Justin Rose does not have Ryder Cup qualification to worry about at The Barclays, but the Olympic champion is in need of some of the form which delivered an historic gold medal in Rio.
The start of the FedEx Cup play-offs marks the end of automatic qualifying for the United States' Ryder Cup team, with the top eight in the standings on Sunday booking their place at Hazeltine.
Rose was among the nine European players to secure their berth with a week to spare on Sunday, allowing the 36-year-old to turn his attention to the four events in the highly lucrative play-offs.
With PGA Tour events continuing during the Olympics, Rose has slipped to 51st in the standings, and while that is not an issue for the next two events, the world number nine needs to be in the top 30 to qualify for the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
" Everyone's got their mind on East Lake," Rose said in a pre-tournament press conference. "Everyone knows how the FedEx Cup is structured.
"Everyone knows that if they are in the top five going into the Tour Championship, you've got that opportunity to win it (the USD 10million bonus as overall FedEx Cup winner).
" So everyone's vying for position now. I've played the Tour Championship every year since 2010 and that's something I'm proud of, and this year I'm outside of the bubble right now.
"But in 2011 I was maybe 70th at this time. I know that one good week sets up my whole FedEx Cup at this point of the season. That's all you're looking for. You're looking for that opportunity going into East Lake to sort of bring out your best game when it really, really matters."
The Barclays has returned to Bethpage for the first time since 2012, when Rose finished 46th on the feared Black course which also hosted the 2009 US Open.
"I t's a great golf course," added Rose, who missed the cut in 2009. "It's one that I wouldn't say I've done particularly well on, but it's a golf course that should suit me well. It's the type of test that I like. It's a long golf course. Ball-striking pretty much gets rewarded here, I believe.
"The course is in good shape what from I hear and the rough's up, so it's going to be a good test, which is obviously what Bethpage is all about. From my point of view, it's going to be hopefully third time lucky here."
As for the Ryder Cup, Patrick Reed currently occupies the final qualifying place by just USD 30,655 from JB Holmes, while Matt Kuchar, Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler can all qualify without winning at Bethpage.
Every player down to Charley Hoffman in 22nd place still has the chance to book their place on the team by winning on Sunday and having other results go in their favour.
Source: PA
