2011 Barclays: Dustin Johnson Wins FedEx Cup Event Shortened By Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene may have shortened the 2011 Barclays, but the storm didn’t dampen Dustin Johnson’s play. The young American scored the first victory of the 2011 FedEx Cup, firing a final round 65 to take the Barclays by two shots over Matt Kuchar.

Johnson finished at 19-under for the weather-shortened 54-hole tournament, and was followed by Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker (who shot a 10-under 61 on Saturday), Vijay Singh, and Jonathan Byrd in the top five.

With Hurricane Irene threatening to be the worst storm to hit the East Coast in more than 50 years, PGA and Barclays officials have elected to end the FedEx Cup playoff event on Saturday after just 54 holes. Even if all 54 holes are completed -- hardly a guarantee -- it will go down as the shortest FedEx Cup even in history.

The plan as of now if for the cut to be set on Friday, with the top 70 scores and ties moving onto what officials hope will be Saturday’s final day. The final groups will start teeing off at the 1st and 10th holes at 7 a.m.

After almost one round of play at the 2011 Barclays, Harrison Frazar, Matt Kuchar and William McGirt have the clubhouse lead at 7-under-par, though only Frazar has actually finished his first round. 51 players, Kuchar and “Dirt” McGirt included, had their rounds suspended due to darkness at 7:38 p.m.

McGirt may be the most surprising Day 1 leader of the year for a confluence of three reasons: 1) His name is awesome. It makes me want to jump around in my underwear and rap backwards. 2) He’s a PGA tour rookie this year, and his best finish to date is a T-19 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic. 3) His 7-under score is in only 11 holes.