The Northern Trust
The Northern Trust, formerly The Barclays, is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour that rotates between the New York City area and Boston area. Since 2007, it has been played as the first tournament of the playoff system for the FedEx Cup. The field is limited to the top 125 players on the FedEx points list for the regular season.
 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Varies – Jersey City, New Jersey in 2021 |
| Established | 1967, 54 years ago |
| Course(s) | Liberty National Golf Club in 2021 |
| Par | 71 in 2021 |
| Length | 7,353 yards (6,724 m) in 2021 |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Prize fund | $9.5 million |
| Month played | August |
| Tournament record score | |
| Aggregate | 254 Dustin Johnson (2020) |
| To par | −30 as above |
| Current champion | |
 Dustin Johnson | |
Many of the world's top players have won The Northern Trust including Sergio García, Adam Scott, Jason Day, Matt Kuchar, Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson and 2018 champion Bryson DeChambeau, who captured a four-stroke victory and became the tournament's youngest winner in the FedEx Cup era. Since the tournament's inception in 1967, The Northern Trust has generated nearly $50 million for New York/New Jersey Metropolitan-area charities, including a record $1.865 million in 2018.[1]
The 2019 edition of The Northern Trust was held August 8–11 at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey, for the third time in the tournament's history.[2]
In 2018, the PGA Tour announced that The Northern Trust will rotate between the New York/New Jersey and Boston areas in 2019 and 2020. The tour returned to New England and TPC Boston in 2020; the course hosted the Dell Technologies Championship from 2003 through 2018.[2]
History
The event began in 1967 as the Westchester Classic, played at the Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York, a suburb northeast of New York City in Westchester County. Beginning in 1976, it underwent a series of name sponsorships (detailed below), not unlike other PGA Tour stops. The name of the event evolved to the point that, by 1990, it no longer contained the name of its host course or location. However, among golfers on tour and many fans, it was still known by its traditional name, "The Westchester."
The tournament was usually played during June of each year, either the week before (in even-numbered years) or the week after (in odd-numbered years) the U.S. Open. It had its greatest attendance in 2001 when Tiger Woods participated, although two days of heavy rains disrupted play. It had one of its more exciting finishes in 2005, when Pádraig Harrington eagled the par-5 final hole with a 65-foot (20 m) putt to win the title. The most frequent winner of the tournament is Vijay Singh, with four trophies.
Beginning in 2008, it left the Westchester Country Club and began being rotated amongst different clubs in the New York metropolitan area (also detailed below).
In 2011, Hurricane Irene shortened the tournament to 54 holes, which was played that year at the Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey. The tournament ended by noontime on Saturday, August 27, allowing ample time for players and spectators to evacuate the golf course.
The tournament has traditionally closed CBS Sports's PGA Tour television schedule, due to the network's commitment to airing SEC and NFL football during the fall months; until 2014, the network also had rights to the U.S. Open tennis tournament, which begins the Monday prior to Labor Day. (The 2019 changes to the PGA Tour calendar, which resulted in The Northern Trust being moved up two weeks due to the PGA Tour's desire to complete the FedEx Cup Playoffs by the end of August, will not affect this tournament ending CBS's golf season, even though the tournament now takes place three weeks before the first week of the college football season.) Jim Nantz, who calls the final two rounds of The Northern Trust on television, is also the lead play-by-play announcer for the NFL on CBS.
In 2017, Chicago-based financial services company Northern Trust replaced Barclays, which had sponsored the tournament since 2005.[3] Northern Trust had previously been the title sponsor of the Los Angeles Open at Riviera for nine years, known as the "Northern Trust Open" from 2008 through 2016.
In 2019, the FedEx Cup Playoffs will feature three events, instead of four, and the Playoffs will conclude by the end of August. Therefore, The Northern Trust will be played earlier in August (August 5–11, 2019), followed by the BMW Championship, August 12-18 (70 players); and the Tour Championship August 19–25 (30 players).[4]
Highlights
In 2015, Brian Harman became only the third player in PGA tour history to record two holes-in-one in the same round.[5]
Winners
| PGA Tour (FedEx Cup Playoffs) | 2007 onwards | |
| PGA Tour (Regular) | 1967–2006 |
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PO Indicates a win in a playoff
^ Indicates weather-shortened to 54 holes
Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.
Main sources[9][10][11]
Multiple winners
Six men have won the tournament more than once through 2020.
- 4 wins
- Vijay Singh: 1993, 1995, 2006, 2008
- 3 wins
- Dustin Johnson: 2011, 2017, 2020
- 2 wins
- Jack Nicklaus: 1967, 1972
- Seve Ballesteros: 1983, 1988
- Ernie Els: 1996, 1997
- Sergio García: 2001, 2004
- Patrick Reed: 2016, 2019
Future sites
| Year | Edition | Course | Location | Dates | Times hosted | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55th | Liberty National Golf Club | Jersey City, NJ | August TBA | 2009, 2013, 2019 | |
| 2022 | 56th | TPC Boston | Norton, Massachusetts | August TBA | 2020 |
References
- "The Northern Trust generates $1.865 million for local area charities". PGA Tour. November 12, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
- "The Northern Trust to call New York/New Jersey home in 2019, Boston home in 2020". PGA Tour. July 10, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
- "Northern Trust to sponsor first FedExCup event in 2017". PGA Tour. January 19, 2016.
- "PGA Tour unveils significantly revamped 2018-19 Season schedule". PGA Tour. July 10, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
- Staats, Wayne (October 29, 2018). "These are the only three golfers to make two holes-in-one in same PGA Tour round". PGA of America. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
- "Beard Cans Birdie On Final Hole For Title". Lodi News-Sentinel. Lodi, California. UPI. August 4, 1969. p. 8. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
- "'Loose Moose' Grabs Westchester Win Away From Murphy". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Daytona Beach, Florida. AP. August 19, 1968. p. 15. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
- "Army Didn't Bug Me -- Jack". The Free Lance−Star. Fredericksburg, Virginia. AP. August 31, 1967. p. 22. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
- The Barclays – Winners – at www.pgatour.com
- The Barclays – Winners Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine – at golfobserver.com (since 1970)
- Johnson, Sal; Seanor, Dave, eds. (2009). The USA Today Golfers Encyclopedia. New York, New York: Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60239-302-8.