USPGA, the thrice major champion starts as clear second favourite. Rightly so in my view, as the two disaster holes that ended his challenge on each occasion can only be put down as freak occurences. Harrington is no bottler, as his majors record proves."

The most lucrative series in golf, and some would say the most over-hyped, begins in New Jersey this week. The Fedex Cup play-offs are four championship events to finish the main part of the PGA Tour season, and determine how the eye-watering $35M bonus fund will be distributed.

The top-125 on the Fedex Cup points list line up at this week's Barclays Classic, before that number is whittled down to 100 for the Deutsche Bank Championship, then 70 for the BMW Championship, and finally the top-30 will head to the decisive Tour Championship. Besides all the prize money amassed in each event, the winner will take home a $10M bonus. Here are four big names expected to thrive over the next month.

Tiger Woods
Naturally, Tiger starts red-hot favourite. He won the inaugural Fedex Cup in 2007 with ease, despite opting out of the first play-off, before missing last year's series with injury. Having already won five titles in 2009, Woods is clearly going to take all the beating, but he's not a certainty.

Primarily that's because the format has been changed to ensure that anyone in the Tour Championship field can still win the Fedex Cup. So even if Tiger wins the first three play-off events, he could still be beaten to the overall first prize.

Of more immediate concern is whether Tiger can justify odds of [2.94] at the Barclays. For my money, he's a solid lay at that price, in a tournament that he's never won before. The course, Liberty National, is a tough par-70 with links characteristics. Of course Tiger can win on any course, but this one is far from ideal. After all, even in this tremendous season, he failed to win any of the majors on such tough layouts.

Padraig Harrington
Until three weeks ago, the thrice major champion had achieved precisely nothing in 2009. Now, after matching Woods for 142 out of 144 holes at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and USPGA, Harrington starts as clear second favourite. Rightly so in my view, as the two disaster holes that ended his challenge on each occasion can only be put down as freak occurences. Harrington is no bottler, as his majors record proves.

He's already won the Barclays Classic in 2005, albeit on a different course, and should love the linksy characteristics of Liberty National. That represents a great opportunity to hit the ground running in this series, but he will need to vastly improve on two missed cuts at the second play-off venue, TPC Boston.

Camilo Villegas
Villegas has been one of the stars of the last two Fedex Cups. Last year, he started the series as a non-winner on the PGA Tour, before going on to win both of the final two events. His record in eight play-off events so far includes six top-10 finishes.

So far, 2009 has been a solid but unspectacular year for the Colombian, making his last 15 cuts but failing to register a top-10 in any of them. However, we know he likes these courses and thrives at this time of year, so Villegas could be about to step up a gear once again.

Ernie Els
Having looked like a player in terminal decline for the last couple of seasons, there have been clear signs of life in the Big Easy's game of late. Ernie put up a strong showing in both the Open and USPGA, finishing 8th and 6th respectively. In both cases, he would have gone a lot closer were it not for some very silly mistakes, particularly on the greens.

Putting certainly remains a big concern, but at least his long game appears back in good shape. Ernie has yet to win a play-off event, but his record is fair. Seven tries in the two previous Fedex Cups have yielded five top-20s including three top-10s. It's highly doubtful that Ernie will be consistent enough to win the bonus prize, but he could well pick up one of the individual events. The opening venue for the Barclays Classic in particular looks ideal for his talents.

Tags: Barclays Classic, BMW Championship, Camilo Villegas, Deutsche Bank Championship, Ernie Els, Fedex Cup, Padraig Harrington, Tiger Woods, Tour Championship