Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
Even though there has been just one Grand Slam tournament played this PGA Tour season due to the coronavirus shutdown, and the U.S. Open is set for September and the Masters in November, the Tour’s 2019-20 “regular season” has officially concluded – those latter two majors will be part of the 2020-21 wraparound campaign.
The three-event FedExCup playoffs begin this week with The Northern Trust at TPC Boston. The Top 125 in points following last week’s Wyndham Championship qualified for the playoffs. The Top 70 after this tournament will move on to next week’s BMW Championship outside Chicago.
While The Northern Trust has been a part of the playoffs since their debut in 2007, this is the first time TPC Boston will host. It previously hosted the Deutsche Bank Championship/Dell Technologies Championship, but the PGA Tour cut down the FedExCup playoffs after 2018 from four to three and eliminated the Dell Technologies event. TPC Boston thus joined Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey as a rotating host for this tournament. TPC Boston is a par 71 at 7,342 yards.
Patrick Reed (+2800) is the defending champion of The Northern Trust, finishing at 16-under 268 at Liberty National. He also won it in 2016 when it was called The Barclays and held at Bethpage Black in New York. There was history made in the 2015 version of this event when Brian Harman became the third player in PGA Tour history to make two holes-in-one in the same round. That was at yet another course.
Since this tournament became part of the playoffs, Reed and Dustin Johnson (2011, 2017) are the only players to win it twice. DJ is +2000 this week. Bryson DeChambeau is the +1200 favorite. He won this tournament in 2018 and also the Dell Technologies at TPC Boston in 2018. Justin Thomas (+1400) won the Dell in 2017. Rory McIlroy (+1400) won it twice.
The Northern Trust is a rare event Tiger Woods has never won and he’s +4000. He did win the 2006 Dell. Some big names who need strong tournaments to get into the Top 70 in points: Rickie Fowler (88th in points), Tommy Fleetwood (89), Brooks Koepka (97), Jordan Spieth (100) and Justin Rose (109).
