Northern Trust 2021 R1
August 19-22
Liberty National Golf Club, Jersey City, New Jersey
$9,500,000
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas both signed for an opening 8-under par 63 to share the lead at the Northern Trust, the first event in the Playoffs.

Rahm is playing for the first time since he took enforced time off due to Covid-19 and missed out on the Olympics but there was no sign of that in his bogey-free first round.

Northern Trust 2021 R1

Thomas, who suffered putting problems earlier in the year, found himself taking the advice of a teenager and is playing with his old putter this week.

“And I found myself defending myself to this 15-year-old. I was like, ‘Why am I not using this thing?' It's not like I'm making a lot of putts with what I have. If you're putting well, any of us can go out and putt with anything.”

Northern Trust 2021 R1

Not every putt was a winner but his nine birdies and one bogey carded him his lowest round since he signed for a 62 in Mexico at the Mayakoba Golf Classic last December.

Harold Varner III is in solo third place after signing for a 66. He is currently in 72nd place in the FedExCup standings with only the top 70 moving on to next week's tournament.

Northern Trust 2021 R1

Bryson DeChambeau had a very uneven round, firing nine birdies, parring the 4th and 10th holes and suffering from five bogeys and two double bogeys at the par-4s 9th and 12th for a round of 71 and a share of 52nd place.

He is the first player in ten years to shoot par or better with two pars or fewer.

Reigning FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson noticed a crack in his driver minutes before starting his round and headed to the first tee with his next-longest club, a 5-wood. Luckily he had a 3-wood in his car which was delivered to him in time to play the third hole.

“(It) threw me for a loop there because it was literally 10 minutes before I was teeing off when it happened,” he said.

“Driver fatigue will occur over time, of course, for these guys that are hitting so many shots,” said a TaylorMade spokesman. “We do regularly test all of our athletes' product prior to most tournaments unless a player requests us to provide a new gamer for him. On this occasion, Dustin noticed a fine crack prior to play. He was able to switch into a strong 3-wood that he is using today.”

Northern Trust 2021 R1

The wind at Liberty National was a particular worry as the 3-wood's higher trajectory is more affected by it but Johnson managed to play four birdies and three bogeys for a 71 and a T34 place at 1-under.

“It wasn't too bad,” he said. “I figured out a way to shoot a decent score.”

Patrick Reed withdrew citing an ankle injury for the second week running. He is currently 9th in the U.S. Team's Ryder Cup rankings and players have through the BMW Championship next week to make it to the top six and an automatic qualification. Team captain Steve Stricker will select and announce the remaining six members team after the season-ending Tour Championship.

Captain America will be hoping for a good result after resting his ankle to at least capture Stricker's attention and make it to Whistling Straits in September.

Northern Trust 2021 R1