Golf this week: More drama in Boston, more pressure in Ohio
NORTON, Mass. (AP) Adam Scott was a surprise arrival to the Dell Technologies Championship for the second event in the FedEx Cup playoffs. He was planning to skip the opening two playoff events, and thus end his season, because his wife was expecting their second child in Australia.
Their son was born a little earlier than expected, and Scott was on his way to the scene of his first PGA Tour victory.
So much has changed since he won the inaugural event at the TPC Boston as a sponsor's exemption in 2003.
It started as the Deutsche Bank Championship and gave all proceeds to the Tiger Woods Foundation. It became a FedEx Cup playoff event in 2007. It received a new title sponsor this year. And it has been five years since Woods has played. He finished third and surpassed $100 million in career earnings.
What hasn't changed is that the tournament still starts Friday and ends on Labor Day, and it still delivers big moments .
This is where Vijay Singh outlasted Woods and Scott in the final group to reach No. 1 in the world for the first time in 2004. It produced a pair of memorable 62s in the final round - Charley Hoffman in 2010 when he won, Jordan Spieth in 2013 that earned him a pick in the Presidents Cup at age 20.
Rory McIlroy is the defending champion and twice a winner on the TPC Boston in the last five years.
The LPGA Tour heads west to the Cambia Portland Classic, while a number of PGA Tour players who were not in the FedEx Cup playoffs have gone to Ohio to try to save their jobs in the start of the Web.com Tour Finals.
DELL TECHNOLOGIES CHAMPIONSHIP
The first FedEx Cup playoff event either raised the bar or whet the appetite for the rest of the PGA Tour's postseason.
Jordan Spieth did what he always seems to do by holing an 18-foot par putt on the 17th hole. And then Dustin Johnson did what Spieth always seems to do by making an 18-foot par putt on the 18th hole. And then Johnson did what Spieth can't - blast a 341-yard drive that set up a wedge to 4 feet for birdie to win in a playoff.
It was a wonderful duel between two of the biggest stars in golf.
Next up is the Dell Technologies Championship, where McIlroy last year rallied from six shots behind with a 65 to beat Paul Casey.
The top 100 players remaining were eligible - four players are absent due to injury - and the top 70 advanced to the third playoff event in two weeks outside Chicago. Two players just outside the top 70 are worth noting. One is Scott, who is at No. 73 and at least has a chance to extend his season. The other is Bubba Watson at No. 72, who was outside the top 100 last week and now has a chance to join Phil Mickelson and Charley Hoffman as the only players to advance beyond the second event all 11 years of the FedEx Cup.
At the top of the standings are Johnson and Spieth, and no one would mind seeing another duel like last week.
Television: Friday, 2:30-6:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 3-6:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (NBC); Monday, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 1:30-6 p.m. (NBC).
CAMBIA PORTLAND CLASSIC
Right when the LPGA Tour has an intriguing battle on its hands, it gets put on hold.
LPGA rookie Sung Hyun Park won last week in Canada, which put her in range of catching So Yeon Ryu in the points race to win LPGA player of the year. Park already has rookie of the year sewn up. Ryu is playing at Columbia Edgewater this week. Park is not.
Brooke Henderson is the two-time defending champion and will have a chance to become the first player to win three in a row at Portland. Annika Sorenstam had a chance at the hat trick in 2004 and finished two shots behind when the tournament was only 54 holes.
Television: Thursday, 7-10 p.m. (Golf Channel); Friday-Saturday, 6:30-8:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 5-7 p.m. (Golf Channel).
NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Hunter Mahan never played on the Web.com Tour when he came out of Oklahoma State in 2003. He never expected to play one at this stage in his career - six victories, seven U.S. teams , nearly $30 million in earnings. But for Mahan, it's the only game in town.
And he's not alone.
This is the start of the Web.com Tour Finals, the new version of Q-school. Instead of six rounds, players have four tournaments to finish among the top 25 on a money list from these tournaments to get their PGA Tour cards back.
Ben Crane is also playing the Web.com Tour Finals, along with 17 other past PGA Tour winners, a list that includes Stuart Appleby, Matt Jones and Ken Duke.
One high finish is usually all it takes to secure enough money for a PGA Tour card.
Television: Thursday, 3-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Friday, noon-2 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 3-5 p.m. (Golf Channel).
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This story has been corrected to show that the TPC Boston was where Adam Scott had his first PGA Tour victory, not his first event.
