Expert Picks: Palmetto Championship at Congaree

The crowd that followed Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler at the Players Championship saw some bad golf and, according to them, bad shirt choices. (Hint, that’s you, Phil.)

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THE OVERVIEW PARAMUS, N.J. – Justin Thomas hoped to be asleep by 8:15 p.m. Wednesday night in advance of the start of THE NORTHERN TRUST at Ridgewood Country Club, which kicks off the PGA TOUR’s postseason. With an unprecedented second straight FedExCup title well within his grasp going into the TOUR’s four-tournament, five-week Playoffs, he won’t lack for something to dream about. Hint: It’s shiny, silver, and has two handles. “I understand how important these Playoffs are,â€� said Thomas, who is just 83 points behind FedExCup No. 1 Dustin Johnson and vying to become the first player to successfully defend the FedExCup since its 2007 inception. How important are they? Perhaps historically so, in his case. “It would be an honor,â€� he said of the prospect of going back-to-back. “And anytime you can do something that nobody else has done before, it’s huge. But there’s a lot of great players and a lot of players that are playing really well that have just as good a chance as I do. “I just need to worry about myself and try to get myself in position come Atlanta,â€� he added, “and from there we’ll see what we can do.â€� For Thomas and others, the Playoffs come down to keeping momentum and conserving energy. With high-pressure tournaments on tap in the New York area, Boston (Dell Technologies Championship), Philadelphia (BMW Championship) and Atlanta (TOUR Championship), which player comes out on top will depend on who positions himself to peak at just the right time. To that end, Thomas is all about early bedtimes and other energy-saving techniques. Last week he flew to Chicago to spend time with his girlfriend and go to a Cubs game, then went to New York and appeared on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. He didn’t want to play golf, and so he didn’t touch the clubs until last Friday, when he played 27 holes.   “At this point in the year,â€� he said, “it’s so important to be rested.â€� When we last saw Thomas in competition, he was making a title defense of another sort at the PGA Championship in St. Louis. He ran out of magic on the back nine, bogeying two of his last five holes to finish T6. Since then, he has been marshalling his energy for a big Playoffs push, and he is well aware of how nicely the stars have aligned. First and most crucially, he’s hot. He won the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational on Aug. 5, his first TOUR win in the presence of his paternal grandparents, who had driven from nearby Columbus, Ohio. And he was one of four players (Thomas, Adam Scott, Tiger Woods, winner Brooks Koepka) who had a realistic shot at winning the PGA at Bellerive. This week brings some uncertainty, as THE NORTHERN TRUST moves back to Ridgewood for the first time since 2014, which was before Thomas had established himself on TOUR. He didn’t play; Hunter Mahan won. Now 25, Thomas is a draw on late-night TV and a legitimate threat to win anywhere. His first week of the 2018 FedExCup Playoffs began Monday with a golf day for a sponsor in which, Thomas said, “I hit 145-yard 9-irons for 24 groups.â€� He smiled. “Hopefully I’ll have that yardage dialed in this week.â€� He spent a lot of time on Ridgewood’s practice green and in the short-game area Tuesday, working with his father/coach, Mike, and coach Matt Killen. “It’s been low-key and just trying to get rest, more than anything,â€� Thomas said. The FedExCup top five consist of Dustin Johnson, for whom winning the whole thing is still on his to-do list; Thomas; Koepka; Justin Rose; and Bubba Watson. “Yeah, 83 points in the Playoffs is not a big lead,â€� Johnson said. And yeah, Thomas is taking it seriously. He said Wednesday that it still irks him that he didn’t win the PGA two weeks ago, that he barely missed out on advancing to the TOUR Championship at East Lake in 2015, and that he “totally choked the U.S. Kids when I was 8 years old.â€� Several people laughed; Thomas did not. “I’m dead serious,â€� he said. “I lost in a playoff.