Please use the following links:
US PGA Tour Playoffs Heat Up at Deutsche Bank
McIlroy Eager to Add More Majors
US PGA Tour Playoffs Heat Up at Deutsche Bank
NORTON, Massachusetts, Aug 29, 2012 (AFP) - Precision as well as power will be at a premium when the 100 players remaining in the US PGA Tour playoff race tee off Friday in the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Nick Watney won The Barclays, the playoff opener held last week at Bethpage Black, where the playff field was whittled from 125.
Watney's victory vaulted him into first place in the points list ahead of Brandt Snedeker and two-time playoff champion Tiger Woods.
Woods, who battled back trouble at Bethpage, warmed up for the event with an appearance in his old friend Notah Begay's charity tournament this week.
Although he closed out The Barclays with a disappointing 76 to finish tied for 38th, Woods said his back was better and he was excited about his playoff prospects.
"I'm not that far off," he said of his game. "The back is good. It was nice to have the treatment there on the weekend and then have Monday off. It's nice this tournament starts a little bit later, so I've got an extra day to kind of get some more treatment at home."
The elite field at the TPC Boston also includes Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Ernie Els and Bubba Watson is scheduled to tee it up at the TPC Boston.
While the par-71 layout has been known as a haven for long hitters, it also rewards precision, and changes to the par-five 18th will place more demands on the short game there.
Last year, Webb Simpson birdied 18 twice -- in the final hole of regulation and in the first hole of a two-hole playoff win over Chez Reavie -- to sieze the title.
But Simpson, who won the US Open in June, says he isn't particularly sorry to see the changes to 18.
"I had never really played that hole that well in the first place," he said. "The two birdies I made in regulation and the playoff -- I hit two poor approach shots, so I didn't really have the hole down."
Still a reachable par-five for many, the hole now features a smaller green with tricky run-off areas.
"It's going to be a lot harder," Simpson predicted. "I think guys might lay up in certain situations where they would have gone for it before. Better or worse? I don't know, but it's definitely harder."
The top 70 players in the standings after the Deutsche Bank concludes on Monday will advance to the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick, with 30 players ultimately qualifying for the Tour Championship September 20-23.
Jason Dufner ended the regular season second in the standings but opted to skip The Barclays. He comes into his 2012 playoff debut at sixth in the standings.
Dufner will be paired with Zach Johnson and McIlroy, who didn't compete in the playoffs last season because he wasn't a US tour member.
"I'm excited to be back," McIlroy said. "I think I shot 64 in the first round here the last time I played, so obviously I've played some good golf around here, and hopefully want to do more of the same this week."
"I think it's a good course for the long hitters," McIlroy said. "I think you've got to take advantage of the par-fives. The scoring is usually pretty good. Make your scores there, and it's a course where, I don't know, maybe 15- to 18-under is a good total to try and win.
"I feel like I'm playing well enough, I'm driving the ball well and giving myself enough chances, so if I can get the putter to cooperate a little bit better than it did last week, then hopefully I'll have a good chance."
McIlroy Eager to Add More Majors
NORTON, Massachusetts, Aug 30, 2012 (AFP) - Rory McIlroy's dominant victory in the PGA Championship whetted his appetite for major titles, but the 23-year-old world number one says he has plenty of time to add to his tally of two.
McIlroy, who claimed his first major title at the 2011 US Open, says he will not be turning his career into a pursuit of Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major golf titles, a mark that 14-time major winner Tiger Woods has unabashedly targeted.
"I never grew up chasing records or trying to put a certain number on it," McIlroy said Thursday on the eve of the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second of four events in the US PGA Tour's playoff series.
"I've got my second major and I'm looking for my third. Hopefully it's not too long before I get my third, and then when I get my third, I want to get my fourth. That's the way I'm approaching it.
"I don't want to put any number on it because if I just throw a random number out there and I don't get to it, I don't want me to be disappointed with a career that's actually very good or everyone else to feel like I haven't lived up to expectations."
McIlroy said he had become used to heightened expectations and scrutiny after winning the US Open, and his PGA victory earlier this month, which put him back atop the world rankings, hadn't changed things much.
"Life since winning the second one hasn't changed at all," he said. "It felt much different than the first. It felt normal, felt like this is what I'm supposed to do, these are the tournaments that I'm supposed to win."
Although McIlroy will be the youngest winner of Europe's Ryder Cup team in the match play showdown with the United States next month, he says he thinks he is ready to be a leader on the team captained by Jose Maria Olazabal.
"You can't be afraid to voice your opinion," said McIlroy, who made his Ryder Cup debut two years ago. "If you really feel strongly about something in the team room, you've got to stand up and speak.
"This will be my second one. I know there's a lot of older guys than me that are going to be on the European team, but I feel like I'm in a position where I'd be one of the leaders of the team, and if I feel strongly about something, I'll voice that."