The LPGA will return to the Boston market next year for the first time since Meg Mallon won the 2004 U.S. Women’s Open at Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley, the tour has announced. The new 2024 FM Global Championship at TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts, will feature a $3.5 million purse, the largest on tour outside of the majors and tour championship.
The field of 144 will compete from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1 as part of the lead-up to the 2024 Solheim Cup in Gainesville, Virginia.
The 2024 event is the start of a five-year partnership and marks FM Global’s first major sports sponsorship. The deal was facilitated by Fenway Sports Management, which formed a commercial alliance with the LPGA earlier this year.
TPC Boston has been a staple over the years on the PGA Tour, having hosted 17 events including the Deutsche Bank Championship, Dell Technologies Championship and Northern Trust. This marks the first time the course will host a professional women’s event.
“Boston is quickly becoming a dynamic home for women’s sports,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, noting the city’s new National Women’s Soccer League team and the new Professional Women’s Hockey League team.
FM Global is a centuries-old mutual insurance company whose capital, scientific research capability and engineering expertise are solely dedicated to property risk management and the resilience of its policyholder-owners.
“We are proud to partner with the LPGA Tour to support this new, marquee event and bring women’s professional golf back to New England,” Malcolm Roberts, president and chief executive officer of FM Global, said in a release.
“The FM Global Championship provides a tremendous platform to promote diversity and inclusion on the playing field and in the workplace, raise awareness of FM Global’s unique approach to helping clients protect their businesses and mitigate loss, engage our employees, and drive positive impact in our communities.”
Who’s in, who’s out as the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs head to Chicago for the BMW Championship.
The first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs is in the books and Dustin Johnson is the new points leader after his walk-in-the-park victory on Sunday at the Northern Trust at TPC Boston.
Johnson won by 11 shots, the largest margin of victory this season on the PGA Tour. He jumped from 15th to 1st on the FedEx Cup standings and now holds a 92-point lead over Justin Thomas.
The playoffs now head to Chicago for the BMW Championship, with the top-70 players on the points list advancing.
There were six players who played themselves into next week’s event. Conversely, six players played themselves out of it. The 70th and final spot went to Louis Oosthuizen, who needed a birdie on the last hole on Sunday to knock Doc Redman out.
The BMW Championship starts Thursday at Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Illinois. There is no cut for the tournament. From there, the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings will advance to the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
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Work to do
Billy Horschel sits at No. 30 heading into the BMW, with Joaquin Niemann sitting at No. 31. Tyler Duncan is 32, Matthew Wolff is 33 and Mark Hubbard is 34.
Those with even more work to do next week – and maybe even needing to get some help from others – include Patrick Cantlay at 37, Adam Scott at 38 and Gary Woodland at 39.
Tiger Woods, meanwhile, is down to No. 57 from No. 49. He had his best round of the week, a 66, on Sunday at the Northern Trust but needs to make a major move in Chicago if he wants to get to Atlanta.
DJ won for the second time this season and for the 22nd time in his career at the Northern Trust at TPC Boston on Sunday.
Dustin Johnson cruised to his 22nd PGA Tour win on Sunday at the Northern Trust at TPC Boston, the first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
The victory march was halted with what would have been about 20 minutes of golf left at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday when the horn blew, signaling a weather delay. The skies darkened and a lot of rain soaked the course.
Johnson was on the 17th hole at the time, sitting at 29 under and up nine shots on Harris English.
Play finally resumed at 7:14 p.m. ET, leaving about 18 minutes before sunset.
Johnson’s round got off to a great start. He eagled No. 2 and then birdied Nos. 4, 5, 7, 8 and 12. For the week, he carded only three bogeys, with two of them coming on his first seven holes on Thursday. On Friday, he flirted with a 59 but finished his day with seven straight pars for a 60. On Saturday, Johnson closed birdie-eagle to take a five-shot lead into the final round.
He finished with a four footer for one final birdie on 18 to shoot a 63 and get to 30 under, 11 shots ahead of English and 12 on Daniel Berger.
