Young guns, veterans doing well as Barclays approaches

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After the 2009 PGA TOUR season began with several players in their 20s finding the winner's circle, players in their 40s are now using their experience to make a mid-season run just in time for The Barclays, the kickoff of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, Aug. 25-30, at Liberty National in Jersey City, N.J.

Early in the season, Nick Watney (28) and Dustin Johnson (25) won in back-to-back weeks at the Buick Invitational and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, respectively. Watney and Johnson were later joined by Sean O'Hair (27) who won the Quail Hollow Championship. All three players have now won multiple events on the PGA TOUR.

Lucas Glover (29) outlasted final-round charges by the top two players in the Official World Golf Ranking -- and all the rain Mother Nature could produce -- to claim the U.S. Open Championship at Bethpage State Park. Glover entered the final round one shot off the 54-hole lead and carded a 3-over-par 73 as he holed a short par putt on the 18th hole for a two-stroke victory. The victory was Glover's second on the PGA TOUR after claiming the 2005 FUNAI Classic at Walt Disney World Resort.

The four twentysomethings have combined for 16 top-10 finishes in 2009, and all four players are also currently in the top 20 in the FedExCup standings with Glover (No. 7), O'Hair (No. 9) and Watney (No. 10) each inside the top 10.

But for all the success that players in their 20s have had this year, the 40-year-olds may be having an even better season. Steve Stricker's second victory of 2009 at last week's John Deere Classic was the seventh win by a player in his 40s this year. Stricker, who won the 2007 Barclays and finished second in the 2007 PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, now trails Tiger Woods by 8 points in this year's FedExCups standings. The 42-year-old also won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial earlier this year.

Kenny Perry, 48, also has multiple wins this season with victories at the FBR Open and the Travelers Championship. Included in Perry's seven top-10 finishes is his runner-up playoff loss to Angel Cabrera at the Masters Tournament. Perry is No. 3 in the FedExCup standings. Other winners in their 40s include Jerry Kelly, Retief Goosen and Michael Bradley. These five players have 23 top-10 finishes among them this year.

The 2009 field at The Barclays will feature the top 125 players on the FedExCup points list following the Wyndham Championship (August 17-23), as opposed to a field of 144 in 2008. Here is a brief summary of several other changes to the structure of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup:

• The top 125 players on the final Regular Season FedExCup points list qualify for The Barclays.

• The top 100 players on the FedExCup points list following The Barclays qualify for the Deutsche Bank Championship.

• The top 70 players on the FedExCup points list following the Deutsche Bank Championship qualify for the BMW Championhip.

• Each Playoff event offers 2,500 FedExCup points to the winner (quintuple the Regular Season).

• A points reset will take place following the BMW Championship giving all 30 players in the field at THE TOUR Championship a mathematical chance to win the FedExCup.

Tickets to The Barclays are available at http://www.thebarclaysgolf.com/. Daily galleries will be limited to 25,000 spectators. Daily and Weekly tickets are available starting Tuesday of tournament week, Aug. 25.