Getty Image / Michael Wade
Let the FedEx Cup Playoffs begin.
Last week’s Wyndham Championship started the make it or break it part of the PGA Tour schedule with only the Top 125 players in the FedEx Cup standings qualifying for this week’s Northern Trust Open. This week players will need to find themselves inside the Top 70 in the standings to qualify for next week’s BMW Championship.
This is the first year where the FedEx Cup Playoffs consists of just three events as opposed to the four we’ve seen in the past, so things are a bit more magnified.
All of the big names will tee it up this week at Liberty National. Top dog in the FedEx Cup standings Brooks Koepka is in the field along with Tiger Woods plus the rest of the top 18 players in the World Golf Rankings. Paul Casey (rest) and Henrik Stenson (European Tour) are the two biggest names not in the field.
The field of 125 players will be cut down to to the Top 70 and ties after Friday’s second round.
The Course
Liberty National is located in Jersey City, NJ and a majority of the holes stare directly at the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. The course and the views are beyond pure and will be an exciting host to the Playoff’s opening event.
The last time we saw an event at Liberty National was the 2017 President’s Cup with the last Tour event being The Barclays back in 2013. Adam Scott won by one stroke at 11-under over a group of four players that included Woods.
The Par 71 will play around 7,400 yards and is home to 10 water hazards that are in-play.
Finding the primary rough won’t be too penal this week (think Augusta National vibes) but as you can see in the photo above, there are some fescue-type spots that players will want to avoid. The bentgrass fairways are on the tighter side and the longer, more importantly straight, drivers of the ball will have the most success this week.
While the views of Manhattan are the top story of the course, the greens are nothing to scoff at either as they’ll serve as the course’s biggest defense. The bentgrass putting surfaces will be rolling on the fast side this week and are full of undulation. Miss it in the wrong spot this week and you’ll have trouble getting it up-and-down.
Northern Trust Picks To Win
Fleetwood enters the week in great form. After finishing second at The Open the Englishman followed that up with a T-4 finish at the WGC FedEx St. Jude in Memphis for his sixth Top 10 finish of the year. He also didn’t finish worse than T-24 in the four Playoff events a year ago which included a T-11 finish at the Tour Championship.
He enters the week ranked 13th in strokes gained: tee-to-green and while he’s towards the middle of the pack in driving accuracy (71st) his long-iron game is elite which should translate well at Liberty National. Fleetwood ranks sixth on Tour in approaches coming from over 200 yards (44’6” avg.)
His last worldwide win came 18 months ago, so it’s safe to say he’s due for a W. Fleetwood always seems to be in contention at these spotlight events and this week should be no different, he’s playing too well.
Odds: 25-1
Speaking of guys that play well in big events, nobody does it better than Mr. Koepka.
Koepka has been resting up since his three-shot win in Memphis. He’s also got plenty to play for as he’s looking to hold onto that No. 1 spot heading into the next two Playoff events, so the ‘where’s the motivation going to come from’ question is non-existent in my opinion.
Liberty National should fit his game where distance off the tee helps and the approach game is key into these unique green complexes. We could go into his numbers, but do we really need to? The PGA Championship win, two more wins plus another five Top 10 finishes for Brooks this season.
Odds: 8-1 (Favorite)
The Aussie has had a relatively quiet year and enters the week coming off of a missed cut at The Open followed by a T-40 finish in Memphis, but the numbers and past experiences at Liberty National can’t be overlooked.
While he and his International teammates got hammered in the 2017 Presidents Cup, he does have that experience on the course on his side. He also ranks eighth on Tour in strokes gained: tee-to-green and 17th in greens hit in regulation. The putter is always at least luke-warm for Day and can catch fire at any minute, it’s just his iron play that needs to hit a level we haven’t seen this year for him to be in contention come Sunday.
He’ll start the week at 40th in the FedEx Cup standings, which seems like a perfect spot to make a statement and get back in the mix with a win.
Odds: 40-1
Be sure to follow Mark Harris on Twitter as well as BroBible’s Twitter and Instagram accounts as we’ll be at Liberty National this week covering the tournament.
Odds via OddsShark