FedEx Cup playoffs set to begin at the Northern Trust
The FedEx Cup playoffs are set to begin on Thursday at the Northern Trust at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, NJ.
This years playoffs have a bit of a different feel to them with the start time being pushed up three weeks compared to last year. The thought process behind the move was to avoid competing with the NFL and NCAA football on weekends for TV ratings while in the middle of the Tour Championship at East Lake.
With Tiger Woods winning last year, poor TV ratings weren’t exactly an issue but in years past they have been a cause for concern but moving the playoffs up a few weeks will ensure they wrap up before Labour Day.
Still don't believe Tiger moves the needle?
TV ratings for the Tour Championship were up 206%:https://t.co/mxzOUknfiJ pic.twitter.com/4iHhjyx6rs
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) September 25, 2018
Another change this year is the move from four playoff events down to three. The Dell Technologies Championship was the odd man out and was dropped from the schedule for 2019.
One very positive change for the players is that the prize money for the FedEx Cup winner has increased from $10 million in 2018 to $15 million this year. Justin Rose earned a cool $10 million last year as winner.
Heading into the playoffs, Brooks Koepka is the clear No. 1 having won three events in the 2018-19 season. Koepka started off by winning the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges back in October and then followed that up by winning the PGA Championship in May and the WGC-FedEx St. Jude just two weeks ago. He also has two second places finishes in majors including The Masters and U.S Open as well as a third 2nd place at the Honda Classic back in February.
Rory McIlory is ranked with No.2 in the FedEx standings followed closely by Matt Kuchar at No.3.
Corey Conners is the highest ranked Canadian in the field at No. 31.
The action will begin on Thursday at 7:10 am ET. Click here for tee times and pairings for round one of the Northern Trust.
