On August 21, the world’s top golfers will assemble at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey for the 2014 edition of the Barclays golf tournament. Two weeks after Rory McIlroy won a dramatic PGA Championship, he and the rest of the top 125 FedEx Cup qualifiers will play for a cool $10 million.
It will all start here however at this event, the Barclays. All eyes will definitely be on McIlroy and whether he can continue his rich vein of form and win his fourth-consecutive golf tournament. Still, a host of other talented golfers will be out to prove McIlroy isn’t the golden boy he appears to be as they fight for the $1.44 million top prize and the 2,500 FedEx Cup points at stake at this event.
Read on to find out who the three players in the field we think can put on a final-round charge come Sunday afternoon and may turn out to be valuable sleeper picks. For more on this tournament, check out our complete preview and predictions.
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Three 2014 The Barclays High-Value Sleeper Picks
Matt Kuchar
[sc:Golf240banner ]Matt Kuchar may have missed out on the PGA Championship two weeks ago with a gimpy back but he has declared himself fit and ready to go for the Barclays and that is good news for bettors looking for a solid pick this week. The last time this event was held at this course back in 2010, Kuchar produced a stunning come-from-behind win, carding a final-round 66 as he went on to defeat Martin Laird in a sudden-death playoff.
Kuchar has been playing solid lately as well, finishing in a tie for fourth at the Canadian Open and in a tie for 12th at the Bridgestone Invitational before being sidelined with his back injury. He’s currently ranked fourth in the FedEx Cup standings and should contend come the final round.
Jason Day
The last time this event was held at the Ridgewood Country Club four years ago, Jason Day ended up in a tie for fifth, three shots behind eventual-winner Kuchar. His experience in dealing with this golf course will prove vital as he aims to win his third PGA Tour title.
The Australian, who won the Accenture Match Play earlier this year, seems to have recovered from the thumb injury that has severely hampered his golf game this season. He finished in a tie for 15th at the PGA Championship last time out and with his injury problems already behind him he’s surely one of the main threats this weekend.
Jimmy Walker is just playing lights-out golf this season and is definitely one of the main contenders this weekend. The 35-year-old has already won twice this season, including the Sony Open and the Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this year and that has enabled him to snag the second spot in the FedEx Cup rankings.
He has maintained his good form this late in the season as evidenced by his seventh-place finish at the PGA Championship this month, and will be feeling confident heading into the event on Thursday. He is second on the PGA Tour in birdies made with a 4.26 average while he’s also in the top 10 in scoring with a 69.738 average. He has certainly come a long way from the guy who waited nine long years and played in 188 golf tournaments before bagging his maiden victory at the Frys.com Open last year.