With the win, his second this season, Johnson will return to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, supplanting Rahm. It’ll be Johnson’s 96th week in the top spot.
He is also now No. 1 in the FedEx Cup points race, up from 15th, 92 points ahead of Justin Thomas.
Louis Oosthuizen needed a birdie on the 18th to grab the 70th and final spot in the BMW Championship next week, and he did, rolling in a two-footer to knock Doc Redman of the playoffs.
Eric Leadbetter, one of the assistant pros at TPC Boston, caddied for Scottie Scheffler on the back nine of Sunday’s round.
It’s always good to have someone solid on the bag.
For Scottie Scheffler, that would be his caddie Scott McGuiness, who helped Scheffler post the 12th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history when Scheffler shot a 59 on Friday in the second round of the Northern Trust.
But on Sunday, McGuiness needed medical attention on the 9th hole and had to step away for the final stretch of Scheffler’s final round.
Eric Leadbetter, one of the assistant pros at TPC Boston, caddied for Scheffler on the back nine of Sunday’s round. It was not immediately clear as McGuiness was being taken away on a cart whether he injured his ankle or was suffering from cramps.
Leadbetter comes with rave reviews.
“He knows every blade of grass around here,” say the other pros from the club of Leadbetter.
Eric Leadbetter, one of the assistant pros at TPC Boston, puts on a caddie bib for Scottie Scheffler on the back nine of the final round at the 2020 Northern Trust. Photo by David Dusek/Golfweek
Scheffler started his final round in second, but, like everyone else in the field, was simply no match for Dustin Johnson, who opened up a seven-shot lead through 10 holes and is seemingly on cruise control toward his 22nd Tour victory.
Tiger Woods birdied his first four holes on Sunday at the PGA Tour’s Northern Trust, ultimately signing for a 5-under 66.
Tiger Woods didn’t bring his A-game to TPC Boston on Friday or Saturday, but he certainly had it early on Sunday.
The 15-time major champion got off to a blistering start, making birdie on the first four holes of his final round at the Northern Trust, the first of three events in the PGA Tour’s season-ending FedEx Cup Playoffs. Woods signed his name to a 5-under 66, walking off the course 6-under for the tournament, T-58.
The 44-year-old briefly cooled off with a pair of pars before sandwiching a lone bogey on No. 8 between two more birdies on Nos. 7 and 9 to make the turn at 5-under 31 (6 under for the tournament).
The back nine at TPC Boston is considerably more difficult than the front, especially the stretch of Nos. 10-14. Woods was blemish-free on the back nine, making par on every hole.
The two-time FedEx Cup champion (2007 and 2009) will ride this momentum to Olympia Fields Country Club just outside Chicago for next week’s BMW Championship.
Follow Tiger Woods’ final round at the PGA Tour’s Northern Trust with shot-by-shot updates.
The road to a record third FedEx Cup title has been a bumpy one for Tiger Woods this week at TPC Boston.
The 15-time major champion made the weekend cut directly on the number at the Northern Trust, the first of three events that comprise the PGA Tour’s season-ending FedEx Cup playoffs. In an All-Star pairing with world No. 3 Rory McIlroy on Saturday, both players left their A-games at home as Woods shot a 2-over 73 and McIlroy a 3-over 74.
The only two players to win multiple FedEx Cup titles, Woods and defending-champion McIlroy are paired together again on Sunday morning, teeing off at 8:55 a.m. ET. Follow Woods’ final round, shot by shot.
Here’s everything you need to know for the final round of the PGA Tour’s The Northern Trust at TPC Boston.
Eighteen holes to go at TPC Boston.
The field was cut to 70 on Friday night at the Northern Trust, the first event of the PGA Tour’s season-ending three-week FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Now it’s a chase to see who exactly moves on to next week’s BMW Championship outside Chicago. Dustin Johnson is currently leading that race, and will take a five-shot lead into the final round. Harris English and Scottie Scheffler, however, remain within striking distance.
Check out the tee times for the third round of the Northern Trust below.
