EDISON, N.J. — A week ago when he was in Utah taking a rest from the PGA Tour, Tony Finau said he felt good about his golf game and thought he could make a good run in FedEx Playoffs, which are being played over a four-week stretch into late September.
Finau is off to a great start, shooting a 5-under-par 65 Thursday in the first round of The Barclays at the Plainfield Country Club in Edison, N.J. That put him in a four-way tie for the lead with Bubba Watson, Spencer Levin and Camilo Villegas.
The 25-year-old Salt Lake native started on the back nine and had three straight birdies at 10, 11 and 12, followed by three bogeys at 13, 14 and 15, to go back to even par. But he birdied 17 and 18 and had three birds on his back nine at 1, 4 and 8.
Three other Utah golfers also got off to nice starts Thursday. Fruit Heights resident Daniel Summerhays shot a 67 and is tied for 11th, Ogden’s Zac Blair is tied for 32nd at 69 and Scott Pinckney, who grew up in Orem, is among 12 golfers at even-par 70.
The FedEx playoffs features four tournaments in four weeks with the number of golfers being trimmed each week, according to FedEx golf officials.
All four would like to make the Tour Championship, which would give them the opportunity to play in all four majors next year along with several other perks. Finau has the best chance as he is ranked 39th in the standings going into this week, while Summerhays is 66th, Pinckney 78th and Blair 106th.
After this week’s tournament, the top 100 golfers will advance to next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship. The top 70 golfers will then move on to the BMW Championship, after which the top 30 will advance to the season-ending Tour Championship.