What started with a Joaquin Niemann win at White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, 11 months ago, has morphed into a 2019-20 PGA TOUR season unlike any other. Tiger Woods’ 82nd career win provided an electric shock at the end of October, but when the pandemic occurred in March it resulted in a shocking blackout.
reported: FedExCup ranking | The first look
For three months the PGA TOUR went on the sidelines along with all the other professional sports leagues and no one could imagine how, when and if the 2019-20 season would be completed.
Yet here we are, two months after the return of the TOUR, on the verge of the 14th edition of the FedExCup Playoffs. We completed 33 tournaments in the shortened regular season and now 125 players have qualified for THE NORTHERN TRUST at TPC Boston, the first week of a hectic three-week race.
If you consider the lineup of courses in this year’s playoffs, Olympia Fields, 35 miles south of Chicago, will host next week’s BMW championship and East Lake GC in Atlanta will once again be the stage for the TOUR championship. in two weeks – TPC Boston is a proverbial young ‘a.
Having opened in 2002, TPC Boston cannot match East Lake (estimated 1904) or Olympia Fields (1915) for rich history. But he doesn’t have to shy away either, because TPC Boston has hosted 16 tournaments, 12 of which are FEC playoffs, and the flavor is deep.
Here are nine things about THE NORTHERN TRUST and TPC Boston:
1. The defending champion is Reed or DeChambeau: Patrick Reed shot 67-69 over the weekend to keep Abraham Ancer (68-69) of one at THE NORTHERN TRUST at bay last August.
Ah, but hold on. That tournament was held at Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey.
So does that make defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, who last won a FedExCup Playoffs event at TPC Boston, in 2018? Although he was lighter and not that long off the tee, DeChambeau was very explosive to capture the latest Dell Technologies championship.
Seven back in two rounds, he made 13 birdies on the last 36 holes to finish 16 unders and beat Justin Rose by two. It was DeChambeau’s fourth career win and his second consecutive playoff triumph because the week before the capture – are you ready? – THE NORTHERN TRUST at Ridgewood CC in Paramus, New Jersey. (From 2007 to 2018 there were four playoff tournaments, but these days THE NORTHERN TRUST rotates between Boston and the New York area.)
2. They know how to put together a guest list: When the TOUR added TPC Boston to its program in 2003, the powers that be, including Jay Monahan (then championship director, now PGA TOUR commissioner) had a keen eye for talent. That first year they contacted a couple of 23-year-olds: Adam Scott and Justin Rose. Scott had played in 33 PGA TOUR tournaments since he turned 20 in 2000, but he didn’t have his card here. Rose had played in just 15 PGA TOUR tournaments since 1999.
After the first round (Rose shot 63, Scott 69) they wandered around the short play area of TPC Boston for nearly two hours, playing only “chippy-putty”. It was a wild and crazy Friday night. When Scott made a 62 second round, then added 67-66, he earned his first TOUR win and a fantastic $ 900,000. Rose came in third on her own and earned $ 340,000. It was the week they became members of the PGA TOUR.
Two years later, an invitation from sponsor Olin Browne, who at 46 was more than 25 years away from his days practicing at Brookline’s The Country Club and working at New Seabury CC on Cape Cod, came to TPC Boston as 214th place in the world. ranked player. He then stared at the likes of Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Fred Couples, finishing with a 67 to capture the latest of his three TOUR wins.
These days the guest list at TPC Boston is just 125 of the best players in the world.
3. The cream rises: While it’s not a prerequisite to being ranked at the top of the official world golf rankings to gain the greatest control here, it has been a common denominator with the 16 tournaments held at TPC Boston. The best player in the world has won here twice (Tiger Woods, 2006; Rory McIlroy, 2012), while on 11 occasions the winner has been ranked in the top 15.
Only twice (# 214 Olin Browne in 2005; # 132 Charley Hoffman in 2010) was a winner at TPC Boston ranked outside the top 100.
4. Hanse’s team made it great: When John Mineck was putting together a project that would turn into one of the most beautiful golf courses in the country, the Boston Golf Club, he was asked who its designer would be.
“Gil Hanse,” he said.
“I haven’t heard of it,” replied a friend.
Mineck nodded. “You will,” he said.
The Boston Golf Club in Hingham, Massachusetts was introduced in 2005 to critical acclaim and PGA TOUR officials have taken notice. As Mineck had predicted, the offers came on Hanse’s behalf, including a request to modify and improve TPC Boston, which was opened in 2002. Hanse and Jim Wagner took over, received input from the eight-time winner of the TOUR Brad Faxon, and when the FedExCup Playoffs were introduced in 2007, players were greeted by a more aesthetically pleasing TPC Boston.
Hanse and Wagner worked miracles. They grew fescue, provided a rustic New England look to many of the holes, and added great flavor to the bunkers at 7,261 yards, par 71. It was transformed into a picturesque course that required more attention to course handling skills.
The court average was slightly above average in the first four years of the tournament, but has been below par in each of the 12 years it has held an FEC playoff since 2007. A supporter of layouts that provide players with different options but require them to think their way, Hanse succeeded magnificently.
