PGA Tour playoffs begin Thursday

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Aug. 26 (UPI) -- The first of the PGA Tour's four playoff events will mark the much-anticipated competitive debut of one of the most unique golf courses in the world.

The top 125 players on the FedEx Cup points list, including Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, will embark Thursday on a month of golf that will determine the winner of a top prize of $20 million.

The opening tournament of the playoffs will be The Barclays, and it will take place at Liberty National Golf Club. The course sits in the shadow of the Lower Manhattan skyline, and the Statue of Liberty, less than 1,000 yards from the 18th green, can be seen from almost every hole.

Liberty National opened three years ago on formerly toxic wasteland at the point the Hudson River joins New York Bay.

"It's one of the most demanding courses off the tee that we will play on the tour," Mickelson said on the eve of the first round.

To create a course on the site, former U.S. Open winner Tom Kite and design partner Bob Cupp had to have the landfill covered with thick, waterproof plastic. Workers then put millions of tons of clay on top of that and contoured it to match the design of the course. All that was covered with another layer of plastic. Then came 3 feet of sand, topped by grass and trees.

The year-long points race for the FedEx Cup will continue through the first three weeks of the playoffs, with five times more points available in the post-season events than in a regular tournament.

The top 30 players on the points list will play at the Tour Championships in Atlanta.