The Barclays

The Barclays is the first of four annual playoff events of the FedEx Cup, introduced for the first time in 2007. It is a regular PGA Tour event, and is played annually in August at the Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York State. The defending champion is the number three on the Official World Golf Ranking, America’s Steve Stricker.

The very nature of a playoff event for the FedEx Cup means that the top 144 golfers of the 2008 season will contest the Barclays. For more information on the FedEx Cup, and how it affects the Barclays, please take a look at our FedEx Cup brief.

Since the inaugural tournament held in 1967, which was won by the legendary Jack Nicklaus, the list of winners at the Barclays reads like the ‘Who’s Who’ of golf – Arnold Palmer, Seve Ballesteros, Vijay Singh, Ernie Else, Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington have all lifted the title at Rye, some more than once.

Traditionally still known by participating pros as the Westchester Classic, the Barclays has undergone a series of name changes over the years reflecting the various sponsors of the event. It was only in 1990 that the title no longer contained the host course or location of the tournament.

The biggest spectator turn-out for the event was in 2001 when the current world number one, Tiger Woods took part for the first time at Westchester Country Club. Oddly enough the world’s most outstanding golfer did not lift the title – Spain’s Sergio Garcia claimed the first of his two titles at Rye.

The most prolific golfer of the event over the years has been Fiji’s Vijay Singh. He has lifted the title a total of three times – in 1993, 1995 and more recently in 2006. Several other golfers have emerged as champions on more than one occasion, but only South Africa’s ‘Big Easy’, Ernie Els, has won the event in consecutive years – in 1996 and 1997.

Tickets to the 2008 Barclays are not yet available, but the schedule has already been drawn up, and for now, it is a waiting game to see which of the top ranked golfers will be amongst the 144 who will be eligible to take part in the event.

The field will, in all probability, be the top of the Official World Golf Ranking, but do not discount one or two rookies who will have proved their pedigree over the 2008 season.

To make the tournament more intriguing, you should wager a bob or two on the outcome of the 2008 Barclays. The Barclays Betting Guide and the Barclays Odds pages will give you a couple of tips on *golf betting and the Barclays in particular.

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