EDISON, N.J. — Everything about Matt Kuchar’s final stroke of the second round looked so routine.

He rapped in a 4-footer for par and signed for a 6-under 65, keeping his name atop the leaderboard at The Barclays.

And there it stayed when Dustin Johnson failed to convert a 7-foot birdie putt on his last hole on the other side of the golf course Friday, leaving him one shot behind. Later in the day, Vijay Singh two-putted for par from 40 feet and was one shot back.

Only later did that sequence take on greater importance.

The players knew at that point, the opening FedEx Cup playoff event would be reduced to 54 holes because of Hurricane Irene. The plan was to play the third round early Saturday with hopes of getting it in before the storm arrives.

If they don’t finish, the event would revert to a 36-hole tournament.

And a shaky forecast, with some rain possible before the final round begins, could leave Kuchar as a winner of The Barclays for the second straight year.