The First Tee at Plainfield CC (Barclays)

I have to start this column with a shout out to our Ryder Cup captain, and 2015 Windham Champion, Davis Love III. Love became the third oldest PGA Tour winner, and showed glimpses of what made him such an incredible player twenty years ago. He could drive the ball a long ways when that meant 290-300 yards, but he also had soft hands around the greens and was as steady as they come. Love made two eagles on Sunday en-route to a field best -18. He also gave Tiger Woods hope that he could still win some tournaments ten years from now, but I doubt Tiger is thinking that far ahead. After having the 54 hole lead, Tiger fell just short of making the Fed-Ex Cup playoffs and in his own words will “attend soccer game" for the next couple months. Something tells me we are going to see a much more competitive Tiger Woods next PGA Tour season. .

Some names that did have a happy Sunday were Davis Love III, Ryo Ishakawa, Jeff Overton, Jonas Blixt, Camillo Villegas and Jason Gore who all clinched Fed Ex Cup Playoffs spots with their play at the Windham. In addition to Love, Gore made a huge leap from 166^th to 98^th with his second place finish over the weekend. I don't see any of these players making much noise in the playoffs, but that's the great part, anyone can get into contention with a win and another top finish. Considering the heavyweights vying for the 10 million this year, it is going to be very tough overtaking the players in the top five.

The top five shakes out like this going into the Barclays: Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Bubba Watson, Jimmy Walker and Justin Rose. Spieth enters the Barclays with a huge lead, nearly doubling his nearest competitor 4169 to 2459. He has had a year for the record books winning two majors, two other tournaments while also adding in 14 total top 10's. Spieth is only 22 years old but he has such a mature demeanor on the course. I think five years from now, we will be debating whether he has a chance to break Jack Nicklaus's major championships record.

Jason Day comes into the Fed Ex playoffs with as much momentum as any other player. After missing good opportunities at both the US and British Open, Day finally sealed the deal winning the PGA Championship. Two weeks prior he won the RBC Canadian Open, while also winning the Famers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. He also has eight total top 10's on the year. It's clear that Day has the type of game that can win on major championship courses, and at just 26 years old, we will be hearing Day's name at the biggest tournaments for years to come.

Bubba Watson already has two Masters Victories to his credit, but winning a Fed Ex Cup championship would be Bubba's biggest thrill yet. An emotional guy to begin with, I can't even begin to fathom the type of emotion we'd see if Bubba knew he was going to be receiving a 10 million dollar annuity. I don't think the money really affects him, it's more the fact that he'd know how many people he could help with that much scratch. He is certainly a giver and I know we will see of more it in Bubba's future.

Jimmy Walker is the only player of the top five not to have a major victory. He burst on the scene in 2014 with three wins early in the PGA Tour season, and backed that up again this year with two more wins. Walker was a middling player for many years before finding super-coach Butch Harmon. Harmon knew Walker had the physical tools to be a great player, so he worked on the mental aspect and his short game more than anything. He taught Walker what it took to win golf tournaments and after that, the rest is history. The biggest knock on Walker is that he tends to fade as the season goes by and also shrinks at the biggest tournaments. Some say he really hasn't had a win when the best players were in the field, but I don't' think that's true. Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose and Bubba Walker were all in the field during his wins, irrespective of whether or not they were all in the field at the same time, he's won enough golf tournaments where it is safe to say it is not a fluke. After coming into the Fed Ex with the #1 spot last year, he finished in 7^th place. Despite being a ways back from Spieth, he can win at any of the four playoff venues so he cannot be counted out.

Aside from Jason Day, Justin Rose comes in playing the next best golf. He finished 2^nd at the Masters, and two weeks later won the Zurich Classic. He then finished 17^th at the WGC Match Play, and 2^nd at the Memorial where he lost in a playoff to David Lingmerth. Rose continued to play well, finishing 27^th at the US Open, 6^th at the British, 4^th at the Quicken Loans, 3^rd at the WGC Bridgestone and 4^th at the PGA Championship. Rose has a unique chance to win the Fed Ex Cup without winning any of the four playoff tournaments. He racks up top 5's and 10's (7 top 10's in 2015) at an impressive clip and has had success at many of the playoff venues. If Jordan Spieth doesn't win the Fed Ex Cup, my money is on Rose.

Among the next five players, Robert Streb (6^th) and Dustin Johnson (7^th) are most intriguing to me. Streb won his first PGA Tournament at the McGladrey Classic and backed that up with a 2^nd at the Greenbriar, 4^th at Wells Fargo and a 5^th at the WGC Bridgestone. Along with Jason Day and Zach Johnson, Streb has an astonishing nine top 10's on the season, second only to Jordan Spieth's 14 top 10's. If Streb was to win the championship, he would make the most unlikely champ of any winner since the Fed Ex Cup started.

Dustin Johnson has had a really successful season, winning once, two runner ups and eight total top 10's on the season. What most people remember though, will be the opportunities he squandered at the US and British Opens and the PGA Championship. After leading three consecutive majors, Johnson was unable to seal the deal and secure his first major championships. He is too talented to not eventually breakthrough, but majors are fickle things. You can win one by another player losing it, or you can win one by beating everyone else, but at the end of the day no one remembers why the winners won, just how the losers lost. If he keeps putting himself in great position, he will get there and by that time it will be well deserved. Johnson could get the money off his back of sorts if he were to win the Fed Ex Cup playoffs. He's won at two of the venues and doesn't have much trouble closing out non-majors. In his 9^th season this year, he's already won 9 times on tour. Guys would kill to win ONE time, let alone average a win a year. DJ is as resilient as they come, so I fully expect him to give the top guys a run for their Fed Ex money, literally.

Check back in tomorrow as I take a look at the top DFS plays for the week, as well as a detailed looked at the host course for the Barclays, Plainfield Country Club.