In a year replete with upsets and heartbreak courtesy of some scene-stealing nobodies, it was entirely appropriate that on a leaderboard that included Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington and Steve Stricker, the last man standing at the Barclays was some guy named Heathcliff.

Heath Slocum’s two previous PGA Tour wins came in second-tier events — the 2005 Southern Farm Bureau Classic opposite the Tour Championship, and the 2004 Chrysler Classic of Tucson opposite the WGC Match Play — but there was nothing second-rate about the Barclays field. The FedExCup playoffs may draw little more than a yawn from many golf fans, but the first round of the playoffs drew one of the best fields of the season, and Slocum beat them all. In doing so, he vaulted from 124th to third in the FedExCup points standings, for anyone paying attention to that sort of thing.

Coming down the stretch at Liberty National, the stage seemed set for an epic playoff featuring some true titans, including guys with 20 major championship trophies cluttering their mantels. Els closed with a 66 but turned a bit tentative, closing with four straight pars to finish at 8-under. Facing a 7-footer for birdie at 18, Woods rammed his putt four feet past to finish tied with the Big Easy at 8-under. FedExCup stalwart Stricker bogeyed 18 to finish tied with Els and Woods. And Harrington mounted his brilliant charge just a hair too late and finished in the star-studded logjam at 8-under.

That foursome formed the best backup quartet since the Jordanaires, and playing the unlikely Elvis role was Slocum, who calmly drilled a 20-footer for par at 18 to close a strange final round that included an eagle, three birdies, a bogey, and a slew of nondescript pars for an up-and-down 67 and a realistic shot at the big money that accompanies a FedExCup title.

Not bad for a guy who was teetering on the playoff cutline as recently as last week. Stumbles by other players allowed Slocum to sneak into the 125-player field at No. 124. No. 124 with a bullet, as it turned out.

“I don’t know exactly the scenario that got us in,” Slocum said. “I was just happy to be here.

“It is the best I felt on a golf course for a very long time, probably since ’05. I was just in a great frame of mind. I felt good over pretty much everything, especially the putter. It’s one of those days that I haven’t had in a very long time.

“Overall it was an incredible day, incredible experience. I was just kind of lucky to come out on top. A lot of good players. At the end of the day, the putt on the last was magical. I’ll remember that for the rest of my life.”

So Slocum is now a three-time winner on Tour, owns a victory over an elite field and has a legitimate shot at $10 million and a FedExCup title. Is this the start of something, or is it a career-capper for a lifetime journeyman?

Hard to say, but Slocum is going to relish his biggest win, while not apologizing for the other two.

“Obviously you can only beat who’s in the field that you’re in,” Slocum said. “So my (first) two wins were huge for me. My first being in Tucson, because it was my first win. My second in Jackson, Mississippi, where I’d kind of grown up, my dad was caddying for me. Those two were pretty special experiences.

“Now you take this, a playoff event, this caliber of field, all the people like you said that finished one shot behind, it’s incredible. Yeah, I mean, I’m going to use this experience hopefully for the rest of my life, knowing that I can come down the stretch and play, if you want, with the big boys. Obviously it’s going to take a really hot putter. I did it this week. That’s what matters.”

In the Moment

So how did Slocum face down the game’s greatest player, not to mention a slew of talented and experienced gamers? By not watching the leaderboard, for one thing.

“All I can do is play the golf course,” he said. “That’s all I was doing. The people that I’m chasing or are chasing me, all that stuff is kind of irrelevant. I really was just trying to play the golf course.

“If I get caught up in that, there’s no telling. I had enough going on with myself just trying to hit fairways. It’s tough out there. The wind was blowing pretty good. I just kept telling myself, ‘Hit this fairway, try to hit this green in the best spot possible, try to make the putt.’ As corny as it sounds and as easy as it sounds, that’s what I try to do every week. Especially when there’s any kind of pressure or anything on the line, if you stay in that routine, for me, I tend to play better.

“It’s funny, the tournaments that I’ve won and played better in, I’m just better able to do that. I don’t worry about who is ahead of me, who is behind me. I’m focused right on the golf course and the task at hand. I did it well this week, all week.”

Lost on the Moss

Liberty National was built on the site of a toxic waste dump in New Jersey. To listen to some of the players, it’s not much of an improvement. Woods offered some slightly veiled criticism of the greens, which proved his undoing and provided another chink in his armor of invincibility, although he still sits atop the FexExCup points standings and remains the favorite to win the Cup.

“This week, I don’t ever call Stevie (Williams) in on this many reads,” he said. “They were tricky putts, double-breaking putts, 10, 12-footers. Just tricky greens. If you look at these guys with ball in hand, we didn’t really go low. 9-under par. Even par on the weekend for guys; that’s not really going all that low.”

Woods is happy with his ballstriking, almost uncharacteristically so. Sounds like, if he gets his putting woes worked out, we could be looking at a repeat of his 2000 season in 2010.

“It was a week that, man, to miss as many putts as I did this week, to still have a chance on the last green with a putt, it goes to show you how good I am at hitting it. That’s a great sign. Just need to make a few more putts.”

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