Tiger Woods falls to his knees, but remains on his feet, he remains number one in the FedExCup standings at the end of the Barclays, the first tournament of the four playoffs that close the American season.
Adam Scott is the winner of the first comparison between the top 125 of the PGA USA, at the Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City in front of Manhattan. The Australian hits the second tournament of the season, after the Masters, with 11 under par.
The real news of the day however is Tiger Woods' back pain who, in the fourth round, even falls to his knees after the second shot (in the water) at the 13th hole and then bends over on all fours overwhelmed by pain. It was immediately understood that something was wrong with Woods' physique: before the match, the champion decides to play only 9 holes of the traditional proam, saying that his neck hurts due to a too soft bed in the hotel. From the first round he touches his back, makes faces and above all struggles to bend over like an old man, even to pick up the ball. He alternates good blows with several hits, but this is nothing new for the world number one. At Liberty he trudges up the ladder, never really grabbing the tournament. However he doesn't give up until the 72nd hole: after the abyss of the 13th (bogey) he gets up again, loses a series of shots, recovers with a couple of birdies. Missing the play-off with Scott by one shot, actually by a few centimeters, given that his ball stops on the edge of the 18. Too bad, it would have been an incredible finish. After all, Scott fully deserves the title: in important tournaments he is always in the game, he sinks at the right moment and in this case he makes an excellent last round in 66 shots.
The next appointment is now less than 5 days away: will Tiger be able to go ahead in these closing races of the FedExCup? Nothing prevents him from missing a round, no one will take away his place, but he won't be able to earn points in the standings and that means a lot, for the final challenge of 30 players. The champion, in the interviews at the end of the race, seems suffering but optimistic and promises "I have a meeting with my best friend", the physiatrist who is treating him. Let's hope: TV, fans and rivals want him not to give up and continue to give emotions to the world of golf for a long time to come, despite his ailments, bad balls and incredible recoveries. His body language fills the screen as does his game, because Tiger is always putting on a show.
As for the movements in the Fedex ranking: Scott leaps to second place, confirming his state of grace and also the excellent understanding with caddy Steve Williams, Tiger's ex friend and ex club-bearer. Phil Mickelson closes a splendid tournament and climbs one position, from fourth to third; Matt Kuchar (from second to fourth) and Brandt Snedeker, 2012 champion (from third to sixth) who didn't even pass the cut at the Liberty National, fell instead. Well done Justin Rose who climbs from seventh to fifth place and could have won the Barclays if he had pocketed a few more putts; Rory McIlory also did well, 19th in the Barclays, 36th in the Fedex, after gaining 13 positions.
The Deutsche Bank Championship begins on Friday and the field will be reduced to one hundred players (from 125): champions such as Geoff Ogilvy, Aaron Bradley, Carl Petterson, Lucas Glover leave the scene. And on Friday the ranking carousel starts again, making the final totally open.
