PADRAIGH HARRINGTON aims to get his FedExCup challenge back on track this weekend after missing the cut in last week's Barclays Championship in New Jersey but points leader Vijay Singh will be keeping one eye on his closest rivals when he bids for a third PGA Tour title in five starts at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Fresh from victory at the Barclays Classic on Sunday, Fijian Singh is in pole position with three play-off events remaining but accepts much can change before the series ends.
"I'm just going to go out there and play hard for the next few weeks," Singh said after beating Spaniard Sergio Garcia and American Kevin Sutherland in a play-off for the Barclays title.
"I've had good outings in Boston. I've won there and finished second once. I know the golf course pretty well so I'm looking forward to that.
"It would be nice to win it (the FedExCup)," added the world number five. "I've got a great start and I just have to go ahead and play hard for the next three other events.
"The guys behind me, the way the system works now, the next guy that wins can just overtake you.
"It's going to be tough but I've got a head start. I just have to go out there and play consistent, solid golf and hopefully win at the end."
Singh, winner of the 2004 Deutsche Bank Championship, is among 116 players from 16 different countries playing in the second leg of the FedExCup series, where the overall points leader collects a €6.8 million prize.
Most of the bonus won by last year's champion Tiger Woods came as a deferred payment. This year the play-offs winner will pocket €6 million in cash with €700,00 deferred.
The top 70 on the points list following this week's event qualify for the BMW Championship starting on September 4th in St Louis before the leading 30 players advance to the Tour Championship finale, starting on September 25th in Atlanta.
Going into this week, the top points earners are Singh (109,500), Garcia (104,375) and Americans Sutherland (101,950), Phil Mickelson (101,856) and Justin Leonard (101,830).
Like Singh, left-hander Mickelson will also arrive at the TPC Boston exuding confidence, having held off a late challenge by Woods to win last year's tournament by two shots.
"I love the design and I love the set-up," said the American world number two, who has triumphed twice on the 2008 PGA Tour.
"I love the way the greens are and the way the rough is where you can actually play shots. I feel like I've been playing some pretty good golf in recent weeks. I haven't taken it to that last level of winning, but I've been just below."
Britons Ian Poulter and Paul Casey will also have the Ryder Cup in mind this week as they strive to attract the attention of European captain Nick Faldo for wild-card picks.
The first 10 names on Faldo's team will be decided on Sunday after the European Tour's Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in Scotland.
The top five players from the Ryder Cup world points list automatically qualify with the next five advancing from the European points list. Faldo will then add two captain's picks to compete the 12-man team.
Going into this week, Poulter lies eighth and Casey 16th in the world points standings.
Meanwhile, Harrington expressed astonishment after hearing that the women's LPGA Tour will require its players to speak English from 2009.
"It is an amazing statement," Harrington said. "Do you have to pass an exam? Who draws the line about how many words you've got to know in English?"
Deutsche Bank Championship:
Venue:TPC of Boston Prize money:€4.7 million (€800,00 to the winner). Course length:7,207 yds. Par:72 Last year:Phil Mickelson by two shots from Tiger Woods Layout:Trimmed in recent years by 200 yards to make the course more challenging, its greens are small and tricky with bentgrass. On TV:Setanta Golf (8pm-11pm) Weather:Sunny, 29 degress celsius.
