Heath Slocum Saves Par, and the Surprise Win at Barclays

The Barclays is the first FedEx Cup playoff event. To make the win, he had to hold onto his nerve. Unlike Tom Watson, who everyone could see lost some of his nerve on the 18th hole of the British Open, Heath Slocum came up with a closing par on 18 to seal the win.

If he had missed the putt, Heath Slocum would have faced a playoff with the likes of Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker, as well as three-time major champions Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington.

Hard to believe, but even with Tiger looking on, Heath Slocum kept his composure and won the day. In addition, with that win, his third on the PGA tour, Slocum arned $1.35 million.

To be honest, Heath Slocum nearly missed the playoffs. Slocum was the second-to-last player to qualify for the Playoffs at No. 124, as we said, just one point ahead of No. 125 Troy Matteson.

Coming into par-4 18, the final pairing was Heath Slocum and Steve Stricker. The pair was tied coming into the hole. Both made the fairway with their drivers, and Slocum pitched his ball down the fairway to 65 yards. Meanwhile, Stricker went for the green, but hit the lip of the bunker.

Stricker played his third stroke to 10 feet, and watched Heath Slocum hit his third to 21 feet. Slocum drained the par-saving putt to force Stricker to match, but he could not, and took a bogey, giving Slocum the win.

Next week, the FedEx Cup playoffs take only the top-100 on the points list with them; next week's event is the Deutsche Bank Championship. At 124, Heath Slocum would have been out of it, but now at #3, he's in it for the long haul.