World No. 1 Dustin Johnson survives wild day to maintain Tour Championship lead

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak discusses the second round of play from East Lake Golf Club for the Tour Championship.

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak discusses the second round of play from East Lake Golf Club for the Tour Championship.

Tour Championship: What you need to know about staggered scoring, the money, the trophies

The final leg of the 2020 FedEx Cup Playoffs starts on Friday at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The season finale always comes with plenty of intrigue. This tournament was originally on the schedule for the weekend of Aug. …

The final leg of the 2020 FedEx Cup Playoffs starts on Friday at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

The season finale always comes with plenty of intrigue.

This tournament was originally on the schedule for the weekend of Aug. 27-30, but the global coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing schedule disruption forced many changes. So the PGA Tour slid one of its marquee events back a week and decided to wrap things up on Labor Day Monday. Which is totally fine with us.

The battle for the season’s money title is already decided. Justin Thomas won that honor for the third time in the last four seasons.

What else should you know about the tournament this week?

Let’s take a look.

The scoring format

There are 30 golfers in the field and they’ll start with staggered scoring. Dustin Johnson finished first in the points so he’ll start at 10 under. Jon Rahm is second and he’ll begin at 8 under and it goes from there, down to golfers in the 26-30 slots. They will start at even par.

A year ago, Rory McIlroy won the FedEx Cup starting five shots back.

Rank Player Starting position
1 Dustin Johnson 10 under
2 Jon Rahm 8 under
3 Justin Thomas 7 under
4 Webb Simpson 6 under
5 Collin Morikawa 5 under
6 Daniel Berger 4 under
7 Harris English 4 under
8 Bryson DeChambeau 4 under
9 Sungjae Im 4 under
10 Hideki Matsuyama 4 under
11 Brendon Todd 3 under
12 Rory McIlroy 3 under
13 Patrick Reed 3 under
14 Xander Schauffele 3 under
15 Sebastian Munoz 3 under
16 Lanto Griffin 2 under
17 Scottie Scheffler 2 under
18 Joaquin Niemann 2 under
19 Tyrrell Hatton 2 under
20 Tony Finau 2 under
21 Kevin Kisner 1 under
22 Abraham Ancer 1 under
23 Ryan Palmer 1 under
24 Kevin Na 1 under
25 Marc Leishman 1 under
26 Cameron Smith Even
27 Viktor Hovland Even
28 Mackenzie Hughes Even
29 Cameron Champ Even
30 Billy Horschel Even

Bonus money

The FedEx Cup Playoffs bonus money dished out this week is not considered part of a player’s official earnings for the season. It’s considered bonus money. That’s why Thomas already has the money title locked up. But that $15 million first-place prize sure looks good in your bank account.

In all, there’s $45 million that will be paid out this week. The 30th-place finisher will still take home – before taxes – $395,000.

Final spot Amount
1 $15 million
2 $5 million
3 $4 million
4 $3 million
5 $2.5 million
6 $1.9 million
7 $1.3 million
8 $1.1 million
9 $950,000
10 $830,000
11 $750,000
12 $705,000
13 $660,000
14 $620,000
15 $595,000
16 $570,000
17 $550,000
18 $535,000
19 $520,000
20 $505,000
21 $490,000
22 $478,000
23 $466,000
24 $456,000
25 $445,000
26 $435,000
27 $425,000
28 $415,000
29 $405,000
30 $395,000

What else do they get?

Finishing in the top 30 also made the golfers exempt for at least three of the majors next year, the WGCs and the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. The winners-only event is granting invites to the top 30 in the FedEx Cup from having lost three months worth of tournaments to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two trophies

Before the staggered scoring format started last season, we’d see one golfer win the tournament and another golfer win the FedEx Cup. Now, whoever wins the Tour Championship is the FedEx Cup champion, eliminating any confusion and also bringing the focus to one player.

This also means that both trophies go the winner: The FedEx Cup trophy and the Calamity Jane putter. Tiger Woods won the putter by winning the Tour Championship in 2018, the last time they had the split system in place, while Justin Rose won the FedEx Cup.

The Tour Championship
Justin Rose holds the FedEx Cup and Tiger Woods holds the Calamity Jane, a replica of Bobby Jones putter, after the 2018 Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. Photo by Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY Sports

The Calamity Jane putter trophy is a replica of the putter used by Bobby Jones. Since 2005, when East Lake became the permanent home of the Tour Championship, the putter trophy has gone to the tournament winner. The original Calamity Jane currently resides in a trophy case about 140 miles east at Augusta National Golf Club.