â€� Thomas, whose father, Mike, was caddying for him, even remembered the name of the kid who beat him that day at Jekyll Island (although he couldn’t pronounce it). It was a big moment. Unforgettable. So is this. The Playoffs are here, and for Thomas, especially, history hangs in the balance. THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER Dustin Johnson Just three of the 11 FedExCup champs entered the Playoffs ranked No. 1 – and Tiger did it twice (Spieth the other time). Brooks Koepka Lots of discussion on whether he’s already wrapped up Player of the Year honors. A FedExCup title would make it clear-cut. Tiger Woods Wasn’t sure if anybody noticed, but he’s making his first Playoffs appearance in five years. THE FLYOVER The par-3 15th is 155 yards, the shortest hole at Ridgewood and one of the shortest on the PGA TOUR. In fact, of the 188 par 3s previously played this season, just nine are of shortest distance. Four years ago, it played to a stroke average of 2.819, but it’s not necessarily a pushover. Bunkers surround almost all of the green, and players will be hard-pressed to scramble for par on the undulating putting surface. LANDING ZONE When Ridgewood last hosted a PGA TOUR event in 2014, this 291-yard drivable par 4 was on the front side (specifically, the fifth hole). But with the re-routing, it will now provide some fireworks on the back nine as the 12th hole, giving players another eagle opportunity down the stretch (along with the par-5 13th and 17th holes). It doesn’t sound like FedExCup points leader Dustin Johnson will try to drive the green, though. “Today I went for it but probably during the tournament I’m not going to,â€� he said after his Wednesday practice round. “There’s nowhere good to hit it except on the green. And it’s not very easy — that green’s not very big. So I’ll probably lay up most of the day.â€� In 2014, it played to a stroke average of 3.778, with five eagles and 133 birdies. Here’s a look at where all tee shots landed in 2014 when it was the fifth hole. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Stewart Williams: “Showers and thunderstorms will be likely Wednesday around daybreak before lifting north. A lull in the precipitation will be likely for several hours before additional showers and isolated t-storms redevelop just ahead of the cold front Wednesday afternoon. Finally, drier conditions return late in the day as the front moves away to the east. High pressure will provide dry and less humid conditions Friday and Saturday with before warmer temperatures return on the weekend.â€� For the latest weather news from Paramus, New Jersey, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I think the FedExCup has become a really big part of the PGA TOUR and it’s going to continue to just get bigger. It’s something that I really want to win. BY THE NUMBERS 2,000 – FedExCup points awarded to the winner of each Playoffs event. That’s four times more than the standard regular-season event. 22 – First-time participants in the FedExCup Playoffs this season. Tommy Fleetwood is the highest-ranked first-timer at No. 23 in FedExCup points. 8 – Rookies who made the FedExCup Playoffs this season – Aaron Wise, Austin Cook, Keith Mitchell, Satoshi Kodaira, Peter Uihlein, Brandon Harkins, Tyler Duncan and Sam Ryder. 529 – The projected number of FedExCup points needed to advance to next week’s Dell Technologies Championship. Currently, 93 players are above that total, with the top 100 in points advancing to TPC Boston. Click here for this week’s Scenarios. SCATTERSHOTS The average age of the FedExCup field is significantly younger than when the Playoffs format first started in 2007. That year, the average age of the participants was 34.67. This year, the average age is 32.22, with 47 of the 125 qualifiers in their 20s (61 are in their 30s; 17 are in their 40s). Ten players have qualified for the Playoffs in each of the first 12 seasons: Justin Rose, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Brandt Snedeker, Charles Howell III, Zach Johnson, Ryan Moore, Matt Kuchar, Adam Scott and Charley Hoffman. Rose is the highest-ranked player among the 10, currently residing at No. 4 in FedExCup points. Dustin Johnson has been the FedExCup points leader for the last 10 weeks. Since the start of the 2016-17 season, he has led for a total of 28 weeks, most of any player. Justin Thomas ranks second with 23 weeks at the top – including, of course, the final week of last season when he won the FedExCup. Justin Rose is the only player on the PGA TOUR who has made more than 80 percent of his attempted putts from 4-8 feet (109 of 136 for 80.15 percent). This season, Rose ranks sixth in Strokes Gained: Putting after ranking 123rd in that category last season. Bubba Watson has played 38 career rounds in THE NORTHERN TRUST, and 33 of those rounds have been at par or better. All 12 of his rounds at Ridgewood Country Club have been at par or better. Watson, who has won three times this season, is looking for his first tournament win in the FedExCup Playoffs. WHERE TO PLAY For those visiting the area, must-play courses include Pelham Bay GC (Bronx, N.Y.), The Golf Club at Mansion Ridge (Monroe, N.Y.) and Galloping Hill GC (Kenilworth, N.J.). Book your reservations via www.teeoff.com. 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