GOLF NEWS:THERE WILL be no need for fans to wait until the Ryder Cup in September to see a duel between Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy – it's going to happen next week in the first of four FedEx Cup play-off events.
As first and second, respectively, on the FedEx Cup points list, the pair will be grouped together with a third player, for the first two rounds of The Barclays at Bethpage on New York’s Long Island from August 23rd.
The clash comes after McIlroy’s amazing eight-shot win at the USPGA Championship at Kiawah Island at the weekend, the same margin of victory as he had in last year’s US Open at Congressional.
Woods, who has now gone 50 months without adding to his 14 Majors, finished in a tie for 11th, on two under par, 11 shots shy of McIlroy’s total.
With just a week left in the season the third player of the threesome will be decided at the Wyndham Championship, but Jason Dufner, ranked third heading into the tournament, is most likely to join the two, even though neither will play this weekend.
Dufner could overtake Woods as number one and push McIlroy down to third but, crucially, not out of the reckoning for the Bethpage three-ball.
Carl Petterson could muscle his way into the group if he wins at Wyndham and Dufner has a weekend to forget. The Swede is 499 points behind Dufner and the winner receives 400 FedEx points.
Bethpage will be followed by the other FedEx Cup series tournaments at the Deutsche Bank, the BMW and the Tour Championship before the Ryder Cup at Medinah on September 28th-30th.
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