The course

East Lake is a par 70 that will play 7,346 yards. It was the home course for Jones and is the oldest golf course in Atlanta. It first opened on July 4, 1908.

No cut

With only 30 players, there’s not cut this week. The tee times will be set each night based on the scoring. The golfers will go out as twosomes on the first tee each day.

TV, streaming information

All times are listed in Eastern.

Friday, Sept. 4

PGA Tour Live on NBC Sports Gold: 10:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. (featured groups)
Golf Channel on fuboTV (watch for free): 1-6 p.m.
PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 12-6 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 5

PGA Tour Live on NBC Sports Gold: 10:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. (featured groups)
Golf Channel on fuboTV (watch for free): 1-6 p.m.
PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 12-6 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 6

PGA Tour Live on NBC Sports Gold: 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. (featured groups)
PGA Tour Live on ESPN+: 3-6 p.m. (featured holes)
Golf Channel on fuboTV (watch for free): 1-3 p.m.
NBC: 3-7 p.m.
PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 2-7 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 7

PGA Tour Live on NBC Sports Gold: 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. (featured groups)
PGA Tour Live on ESPN+: 1:30-6 p.m. (featured holes)
Golf Channel on fuboTV (watch for free): 12-1:30 p.m.
NBC: 1:30-6 p.m.
PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 1-6 p.m.

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak and David Dusek contributed to this article.

Daughter’s birth might be exactly what Rory McIlroy needs to get back on track at Tour Championship

Rory McIlroy opened up on his daughter Poppy’s birth and how he thinks it may help his golf game get back on track at the Tour Championship.

ATLANTA – An exhausted Rory McIlroy arrived at East Lake Golf Club Thursday morning to begin preparations for his title defense in the Tour Championship and his run at an unprecedented third FedEx Cup.

But a little ball of joy name Poppy was the only thing on his mind.

McIlroy and wife, Erica, welcomed Poppy Kennedy McIlroy into the world at 12:15 p.m. ET Monday in Jupiter, Florida.

“It’s amazing,” McIlroy said at East Lake Golf Club. “You see other people having kids and babies, and you’ll say congratulations and you’re happy for them, but you don’t really know how it feels.

“Now that I do, anyone that I know that has a child, there’s so much more admiration for the mother, what they go through, and it’s just amazing. You feel like you get to know your baby while she’s still in her mother’s belly, but to go from not having met this person to having unconditional love for them from one minute to the next, there’s nothing like it in the world.

“It’s probably the best part of being a human being, and I’m glad that I got to experience it.”

As for the experience of leaving his daughter and wife for the first time, that he could have done without.

“I didn’t want to leave,” he said. “It was just hard to leave, really hard to leave. But at the end of the day life doesn’t stop. Life moves on. I know that Erica is surrounded by her family, and my mom and dad are just around the corner, so she’s got all the help she needs, so I felt a little more comfortable being able to go.

“We got her home yesterday. It’s nice in the hospital. You’ve got so much help and all the nurses are around and they did a phenomenal job. You don’t appreciate that side of things, as well. And then you’re handed your child and they’re like, ‘See you later,’ and they don’t come with an instruction manual.

“Look, every parent has to sort of go through it, and we’re going through it.”

McIlroy said he and Erica went through names of flowers when they talked about naming their first child. Once Poppy came up, it stuck.

“We really liked it,” McIlroy said. “I have a cousin of mine; her daughter is named Poppy. We know a few other Poppies. And we just really love the name. We were sort of trying to go through a lot of the flower names, Rose, Iris, all those things.

“My mom is a Rosie, so we were sort of like, ‘That might (not) work.’ We know Alex Noren has an Iris. Shane Lowry has an Iris. We wanted to go with something that was pretty unique, maybe more common back where I’m from, but we landed on Poppy and we loved it.”

As for his golf, McIlroy will try to break out of a poor stretch since golf returned in June after a 13-week break due to COVID-19. Before the virus spread across the globe, McIlroy had top-5 finishes in seven consecutive tournaments, including a victory in the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. Since the return, he has posted zero top-10s in eight starts.

