Hazard
Phil Mickelson: He's without a top-50 in three starts since Bethpage. That hasn't happened since his wrist injury two summers ago. You have to question if he's in it to win it. That's hardly a personal attack inasmuch as it's a commentary on priorities at home. Then again, shortly after he went WD-MC-MC-MC in June-July 2007, he won the Deutsche Bank.
Projection: 26+

Sean O'Hair: It's been a brutal summer for O'Hair, who shot a pair of 77s last week.
Projection: MC

Brian Gay: The tie for 12th at The Barclays was his first top-25 since the win in Memphis. If he was going to tear it up anywhere to bust out of his funk, it would have been last week. Granted, it was a good finish, but even a so-so ball-striking game didn't threaten the leaderboard. Now he plays TPC Boston, where his best result in four starts is last year's tie for 50th. I'd love to be wrong because I want to see him on the President's Cup team, but ...
Projection: 26+

Bubba Watson: What have you done since the last federal holiday? Watson has gone WD-MC-MC-MC-MC-MC. He also had to watch (or hear about later) fellow Milton High Schooler, Heath Slocum, tame the field at The Barclays.
Projection: MC

Briny Baird: Despite missing the cut in eight of his last nine starts, notice my acquiescence in putting him here this week. It could be the good-vibes dynamic of never missing a cut in all six Deutsche Banks. (Only Jonathan Byrd and John Senden have also turned that trick.) But after a switch to the conventional putting style, which led to some moderate success, it's been anything but for weeks.
Projection: 26+

Final thoughts
Remember the old Jim Colbert line that Tiger Woods covered a couple of years ago? "Play better," Woods reprised when asked for his advice for anyone griping about the PGA Tour's cut line. Well, although it hasn't been in direct association with that old chestnut, guys are answering the bell, aren't they? First, Y.E. Yang and now Heath Slocum. Just don't expect guy firing back a "Putt better" to the world's No. 1.

With one event in FedExCup Playoffs v.3 in the books, opinions are all over the place about the newest format.

On one hand, you have the 124-seed, Heath Slocum, climbing to No. 3 with a win at The Barclays. Last year, Kevin Sutherland parlayed a P-2 at The Barclays into a rise from 57th to third. (He finished 11th.)

On the other, eight golfers that cashed at Liberty National failed to advance to the Deutsche Bank. A year ago, everyone that made the cut at The Barclays moved on. So is it even fair to compare the modifications of the format? Probably not, but the first debate should be whether Heath Slocum deserved to be in the playoffs in the first place.

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Clearly, he validated it, but he had just two top-30s all year (T-3, Mayakoba; T-10, St. Jude). Six playoff qualifiers haven't had a top-10, two of whom are still alive (Troy Matteson, Ryuji Imada).

I'm not going to waste this space with yet another forgettable solution, but consider this: if Slocum wins the Deutsche Bank and Woods finishes no worse than a three-way tie for second, then Woods would still be atop the rankings. Resetting, that's Slocum 1st-1st, Woods T2-T2, and Woods still leads. Explain that to the casual golf fan. I'm ignoring the prize money because golf fans can't concern themselves with that. Playoffs are about winning. Period.

Presidents Cup
The captain's picks for the Presidents Cup teams will be announced on Tuesday. American leader, Fred Couples, has already painted himself in a corner, basically promising Hunter Mahan and Lucas Glover spots on the squad. If Phil Mickelson remains, then 2009 stand-outs such as Brian Gay, Nick Watney, Dustin Johnson and David Toms will be spectators.

Greg Norman has a much more shallow pool from which to draw his two selections. Rory Sabbatini is 11th, and despite his win at the Byron Nelson, he doesn't jump off the page. Yet, because no one else does, Sabbatini is a likely pick. Then, Jeev Milkha Singh at No. 12 would seem to be OK, but he's still bouncing back from a rib muscle problem, although the Indian has said that he's 100 percent again.

Even though Michael Sim (24th in the rankings) is an Aussie (like Norman, of course) and he's won three times on the Nationwide Tour to climb inside the top-60 in the world ranking (he fell to 61st this week), Thongchai Jaidee (finished 16th in the Presidents Cup eligibility ranking) is more deserving. The Thai has four wins in the last 12 months on the Asian Tour, but even he hasn't had a top-10 since his most recent victory four months ago. Of these four, only Sabbatini (2007) has played in the biennial event. Regardless of whom Norman chooses, The Shark's reasoning should be entertaining.

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