Sports

Barclays leaderboard swamped with big names

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Here on the swampy shores of Jersey City, a group of men are preparing to set off a weekend of fireworks.

The leaderboard at The Barclays at Liberty National Golf Course became ripe yesterday with big names, star power and the chance for the final two rounds to grab a hold of golf fans and keep them riveted for the remainder of this first tournament of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Setting the crowd aflame with a second-round 8-under 63 was St. John’s alumnus Keegan Bradley, who buried his opening-round 72 as a memory and sits at 7-under for the tournament. Bradley is three shots behind leader Matt Kuchar, who still has four holes of his second round to play, and two behind the clubhouse leader at 9-under, Webb Simpson.

“I hit a ball out of bounds on the last hole [yesterday] morning and it was just brutal,” said Bradley, who took to the course to finish his first round at 7 a.m. as a result of Thursday’s six-hour rain delays. “I decided that I was going to prove to myself that that wasn’t how I’m going to end this tournament. So I decided to go out and just let it go, and I really seemed to play well on that second 18.”

Bradley has a sour relationship with this tournament and with the FedEx Cup playoffs in general. This is the first time he has ever made the cut in this tournament, a pill especially difficult to swallow last year when the event was played at Bethpage Black on Long Island, where Bradley played a lot as a collegian.

“It’s always a tough week,” said Bradley, who now holds the course record. “This has always been a tournament that I’ve always really wanted to play well at, and this is the first time I’ve even remotely come close to shooting under par. So it’s nice.”

When play was halted due to darkness last night around 7:45, the names close to the lead who had completed their second rounds included flat-brimmed Rickie Fowler (7-under), reigning Masters winner Adam Scott (7-under), reigning U.S. Open winner Justin Rose (7-under) and the mercurial Sergio Garcia (6-under).

Yet it was Kuchar who made a run past Bradley to tie Simpson’s lead and then, in the growing darkness, make one more birdie to pass him. Kuchar, ranked second in the FedEx Cup standings, received loud cheers throughout the round, with the low echo of “Kuuuuch” stirring the tall grasses.

But even those cheers paled in comparison to the volume surrounding his playing partner, world No. 1 and the standings leader, Tiger Woods.

After making birdie on three of his first five holes, Woods was ready to take control of the tournament. But he then hit some wayward tee shots and winced while grabbing at his lower back, which he said has been bothering him since Wednesday morning after he slept on a “soft” hotel bed.

Woods made three bogies around the turn and finished 15 holes of his second round at a combined 5-under, close enough for all those near the lead to take notice.

“I got off to a great start and then lost it the middle part of the round and made too many mistakes,” said Woods, who called his back “sore” and admitted it got worse as the round went on. “I didn’t hit any greens. Consequently, made some bogeys.”

In 2009, the last time this tournament was at Liberty National, a journeyman named Heath Slocum drained a 25-footer on the final hole to win by one and prevent a star-studded playoff. If there is a Heath Slocum in store this year, he’s going to have to make his way through some bright lights to reach to the top.

“A lot of guys are playing good golf,” said Simpson, the winner of last year’s U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. “I think that I have to keep playing well and keep making birdies. I think a really low score is going to win this golf tournament.”