TV, streaming information
All times are listed in Eastern.
Sunday, Aug. 23
PGA Tour Live on NBC Sports Gold: 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (featured groups)
PGA Tour Live on ESPN+: 2:30-6:30 p.m. (featured holes) Golf Channel on fuboTV (watch for free): 12:30-2:30 p.m. CBS: 2:30-6:30 p.m. PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 2-7 p.m.
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Dustin Johnson grew his Northern Trust lead with a third-round 64, a day after his round of 60, at TPC Boston.
NORTON, Mass. – The law of averages says that over time things even out, but Dustin Johnson did not go to law school while he was at Coastal Carolina University.
The 36-year-old arrived here at TPC Boston, site of this week’s Northern Trust, averaging just over four birdies per round in PGA Tour events this season. On Friday, when he shot 60, Johnson made seven, to go along with two eagles.
The law of averages would say that Johnson should cool off on Saturday, and while it’s true that he did not shoot another 60, even before rain forced play to be suspended at 3:45 p.m., with Johnson in the ninth fairway, he had four circles on his card.
No, he didn’t shoot another 60, but he did shoot 64 thanks to six birdies and another eagle. The 2016 U.S. Open winner is at 22 under and will take a five-shot lead into Sunday over both Harris English (66) and Scottie Scheffler (67).
Louis Oosthuizen shot 68 and will begin the final round of the Northern Trust in fourth place, seven shots behind Johnson.
“I’m in a great position and like where I’m at, but I’m still going to have to go out and shoot a good score,” Johnson said.”You can go low out here, and guys are going low every day, especially with the conditions we have.”
Scottie Scheffle (front) and Dustin Johnson walk to the fifth tee during the third round of the Northern Trust. (Photo: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports)
English applied some pressure to Johnson on the back nine, pitching in on the 14th hole from 42 feet away to reach 19 under, one off Johnson’s lead at that time.
“(My) irons have been awesome all week this week, and I feel like it’s a great mid-iron golf course,” English said. “I had my putting going today, as well. So, kind of everything was clicking. I felt like I managed it pretty well, and short game was good. Tough finish, not the finish I was looking for but felt like I got a lot of momentum going into tomorrow.”
Yeah, about that finish.
English pushed his tee shot on the 176-yard par-3 16th to the right and then missed a 7-footer for par. Then, after his approach to the 17th came up 75 feet short, his first putt ran 8 feet beyond the cup, and he missed the comebacker for par.
Johnson, on the other hand, finished like Secretariat. He made an 18-footer for birdie on 17 and then eagled the 18th hole after hitting his approach shot from 219 yards to 40 feet and making a twisting putt.
"COME ON EAGLE! COME ON EAGLE!" @DJohnsonPGA finishes the round with an eagle 👏
“Obviously I did what I wanted to and drove it in the fairway, knocked it on the green, and obviously making that putt is a bonus,” he said. “It was a pretty tough putt up and over a ridge and breaking a lot. But had perfect speed on it and it went in.”
After play on Sunday, the players ranked No. 70 or better on the FedEx Cup points list will be eligible to compete next week at the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields Golf Club outside Chicago.
Several well-known players – including Jordan Spieth, Harold Varner and Graeme McDowell – missed the cut at the Northern Trust and started the week ranked higher than No. 70 on the FedEx Cup points list. Their 2019-20 PGA Tour seasons are done. Sunday will be a big day for many other well-known pros who arrived at TPC Boston ranked higher than No. 70 and who made the cut.
Harry Higgs, who started the week at No. 72, is helping himself by shooting 67-66-66. There are 18 more holes to be played, but he is projected to move up to 34th, while Alex Noren came here in the No. 78 spot and is projected to No. 54th.
On the other side of the coin, Rickie Fowler needs to go low and hop over more players. He came to the Northern Trust ranked No. 88 in FedEx Cup points and is projected to rise to No. 96. Zach Johnson, a two-time major winner, started at No. 104, but he is T-29 after three rounds at TPC Boston and is projected to only rise to No. 93.
