Williamson playing for home field

St. Louis native looking ahead to next stop

Corey Pavin, Charles Howell, and Bo Van Pelt work on their short games in preparation for the start of the Deutsche Bank Championship tomorrow at TPC Boston. (Barry Chin/Globe Staff)

NORTON - For Jay Williamson, the FedEx Cup has personal significance this weekend. His competitors in the Deutsche Bank Championship are also striving to play their way into the top 70 and qualify for the next tournament, but only Williamson is competing with a juicy carrot dangling - the chance to play in front of hometown fans on his home course.

"I really see it as the opportunity of a lifetime," said Williamson, who has been a member "for as long as I can remember" at Bellerive CC in his native St. Louis, site of next week's BMW Championship where the Cup field will be whittled from 70 to 30.

To play at Bellerive would be a dream come true for Williamson, who was asked when was the last time he played a big-time pro event in front of hometown fans?

"Like never," he said.

Williamson's memories of Bellerive don't go back far enough to recall Gary Player's 1965 US Open win (he was just 2), but when the 1992 PGA Championship rolled in there, he was part of the field. Sort of.

"I caddied for a guy named Ron McDougal," said Williamson.

A 79-74 performance made for a short week, but Williamson knows he's a lock to play more rounds than that at Bellerive this time around.

That's because next week, there will not be a cut. Then again, there will not even be a tournament or a homecoming next week if Williamson doesn't step on things a bit this week.

Sitting 65th in the FedEx Cup standings, the 41-year-old veteran figures he has to make the cut to give himself a chance at finishing top 70.

Williamson likes his chances, mostly because he likes the feel of TPC Boston and is quite comfortable within the New England setting - he matriculated at Trinity College in Hartford.

"It's beautiful around here, so great to be here," said Williamson, who was eighth in 2004, one of his three starts at the DBC.

Allow him a bit of a Bellerive preview and Williamson will predict the players will love the setting, but don't suggest that he could enjoy a home-course advantage. "I use the pool more than the golf course," he said, laughing.

Faldo's quandary
While Paul Azinger won't name his four captain's picks for the US Ryder Cup team until Tuesday, Europe's Nick Faldo will announce his two selections Sunday. But if you ask Padraig Harrington, one of the picks is a lock, fellow Irishman Darren Clarke. "I can't see how you couldn't pick him. That would be my attitude," said Harrington. Having won the KLM Open in the Netherlands last weekend, Clarke made a statement to Faldo, and Harrington would welcome the addition. That means the other pick seems to boil down to Englishmen who are in the Deutsche Bank Championship field, Paul Casey and Ian Poulter, right? Harrington isn't so sure. "It's hard to say you couldn't mention Monty," he said, and as he's done in recent weeks, the Irishman lobbied for Scotsman Colin Montgomerie. "He's purely due a consideration." . . . Harrington said he doesn't agree with England's Nick Dougherty, who voiced an opinion to British reporters that Poulter already had been given the nod by Faldo. "There's no way. There's no point in doing that," said Harrington.

A working man
Fresh off a third consecutive day of pro-am duty, this time at The Country Club, Brett Quigley warrants a "team player" award from Deutsche Bank Championship officials, but he said it was something he loved to do. He also indicated it was no big deal, given that he's had so much rest this year. "Normally I'm at about 30 [tournaments] so far," said Quigley. "I'm ready to play a little more golf." Because of a leg injury, Quigley has been limited to 18 tournaments - but only once has he played four rounds since making the cut at the US Open in mid-June. That came last week at The Barclays and by finishing tied for 38th, the Rhode Islander pushed to 90th in the FedEx Cup standings. He'll need to play well to make it to St. Louis. Quigley draws a 7:10 slot today as he plays a fourth pro-am in four days.

A Monster swing
Accompanied, as always, by his iPod on the practice range, one of the youngest stars on the PGA Tour, Anthony Kim, said he was enjoying his return to the Boston area. When he was here as a media day guest of the Deutsche Bank Championship late last month, the 23-year-old was extended an invitation to take batting practice before a Red Sox-Angels game. "It was amazing, a great time, but I think I'm better off doing this. I'm where I belong," said Kim. Asked how fast the pitches he faced were, Kim laughed: "It probably wasn't as fast as it seemed." . . . With Tiger Woods absent from the field, Kim draws his traditional spot in today's pro-am, a 6:50 a.m. start off the first tee. Justin Leonard gets the same time off the 10th tee . . . Phil Mickelson, who'll play in today's pro-am at 8:20, attended Tuesday night's Red Sox-Yankees game in New York after fulfilling a corporate deal for Barclays . . . The third annual John D. Mineck Deutsche Bank Championship Junior Cup will be held Saturday and Sunday at the Boston Golf Club in Hingham. A longtime supporter of junior golf, Mineck, who died in May of 2007, was co-founder of the Boston Golf Club . . . Seth Waugh, the CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas, was joined Monday morning by PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem as they rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.