PGA Tour playoffs begin Thursday

PARAMUS, N.J., Aug. 25 (UPI) -- The four-tournament PGA Tour playoffs begin Thursday with Tiger Woods facing a difficult battle to retain the championship he won a year ago.

A field of 121 players will open play at The Barclays, to be contested over the tree-lined Ridgewood Country Club course. Woods, whose divorce became final this week, enters the playoffs in 110th position out of the 125 players still eligible for the $10 million prize that goes to the winner of the FedEx Cup.

Only the top 100 will move on to next week's tournament in Boston. If Woods is not among them it would be the first time in 13 years the PGA Tour has held a tournament for which Woods would not be eligible to play.

Ernie Els will own the points lead heading into the playoffs, followed by Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose and Jeff Overton.

Furyk's chances of a FedEx Cup victory were reduced Wednesday when he overslept and missed his tee time for the pro-am event. Under PGA Tour rules, a player who fails to show up for his pro-am tee time is disqualified from the main tournament.

The others among the top 125 who will not take part are Sergio Garcia, Corey Pavin and Paul Goydos.

Mickelson will again have a chance to pass Woods as the No. 1 player in the world rankings. A finish among the top 10 would give Mickelson a chance at the top spot, depending on where Woods finishes.

Next week's event in Boston will further reduce the playoff survivors to 70 and the third tournament in Chicago will cut the field to 30 for the Tour Championship, which will be held in Atlanta.