I’m taking the easy way out and going with The Big Easy.

I just think Ernie Els has been really grinding toward getting back to where he once was—which was pretty darn good; easily one of the best three players on the planet.

And I think he’s been getting really close lately, especially at the Open Championship where he tied for fourth and at the PGA, where he started the final round six behind Tiger Woods and made a run before finishing three back.

Plus he’s got a track record here at Westchester. In one four-year stretch in the late 1990s, 14 of Els’ 16 rounds were in the 60s. It’s almost incomprehensible.

Of course, going just by track record, he’s got competition. Vijay Singh, another guy looking to get back to where he once was, is the only three-time champ in tournament history. Sergio Garcia has won here twice. Padraig Harrington won here two years ago. Jim Furyk has played well here.

My column for The Journal News and LoHud.com tomorrow is on Els and Singh, and how just a little while ago they were both seemingly headed for career Grand Slams. Now they’re both late in their careers and still only halfway there.

But this is a great opportunity, on a favorite track, for both to take a step that is not quite a major, but is clearly bigger than an average PGA stop—the first tournament in the first FedEx Cup playoffs.

I’ll stick with Ernie. I like Furyk and Singh and Garcia to contend, along with Kenny Perry, Jerry Kelly and maybe Geoff Ogilvy.

And I’m sure, as is always the case at the Barclays, somebody like Andrew Buckle or Jeff Quinney will lead after the first round.