Woods back to PGA Tour playoffs

Tiger Woods sets the pace as the US PGA Tour playoffs begin with a tweaked format at The Barclays, the first of three 7.5 million-dollar events leading to the Tour Championship.

Woods, coming off a week's rest following his last-hole loss to South Korean Yang Yong-Eun at the PGA Championship, has not played the New York event in six years but will now and at Boston and Chicago as well.

"You want to be in the playoffs and ultimately this is our opportunity to get in the Tour Championship," Woods said. "So it starts here."

That has not been enough to lure Woods into playing in past years. Part of the reason he is entered this time is the third points format in as many years, one that puts greater emphasis on later events in the playoff system.

"It is different," Woods said. "You want to put more weight at the end of the season, which they are trying to do, trying to make it a little more interesting.

"They have changed the system twice. Now it's the third time. Hopefully this will work. We'll see what happens."

A field of 125 this week will be trimmed to 100 for next week in Boston and cut again until only 30 players on points for the Tour Championship, where points are reset and any man in the field has a chance at the crown, with the odds favoring the player atop the points pile.

While everyone is still trying to win a title, there is a bigger picture regarding the points so players can qualify for subsequent weeks and the big prize at the finish.