LUMBERTON — Fairmont native William McGirt will compete in the FedEx Cup playoffs for the fifth straight time in his five full seasons on the PGA Tour.
His playoff run starts Thursday with The Barclays at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, N.J.
Currently sitting 74th in the FedEx Cup standings, McGirt is one of 125 players competing in the first event of the four-tournament playoffs. Each $8-millon tournament offers quadruple points relative to PGA Tour regular season events.
McGirt finished in a tie for 5th last season at The Barclays, posting scores of 68, 71, 68 and a final-round 66 at Ridgewood Golf Course. The finish helped McGirt advance all the way to the third leg of the playoffs, where his run ended at the BMW Championship with a 65th place finish.
After an opening-day 62 gave him a share of the lead at the Wyndham Championship last week, McGirt followed with an up-and-down 70 in the second round and consecutive 68’s to finish in a tie for 14th place at 12-under-par.
The finish earned him a $94,500 payout and 55 FedEx Cup points, setting him up for his fifth consecutive playoff appearance.
The playoffs feature a progressive cut, beginning with The Barclays (125 players), continuing with the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston (100 players) and the BMW Championship in Illinois (70 players).
In the final leg of the tournament, a reset takes place, seeding the top-30 players to compete in the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola in Atlanta, where the FedEx Cup Champion will hoist the trophy.
Paired with Chad Campbell and Will Wilcox, McGirt is set to tee off at 7:31 a.m. Thursday on hole No. 10 of the 7,012-yard par-70 course. The winner receives 2,000 FedEx Cup points.
Hunter Mahan won The Barclays last season by closing with a 7-under-par 65 to finish at 14 under par for the tournament.
