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The first leg of the 2012 FedEx Cup Playoffs begins this week on Long Island and Hopkinton native Keegan Bradley is one of the favorites to bring home the $10 million prize. Bradley followed up his strong 2011 season with another impressive Summer on Tour. He enters the week at Bethpage Black in form after a win at the Bridgestone and a good showing at Kiawah. The victory in Akron locked up his spot on the Ryder Cup team, so that's one pressure off his shoulders that could allow him to play free and easy during the playoffs.
Only the top 100 of the 125 in the field this week will move on to the Deutshe Bank in Boston. Bradley is a lock to advance and play in front of the home crowd for the second year in a row. He'll be playing one group ahead of the featured group of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Zach Johnson. One group ahead of Bradley will be Phil Mickelson and Luke Donald, which will certainly make the crowd conditions on the course less than ideal for the St. John's product.
Bradley will go off on Thursday morning at 8:05 a.m. ET, paired with Matt Kuchar and Steve Stricker. Those three are among the biggest stars in the game and will undoubtedly be mainstays on the American Ryder Cup team next month. But sandwiched in between Mickelson and Woods-McIlroy will likely lead to fans scrambling all around them.
For news and updates on Bradley's play at the 2012 Barclays, stay turned to SB Nation Boston.