With the staggered scoring format this week, McIlroy will start seven shots behind leader Dustin Johnson in Friday’s first round. Last year, when he joined Tiger Woods as the only two-time winners of the FedEx Cup, he started five shots back.

“It’s been hard to think about golf the last few days just because I’ve been so focused on making sure that everything is OK at home,” said McIlroy, who took to the range around 1 p.m. ET. “I mean, maybe this is what I needed, just for everything to happen and go well.

“I haven’t played my best since coming back out since sort of post-COVID. But yeah, maybe things just will fall into place. It’s already been the best week of my life, and this would obviously just be the icing on the cake.”

Golfweek Rewind: August 31, 2020

Golfweek’s JuliaKate E. Culpepper discusses the latest news and notes in the world of golf.

Golfweek’s JuliaKate E. Culpepper discusses the latest news and notes in the world of golf.

Tiger Woods grinds to best start of BMW Championship, implodes on back nine

Tiger Woods had his best showing of the week Saturday at the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields, but faded on the back nine.

Weekend Tiger came out to play at Olympia Fields, but he didn’t stick around for long.

It doesn’t look like he’ll stick around for the Tour Championship either.

Tiger Woods had his best start of the week at the BMW Championship, finishing the front nine 2 under after back-to-back birdies on Nos. 3 and 4 and no bogeys for the first time this week. But the optimism surrounding his game dissipated at the turn as the 15-time major champion finished the round with a 2-over 72 after a disastrous trip through No. 17.

On the back nine, Woods struggled to find a fairway and spent most of his time after the turn in the rough, but that was just the appetizer ahead of his descent on the par-4 17th, which he birdied on Friday. Woods was forced to take a drop after his tee shot landed in a small creek surrounded by tall grass to the right of the fairway. His ensuing shots landed him in the far left rough, right greenside rough and then finally on the green where he two-putted for the 10th time on the day. He finished the hole with a triple-bogey 7. He finished with one final par at 18.


BMW Championship: Leaderboard | Photos | Tee times, TV info


He finished the day with 11 two-putts.

After rounds of 73 and 75, respectively, it was obvious Woods’ competitive juices were flowing Saturday morning on the par-5 first. He found the fairway bunker on his first shot and the greenside bunker with his third, but conjured up some heroics to chip the ball over the bunker and leave himself a 5-footer for par.

Woods carded his first bogey of the day on 10 after finding the rough on his first shot and the front, greenside bunker with his second. He missed a 13-foot, 6-inch downhill putt for par resulting in his first bogey of the week on the par-4 hole.

There is no cut at the BMW Championship so Woods will play Sunday at Olympia Fields in what will most likely be his last showing of the 2019-20 season.

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Justin Thomas on the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields: ‘You’re not going to be seeing any 59s and 60s’

Ahead of the BMW Championship, Justin Thomas talked what makes Olympia Fields so difficult and playing with a lead at the Tour Championship.

In the second round of the Northern Trust, Scottie Scheffler shot a 59 and tournament winner Dustin Johnson carded a 60.

Olympia Fields Country Club won’t be as generous with the low scores.

Ahead of the BMW Championship, the second of three FedEx Cup playoff events, Justin Thomas said Olympia Fields was “an unbelievable test” with its long holes, narrow fairways, thick rough and the firmest greens the Tour players have seen in a while.

When pressed to find a comparison to Olympia Fields, the best course the 2017 FedEx Cup champion could compare it to was a former PGA Championship and U.S. Open site.


BMW Championship: Tee times | Odds | Tiger’s new venture


“I guess a little bit of a Bethpage (Black) like,” Thomas said. “It’s tough. It’s right in front of you. There’s nothing about it that’s tricked up. It’s just a difficult golf course that you have to go out and execute well. In that aspect, it reminds me of a place like that to where visually it does look a little difficult and it is difficult when you’re playing it, but if you’re able to hit the fairways, if you’re playing well, have control of your golf ball, you can make some birdies and still shoot a good round of however many under par that is.

“But you’re not going to be seeing any 59s and 60s on the same day here.”

Thomas said he played the course once before as a freshman at Alabama, but since then, he’s only played nine holes of the 7,366-yard, par-70 course outside of Chicago. He planned to play the other nine Wednesday after speaking with media.

While playing his first nine on Tuesday, Thomas said he got a feel for how challenging Olympia Fields would be and perhaps a key to surviving.

