The finish is not where it normally is on the PGA Tour, as the FedEx Cup playoffs begin Thursday at TPC-Boston, site of the Northern Trust.
The playoff run of three tournaments will continue next week at the BMW Championship and then next week at the Tour Championship, where the top 30 in FedEx points will aim for a $ 15 million payout at the season- any PGA Tour event.
Normally this brings a sigh of relief and a little rest to the top players of the game. Instead, the US Open takes place two weeks later as part of the revised scheme put in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The biggest difference is that usually after the Tour Championship, at least for me, I’m looking for a release, whether it’s a holiday or just putting the clubs in my garage for whatever,” said Justin Thomas, who runs the FedEx Cup playoffs go to the first event. “I need to have some fun. I just need to relax. That is not the case this year. That release will come Monday after the US Open this year. ”
When the US Open got tough, Thomas entered a practice round on Winged Foot, side of the tournament, September 17-20. He played alongside Tiger Woods at the box office that last hosted the tournament in 2006, when Geoff Ogilvy was the winner.
It has been the home of five previous US Open and one PGA Championship.
“It was really hard,” Thomas said of the 7,477-yard, par-70 course. I absolutely liked it. It’s one of my favorite, if not my favorite courses I’ve ever played. It’s just for you. Just cheated. Nothing is hidden. You stand on the tee and you are about 490 yards away and you have a really narrow fairway and a very heavy green. There are a lot of holes like that.
“That it’s probably the most US Open location I’ve seen. It controls all the boxes. It’s long. Narrow fairways. Going to be long rough and heavy green.”
It provides a busy stretch for Thomas and many of the top players. The winner of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational three weeks ago, Thomas is in the middle of a stretch of six tournaments in eight weeks covering the US Open.
Thomas said he would not try Winged Foot again for the US Open. He feels he has exaggerated it in preparation for the PGA Championship at Harding Park the week after winning the WGC event.
“To be completely honest, I was tired on Wednesday and Thursday because I had never seen the course before,” he said. I would normally never play on a Monday, especially after playing a tournament, only winning. I had to go out on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to play a practice round just because I have to learn the course and know it.
“I did not want to make that mistake again for the US Open and I was very happy to play with us here in the North to check it out just two rounds. That way if I go after it if I decide, it’s not completely off it. kick off. ”
Thomas, 27, has become second in the world after being tied for 37th at the PGA. He leads the FedEx Cup playoffs by 556 points over PGA winner Collin Morikawa, though the points in the first two playoff events are tripled, with the winner receiving 1,500.
The top 70 players in points follow the Northern Trust forward to the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields (Ill.) New Week, with the top 30 from there heading to Atlanta for the Tour Championship.
Thomas also said Tuesday that Jim ‘Bones” Mackay, Phil Mickelson’s longtime caddy who now works for NBC Sports, would give himself to the caddy through the playoffs.
Mackay replaces Jimmie Johnson, who fell ill last month in the third round of the Memorial Tournament. Mackay caddied for Thomas at both the WGC and PGA.
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