NEW YORK, August 20, 2008 (AFP) - Padraig Harrington marks his return for the first time since winning the PGA Championship title by teeing off in the Barclays which begins Thursday at the Ridgewood Country Club.

Harrington posted a two-stroke win over Sergio Garcia and Ben Curtis at the PGA Championship at the Detroit-area Oakland Hills course and then took a one week vacation in North Carolina.

The Irishman tees off in the Barclays, the first of four events in the PGA Tour's lucrative season-ending FedEx Cup playoffs.

The Barclays features a 136-man field but will be without Tiger Woods who had season-ending knee surgery.

The FedEx Cup field is reduced after each event according to the latest standings, leaving a final field of 30 for the final event, The Tour Championship, in the last week of September.

Harrington posted back-to-back major championship wins by taking the PGA and the British Open.

'The FedEx Cup is what is attracting me out here again this week and the idea of it is to get players out to compete at this time of year,' Harrington said. 'After two majors you think, 'Well, I could do with a rest', but there's other things to play for so that's why I'm here this week.'

Harrington is a former champion in this week's event, winning the Barclays Classic by a stroke over Jim Furyk in 2005 when it was played at Westchester Country Club in New York.

'I'm looking forward to playing it. The Barclays is on a very nice golf course,' Harrington said.

Harrington goes into the FedEx Cup playoffs in fourth place in the standings, which were reset after last week's Wyndham Championship.

With Woods leading the points race but not in the field, Harrington finds himself behind just Kenny Perry and Phil Mickelson, but he said the competition was wide open with four events to play.

'Anybody, realistically, in the top 10, I suppose, if they get a win in this tournament and then follow it up with some good performances they can win the FedEx Cup,' he said. 'Anybody outside, it might take two wins, so there's a lot to play for and I'm ready to go.'