1. THE PLAYERS
We have less than two weeks remaining in the regular season for players to make moves and join the top 125 at The 2020 Northern Trust. At the moment, four past champions at TPC Boston sit inside the top 5 of the FedExCup standings, including two-time winner Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau. The FedExCup leader and current world No. 1, Justin Thomas, won his first playoffs victory at TPC Boston in 2017 on his way to winning the 2017 FedExCup.
Brendon Todd is a two-time winner this season and currently sits at No. 9 in the FedExCup standings. His arrival at The 2020 Northern Trust will mark his first playoffs start in five years. Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler are both sitting in the top 30 of the FedExCup standings and are set to make their first career starts in the playoffs.
In his social media about missing our tournament in Memphis, Tiger Woods tweeted, “Disappointed to miss @WGCFedEx but doing what I think is best to prepare me for the @PGAChampionship and upcoming FedExCup Playoffs.” While this isn’t an official commitment, the fact that he posted his intention to return to a course where he has had success in the past is a good sign. Pending the outcome of the PGA Championship, and if Tiger does in fact come to The Northern Trust, he could be vying for his PGA Tour record 83rd career win, eclipsing Sam Snead’s record of 82 PGA Tour wins, which was thought would never be broken.
We’re excited to welcome the top 125 PGA Tour players to TPC Boston, August 20–23. Filled with pressure-packed drama, the event will see only 70 players move on to the BMW Championship.
2. THE ATTENDEES
In addition to players, we will have a select number of staff and volunteers on-site who play essential roles in staging a successful tournament. We’ll have about 1,000 people on property during the day, which includes players, caddies, PGA Tour staff, volunteers, and vendors. Volunteers on each hole vary with more people on longer, par-5 holes and fewer on shorter, par-3 holes. Overall, the footprint compared to last year is significantly smaller.
All persons on-site will adhere to local and state government COVID-19 guidelines and mandates.
We are grateful for the opportunity to play The 2020 Northern Trust at TPC Boston, as this event only happens through the support of our sponsor, Northern Trust, the unwavering support of our volunteers, and the trust of state and local government and officials in our health and safety plan.
3. OFF THE COURSE
We’ve worked closely with TPC Boston and its staff to provide delicious and healthy food options with some New England flair for the players throughout the week that, most importantly, will be served in a safe and careful manner. It’s a little different than the spread they usually receive at our events, but everything is different in today’s world.
Early in tournament week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, before our event begins, we will connect our players to sponsors and partners virtually for Q&As. We decided that if we can’t bring the people to our players, we’ll bring our players to the people. More than 30 players will interact at different times each day with guests of the event, giving them unique access to some of the world’s best PGA Tour players.
Patrick Reed pumps his fist and celebrates his victory on the 18th green during the final round of The 2019 Northern Trust at Liberty National Golf Club. Photo courtesy Keyur Khamar/PGA Tour.
4. THE TROPHY
On the evening of Sunday, August 23, we’ll crown our champion of The 2020 Northern Trust during a small trophy ceremony on the 18th green. The champion will be presented with The Northern Trust trophy made by Tiffany & Co. and pose for solo photos.
After the trophy photos, the champion will attend a virtual champagne toast with a small group of tournament supporters. The title sponsor, whose name is embedded in the event, identifies a collection of people who have supported the event in meaningful ways. The champion will spend a few minutes chatting with the group and answering some questions before the group toasts the champion in celebration of his win. This is one of the new ways we are providing value to our sponsors and clients.
On the Monday following the tournament, we allow sponsors to play the course in Sunday tournament conditions with Sunday pin locations, including challenging rough and fast greens. It’s thrilling to see how well you can play on a course that PGA Tour players competed the day prior. We will have a steady stream of tee times throughout the day on Monday in accordance with the state’s rules on recreational play. We want to show our appreciation for our sponsors’ unwavering support of the tournament, especially through the continuously changing dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A scenic view of the second hole during sunset at TPC Boston, the venue for The 2020 Northern Trust. Photo courtesy Ryan Young/PGA Tour.
5. EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
One of the highlights this year was the opportunity to work with so many people across the Commonwealth of Boston to plan a huge event, safely, in this COVID-19 environment. Early in the process, leaders in the Boston sports community came together to establish a collective voice and work with the State of Massachusetts toward a safe and healthy return to sports.
From there we worked alongside state and local health and government officials, the PGA Tour, Northern Trust, players, volunteers, partners, and vendors to stage the tournament in a very different way. We had to come up with a plan that included a smaller number of on-course support than is normally needed to deliver a world-class tournament.
This took a massive network of friends, friends of friends, and beyond to all be focused on getting golf back on TV, so fans could feel a sense of normalcy in their lives again and so we could generate the high- level charitable impact we’ve delivered since the tournament’s inception. Prevailing over adversity is a pretty great feeling, but doing so alongside literally hundreds of people is something I’ll cherish for a long time.
