PGA Tour Playoff's Kick-off in New Jersey

Golf: Five things to know about The Barclays Monday,  PGA Tour players work all season accumulating FedEx Cup points. Now it's time to put them to use. The Barclays at Liberty National in Jersey City is the first of four FedEx Cup Playoffs events. The top 125 in the standings qualify for The Barclays; only the top 100 will move on to next week's Deutsche Bank Championship near Boston; then the top 70 head to the BMW Championship in Indiana; finally, the top 30 advance to the Tour Championship in Atlanta. The player with the most points after the Tour Championship wins the shiny FedEx Cup and a $10 million bonus — an additional $25 million of bonus money will be distributed to other players. Best of the best You won't have to look hard for star power at The Barclays. All four of this year's major champions — Adam Scott (Masters), Justin Rose (U.S. Open), Phil Mickelson (British Open), Jason Dufner (PGA Championship) — will headline a spectacular field at Liberty National. World No. 1 Tiger Woods, two-time major champion Rory McIlroy, and rookie sensation Jordan Spieth will also play. Steve Stricker (20) and Zach Johnson (18) are the only players in the top 125 who won't play. Hoffmann homecoming Morgan Hoffmann, who grew up in Bergen County, will be playing his first PGA Tour event in the Garden State. Hoffmann is a 23-year-old PGA Tour rookie from Wyckoff, who played two years of high school golf at Ramapo and was a All-America at Oklahoma State. He is 111th in the FedEx Cup standings, and will need a strong showing to advance to next week's Deutsche Bank Championship. He'll certainly have plenty of support from friends and family in the crowd. What a view Several holes at Jersey City's Liberty National feature stunning, unencumbered views of the Statue of Liberty and the lower Manhattan skyline. It's a dream for a television producer, but it's also quite a setting for fans in attendance — and even the players. It's not every day a player can aim a shot at One World Trade Center; the newly completed skyscraper dominates the view from the tee of the par 3 fourth hole. Take two While the views at Liberty National received universal praise the last time The Barclays was held here, in 2009, the course did not. Several players were unhappy with the way the course played, especially around the greens. Liberty National listened, making significant changes to 15 of the 18 holes. The PGA Tour and Liberty National have been public with their excitement about the upgrade. The true test will come this week, when the best players in the world pass their judgments. — Andy Vasquez - See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/sports/220145191_Golf__Five_things_to_know_about_The_Barclays.html#sthash.dlXiYhmd.dpuf