“I hit a pretty good amount of mid-irons and that’s something I don’t do very often,” he said. “It’s a really, really good tough finishing stretch. Fifteen, even a par-5 is not an easy par-5 by any means. It’s little things like that. But it’s going to be pivotal to hit the fairways to where you’re able to control your ball coming into the green.”

justin thomas
Justin Thomas reacts to making a birdie putt on the 18th hole to win the 2019 BMW Championship at Medinah Country Club – No. 3. (Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports)

Thomas, the reigning BMW Championship winner, is fresh off his worst finish since missing the cut at the Travelers Championship. The 27-year-old finished the Northern Trust T-49 at 7 under after consecutive 71s in the third and final rounds.

While the finish dropped him to No. 2 on the FedEx Cup points list behind Johnson, the 13-time winner on Tour is still on a steady path to entering the Tour Championship with a lead. Thomas said ahead of the Northern Trust he was “not trying to peak” at the first of four important events within five weeks. He learned about pacing himself last year when he won the BMW Championship at Medinah Country Club by three shots over Patrick Cantlay to sit at No. 1 in FedEx Cup points and earn a two-shot lead to start the Tour Championship under the new playoff rules.

While Thomas said the lead didn’t exactly weigh on him, it was undeniably harder to play like he normally would with that lead.

“I’m not surprised that it felt weird because no one has ever been there before,” Thomas said of his lead. “It was very similar to I felt like Q-school when I played. I remember I shot 67 the first round and I was in fifth, and I got home that night and I was like, ‘I’ve got five more rounds to go. I have to maintain good golf for five more rounds. Like I don’t know what to do.’ Usually you have three more rounds, and then I had an entire another four-day tournament and another day to go.”

Thomas finished the Tour Championship T-3 at 13 under.

Regardless of his finish at the Northern Trust, Thomas has some momentum going. Last year, the Tour’s season finale followed Thomas’ only win of the season. This year, his resume and trophy shelf look a little different after winning a season-high three PGA Tour events: the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Sentry Tournament of Champions and the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges.

Justin Thomas after winning the 2020 WGC – FedEx St. Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind. (Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports)

Thomas had his most successful year on Tour in 2016-17 when he earned five PGA Tour wins, including his only major, the 2017 PGA Championship. That season, he had 12 top-10 finishes in 25 events.

In the 16 events this season, Thomas as nine top 10s.

Thomas also has a leg up on the competition as the only Tour player who knows what it’s like to handle a lead headed into an event under the new FedEx Cup rules.

When asked what he would do differently with a lead at the Tour Championship this time around, Thomas smirked.

“I mean, not to sound bad,” he said, “but I’m not going to say what I’m going to do differently because I might be in that position next week and I’ll let (everyone else) figure it out themselves.”

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From drug depths to a big payday, caddie Eric Larson’s rebound coincides with Harris English’s success

Harris English along with his caddie Eric Larson placed second at Northern Trust but it was a victory for the duo, especially financially.

Without hitting a shot or making a putt, Eric Larson left the Northern Trust on Sunday as one of the biggest winners.

The longtime PGA Tour caddie, who has worked three-plus years for Harris English, had reason to celebrate after English finished a distant second to Dustin Johnson in the first event of the FedExCup playoffs.

English vaulted from 27th to sixth in the FedEx Cup standings and assures him (and Larson) a spot in the Sept. 4-7 Tour Championship at East Lake.

Never has a second-place finish felt more like a victory for a caddie.

Not only did Larson earn one of the biggest checks of his career – $72,485, 7 percent of English’s $1,035,500 runner-up prize – Larson could be looking at a bigger payday.

The winner of the FedEx Cup earns $15 million – $1.5 million for the caddie if he receives the standard 10 percent winning fee. If English remains No. 6, that’s a $1.9 million bonus, an additional six-figure payday for Larson.

More importantly, by making it to East Lake, English is eligible every PGA Tour event next year, especially the four majors. No more worrying about alternates’ lists.

No wonder Sunday felt like a victory for Larson, even though he didn’t take the 18th hole flag with him.

