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The Northern Trust: Expert Picks

Who will do well at The Northern Trust?

By Mark Abell
The Barclays - Round Three Photo by Alex Trautwig/Getty Images

Tournament Information

The Northern Trust
Date: August 8-11
Course: Liberty National Golf Club
Purse - $9MM ($1.6MM to winner)
FedEx points – 2,000 to winner(s)
2018 Winner: Bryson DeChambeau

Course

Liberty National Golf Course. Established in 2006, this 7,350 yard par 71 course has a course rating of 77.7 and a slope rating of 155. It took north of 250 million to turn this from an oil wasteland into the country club it is now. It runs along the Hudson and the view is amazing. It features bent grass on both fairways and greens. There is a fair amount of water and hitting the greens in regulation is important.

Presidents Cup - Final Round Photo by Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

My Starting 4

Dustin Johnson (3rd selection this year) — New course but I'm still going to trust in an old favorite. Dustin has two wins here in the last 10 years and I think he turns it up during the playoffs.

Adam Scott (2nd selection this year) — He won here when it was the Barclays tournament in 2013. Adam had three consecutive top 10 finishes prior to his last two tournaments where he missed a cut at the Open Championship and finished 40th at the WGC - FedEx St. Jude

Gary Woodland (2nd selection this year) – This one is risky. Since his win at the US Open he has two missed cuts (Rocket Mortgage Classic and Open Championship) and a 55th place finish at the WGC - FedEx St. Jude. Conversely, he’s 5th in FedEx ranking, 16th in OWGR, 21st in total Strokes Gained and when the Barclays was here in 2013 he finished second.

Tiger Woods (2nd selection this year) — Tiger has four finishes in the top 25 in his last six tournaments. He is fifth in OWGR and he finished second when the Barclays was here in 2013.

My Bench 2

Bryson DeChambeau (1st selection this year) – Obviously he’s capable of a repeat performance this year but I'm less inclined to see that then the other names above. That said, he’s a top 20 player who is 10th in birdie average.

Rickie Fowler (4th selection this year) – He finished ninth here in 2013 during the Barclays, his last tournament was a sixth place finish at the Open, he’s 15th in total strokes gained and 11th in scoring average.

2019 Stats

Starting 4: Avg finish 46th (34th percentile)
Bench 2: Avg finish 61st (48th percentile)