Playoff Pressure! Bubba Aims At Tent; Jordan Goes Home

You can literally see the playoff vibe at Plainfield.

In the form of large, Impact font lettering along the fairway, just in case you forgot these were playoffs where algorithms rule!

That's the good news for Jordan Spieth, who misses his third cut of 2015 but is still very much alive in the FedExCup points race despite stepping on his ball. Reinforcing just how vital these playoffs are, Spieth put new irons in the bag this week, reported Jonathan Wall (and noted by golf.com's Brendan Moehler).

The 36-hole leader, Bubba Watson, apparently doesn't care much for Plainfield due to the blind shots, so he's aiming at tents and not worrying if he moves the ball. He's also using driver on holes where the play seems iffy, but the strategic tactic is to secure a few of the next shot.

Kevin Maguire on the tent play:

The two-time Masters champ said previously this course just doesn't suit his eye. Blind shots, of which there are many on the classic Donald Ross design, are difficult for Watson and he is an extremely visual golfer.

"The reason why I hit driver is to make the hole visually better for me on the next shot," Watson said.

Asked about his hole after the round, Watson simply gave the answer that many a weekend golfer would after making a par in a non-traditional.

"There's no pictures on the scorecard," he said.

But it doesn't really matter because the golf should still be fun. Example 4.5 million of how much more fun golf is when the ground game matters, Jason Day style at Plainfield's superb 7th hole:

Correction: Koepka Did Earn Presidents Cup Points

I know how the Presidents Cup dynamics are constantly in your hearts and minds so it is with my deepest apologies for passing along incorrect information. It regards Brooks Koepka's non-member days not counting toward his Presidents Cup standing. I regret not having fact checked the blog post I linked to.

In fact, Koepka is credited with Presidents Cup points dating back to start of the qualifying period, the 2013 BMW Championship. 

However, I do stand by the rest of my views that the PGA Tour needs to reconsider how it treats "non-members" who make the playoffs but don't make the playoffs, and consider the long term ramifications on college golf if there is a view that players can't finish the school year without harming chances of making the playoffs of either tour. (WGC winner Shane Lowry could have been part of the venting too, but I'm more concerned by the route from elite college player to tour.)

Playoff Fever: Plainfield! Plainfield! Plainfield!

Let's be honest, no one cares about the playoffs unless points resets are your thing, which is why we at least have our Fantasy League (with prizes from Avis and Callaway!) to keep us company. Two top players are limping in if they're playing at all (Hank Gola reports), Rory McIlroy is sitting out the first round and it'll be tough to top the 2015 majors.

But we have Plainfield for this week's first playoff event, The Barclays! This means two weeks in a row of Donald Ross designs, and as we saw last week at Sedgefield, there is something about those green complexes, the strategy and the intimate scale of the old style venues that makes for great tournament energy.

In 2011, Plainfield was soft from a wet summer and then was made even more forgettable by Hurricane Sandy.

This time around, the course is said to be in amazing shape by the PGA Tour's advance staff, the hurricane's are staying away and this Donald Ross masterwork should be a lot of fun to watch this week.

Ran Morrissett's Golf Club Atlas review is several years old but he makes the key point that this is one very special use of a property with more standout Ross holes than just about any course he created.

Gil Hanse has overseen restoration work here, with more tweaks in advance of this year's event at holes 15 and 16, as Tripp Isenhour reveals in this video report. The 18th will be driveable again, as Isenhour explained in this Golf Central report.

Coverage begins Thursday on Golf Channel at 2 pm ET, but those who've signed up to the PGA Tour's streaming option can start soaking up playoff tension at 8 am ET.

Scenarios, Schenarios! Tiger (And Gore) Turning Back Clock

With Jason Gore vaulting into the Wydham Championship lead on the back of a Saturday 62, we've moved the retro vibe to circa 2005 from Friday's 1999 feel when Davis Love was hanging around (and still is).

With a final hole three putt Tiger Woods took him out of the final pairing with old SoCal buddy Gore, who gets the formidable Jonas Blixt instead.

Bob Harig at ESPN.com on Woods' Saturday 68 where the putting let him down, but the "stinger" made a high profile return to PGA Tour golf.

"It was a grind today,'' Woods said. "Like yesterday, kept leaving myself above the hole seemed like on every hole. I had to putt so defensively because of it. I couldn't get on the run that Jason and Jonas did. I just didn't put myself in the right spots.''

And that's where he looked like the old Tiger. Sweating profusely. Annoyed. Knowing an opportunity had been missed.

Woods at times appeared to be hurting, but never when taking a swing, which was powerful and forceful throughout. If there is an issue, Woods would only say that "I'm stiff,'' a day after joking that "I'm old.''

Gore talked after the round about his disdain for those who treated Woods like a 20-handicapper (though his Index was about 10 in February if he had completed rounds to turn in). And Woods talked about how he missed out on a Sunday pairing with Gore.

Brentley Romine at Golfweek.com writes:

A 2-under 68 leaves Woods at 13 under, just two back of Gore, against whom he used to play junior and amateur golf when the two were growing up in California.

"We go back 30 years," Woods said. "We're great friends and from junior golf into college and into the pro ranks. He's always been a great friend, and it's going to be fun for us to battle like this because we haven't done it basically since college."

Ryan Reiterman at GolfChannel.com focuses on Woods’ putter cooling off Saturday, with 31 putts and a three putt on 18.

And John Strege noted this comment from CBS announcer Peter Kostis.

“I think this golf course has a lot do with Tiger being in a good way this week,” CBS’ Peter Kostis said. “It’s a golf course that doesn’t require power, only drive it maybe five times. It allows him to keep his tension and rhythm under control.”

Yet when Woods pulled driver on Saturday, he quickly collected his tee, a sure sign that he was in control. “I feel like I'm swinging well enough right now that I want to hit driver more often, ironically enough,” he had said on Friday.

Oh yes, and there are FedExCup ramifications for both, in case you were wondering. There's a chart up above and Helen Ross hopefully gets double overtime pay for updating us on the scenarios.