Harris English and caddie Eric Larson during the 2020 Memorial tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club. (Aaron Doster/USA Today Sports)

“I’m just happy to see all the hard work that Harris has done pay off, which obviously helps me tremendously,” Larson said Monday night from Chicago, site of this week’s BMW Championship. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

Larson – who everyone calls “E” on the PGA Tour – is showing the veteran caddie’s humility of crediting his boss. Larson has played a strong role. Consider this: English is the fourth player Larson has caddied for in the Tour Championship, joining buddy Mark Calcavecchia (2007), Anthony Kim (2008) and Jeff Overton (2010).

How many caddies can make that claim?

“I’ve been fortunate to work for a lot of great players,” Larson said.

English has been as consistent as the sun. He has six top-10s and 13 top-25 finishes – six in a row – and just two missed cuts in 18 starts. He missed two more events in late June when he tested positive for COVID-19.

English has earned a career-best $3.265 million – an estimated $200,000 for Larson – and risen to No. 53 in the latest world rankings.

The last year has been another turn in the roller-coaster ride of Larson’s career. He won a PGA Tour event with Calcavecchia, the 1995 BellSouth Classic, before Larson spent a decade in federal prison (1995-2005) for selling cocaine.

“I did it for monetary purposes only,” Larson told The Palm Beach Post 20 years ago. “I didn’t use it, and I never brought it out on Tour. I was not a major drug dealer.”

Larson hasn’t shied away from his past. He recently did a podcast with Tommy Chong (of Cheech and Chong fame), who Larson met in prison, for the Caddie Network.

While Larson was in jail, Calcavecchia provided financial support and promised he would re-hire Larson when he got out. Calcavecchia did even better, winning the 2007 PODS Championship at Innisbrook with Larson alongside.

With Calcavecchia’s blessing, Larson soon left for Kim, a rising star who won twice with Larson on the bag. Larson guided Kim and Overton to their first – and only – Ryder Cup.

Harris English and caddie Eric Larson during the 2020 Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club. (Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

After Overton lost his status in 2016, Larson was in limbo, working with Henrik Norlander, among others.

“I don’t take anything for granted,” Larson said. “I know this job could end tomorrow.”

Larson heard English was looking for a caddie in 2017, so he contacted his agent. English was struggling, but Larson knew he could regain the form that helped English win two PGA Tour events and a Korn Ferry Tour event as an amateur.

“The thing I liked about Harris was even though he wasn’t playing his best golf, he remained upbeat and wasn’t blaming anyone else,” Larson said.

Their first event was at Colonial and they have been together since. They are a perfect fit on the golf course because of their flat-line personalities.

“We both take our jobs very seriously,” Larson said. “With Harris, less is more. Just give him the right information, and he’ll do the rest.”

Larson, who turns 60 in two weeks, is almost twice the age of English (31), but Larson has a baby face and looks younger than his birth certificate. He feels younger these days.

Life changes quickly on the PGA Tour. A year ago, Larson didn’t know if he would have a full-time job.

Sunday night, Larson flew to Chicago on Johnson’s private charter. Hey, if you can’t beat ‘em, you might as well travel first class with ‘em.

Asked how he has handled the highs and lows of the last 25 years, Larson said, “I’m good at adapting to things.”

The next two weeks will be gravy for Larson. Gravy with whatever steak and lobster Larson wants.

His friends couldn’t be happier. Calcavecchia has already requested – and received – a chance to play a practice round with English (and Larson) at next year’s British Open, Calcavecchia’s last as the 1989 champion.

“Nobody deserves this success more than ‘E’ does,” Calcavecchia said. “He has always remained positive.”

That’s “E” to a tee.

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Tiger Woods faces pair of problems in FedEx Cup pursuit at BMW Championship

If Tiger Woods is to make it to East Lake for the Tour Championship, he’ll need to face a pair of problems first at the BMW Championship.

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – The onerous task at hand for Tiger Woods is two-fold.

One, he likely needs to finish fourth or better this week in the BMW Championship to advance to next week’s Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta for the FedEx Cup Playoffs finale.

And two, he’ll have to do so at Olympia Fields Country Club, which is primed to tee up U.S. Open conditions.

Other than that …

“I have to play well,” Woods said Wednesday with an emphasis on the second word. “Need a big week this week in order to advance. If I don’t, then I go home.”


BMW Championship: Tee times | Odds | Tiger’s new venture


The challenge for Woods becomes even more problematic because he has sort of been lost on the golf course since the sport returned after a 13-week break due to COVID-19. In three starts, he’s finished no better than a tie for 37th, and he’s coming off a tie for 58th in last week’s Northern Trust, where he finished 24 shots behind Dustin Johnson at TPC Boston.

