PLAYOFF SCHEDULES: Ernie Els and Adam Scott have played only 12 times on the PGA Tour, meaning they will have to play in three playoff events to reach the minimum 15 starts and retain their membership.
It should be no problem because Scott is No. 24 and Els is No. 28 in the FedEx Cup standings, and all they have to do is make the cut at either The Barclays or the Deutsche Bank Championship. But if they miss the cut in both events, there's a chance they'll be eliminated before the BMW Championship in St. Louis.
The other top player with only 12 starts is Padraig Harrington, although he gets to count the Ryder Cup toward his 15.
Lee Westwood has played 10 times and did not enter The Barclays as the 50th seed. Westwood, however, played this year as a past PGA Tour champion with no intention of taking up membership. He has played only two regular tour events — Riviera and Bay Hill — with the rest coming from the four majors, three World Golf Championships and The Players Championship.
OLYMPIC TRIP: Royal & Ancient chief executive Peter Dawson and PGA Tour executive vice president Ty Votaw, who is heading up golf's bid to be an Olympic sport, spent the weekend in Beijing meeting with IOC officials and trying to establish a presence. Also in Beijing was USGA executive David Fay, as a guest of NBC Sports.
There will be much lobbying over the next year before the IOC votes on the program for the 2016 games. And there continues to be discussion among the players, with a variety of opinions.
Davis Love III noted potential problems with a crammed summer schedule, floated the idea of amateurs competing in the Olympics then shot down the notion before it got airborne.
"Is that what the Olympics wants? No," Love said last week. "They want Greg Normans and Fred Couples and Tiger Woods. They don't want guys you've never heard of."
Vijay Singh argued for golf in the Olympics by measuring it against another sport.
"They have horses in the Olympics," he said. "It's supposed to be a human sport, yet there's equestrians going on there. I think golf would be a great thing for the Olympics."
DIVOTS: Padraig Harrington had a 71.18 scoring average in the majors, the lowest by nearly a full stroke among the 11 who made the cut in all four. Robert Karlsson was second (72.06), followed by Phil Mickelson (72.13). ... This is the first regular PGA Tour event in New Jersey since the 1970 Dow Open. ... Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh are the only players to be among the top 10 at the start of the PGA Tour playoffs for two years in a row. ... Paul Azinger finished ahead of Nick Faldo both times the PGA Championship was held at Valhalla.
STAT OF THE WEEK: Jerry Kelly was the only player to miss the cut in all four majors this year.
FINAL WORD: "When I do get focused, I do hole putts." — Padraig Harrington.