And Woods has played only 20 competitive rounds in 2020, just 12 since mid-February. He delayed his return because he wanted to see how the COVID-19 protocols would play out and how safe it would be to return.

“I think that trying to get used to playing and competing again, that’s been one of the things that I’ve been a little bit rusty in that regard,” Woods said. “I’ve just now played enough tournaments to try to have an understanding and feel for what’s going on. Hopefully I can get it going this week.”

It won’t be easy. Then again, Woods has been written off before only to get in the last word. He won a U.S. Open on a broken leg and shredded ligaments in his left knee. Became world No. 1 again after a public scandal. Won the Masters after his back was fused. On and on and on.

So don’t write the epitaph on his season just yet.

Still, the world No. 17 and two-time FedEx Cup champion knows what he’s up against. He’s focusing on positives – his final-round 66 last week put some hop in his step, and he said his body feels just fine.

Plus, he likes the golf course, no matter how difficult it’s going to play. The tree-lined, well-bunkered layout at Olympia Fields is much different these days than when it played host to the 2003 U.S. Open, where Woods tied for 20th.

Some tees have been moved back 60 yards. The routing is different. And there is a whole lot of deep, nasty rough surrounding the holes, which all end with demanding green complexes that will test the putting and chipping talents of the world’s best.

And the course is firm and fast as scalding temperatures made it’s way to the Windy City and don’t look to be leaving anytime soon.

“This golf course is set up more like a U.S. Open than it is a regular Tour event, but this is the playoffs. It’s supposed to be hard,” Woods said. “Pars will be at a premium, putting the ball in the fairway and trying to keep the ball in the correct spots. The greens are quick, hard and firm for now. The weather is supposed to be really hot the next three days and maybe breaking Friday night. But until then this is going to be a very difficult golf course.”

For now, Woods isn’t thinking about needing a top-four finish to advance. He isn’t dialing up a new, urgent game plan due to his predicament in the standings (he’s 57th, with the top 30 moving on). All his focus is on getting around this golf course.

“There’s six, seven inches (of rough) in spots, and it’s gnarly and if we happen to get the weather we’re supposed to get Friday night and then if it gets wet, you’d better hit the ball in the fairway,” Woods said “But the greens right now are getting baked out. They’re hand watering the greens trying to keep them alive and keep them right on the edge, right where they should be.”

In other words, a grueling challenge. Just like Woods’ mission is this week.

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Dustin Johnson wins Northern Trust, builds momentum heading into the BMW Championship

Golfweek’s David Dusek recaps Dustin Johnson’s win at the Northern Trust and looks ahead for what’s to come in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Golfweek’s David Dusek recaps Dustin Johnson’s win at the Northern Trust and looks ahead for what’s to come in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Tracker: Follow Tiger Woods on Friday at the Northern Trust, shot by shot

Follow Tiger Woods’ second round at the Northern Trust with shot-by-shot updates.

Tiger Woods has his old trusty Scotty Cameron (you know, the one he used to win 14 of his 15 major titles) back in the bag this week as he contends for a record third FedEx Cup title.

The 44-year-old is teeing it up this week at the Northern Trust, the first of three events in the PGA Tour’s season-ending FedEx Cup playoffs. Woods got hot down the stretch on Thursday, firing a 3-under 68 thanks to four birdies over his last seven holes.

Woods is back in action Friday afternoon, teeing off alongside Dylan Frittelli and Matthew Fitzpatrick off the first tee at TPC Boston at 1:17 p.m. ET.

Hole 2 – Par 5

YAHTZEE! Tiger smoked this one down the fairway and it got a big hop, too, running 314 yards. Not bad for a 44-year-old, eh?

Hole 1 – Par 4

Less than driver here off the first tee and TW carves it right down the middle like a Thanksgiving turkey. Showtime. Ooh baby we’re firing today. Tiger floats this one to the right side of the pin, about 15 feet away. That’s a birdie putt on No. 1 just minutes after Scottie Scheffler carded a 12-under 59. If 59 is out there for Scottie … what could the Big Cat do today? Birdie the first, that’s for sure. Canned it. NEXT.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 1 under thru 1 (4 under overall)