This article is part of our PGA Tour Stats Review series.
This week, the FedEx Cup Playoffs move to Boston for the Deutsche Bank Championship, where one man will win a golf tournament and 69 others will earn a spot two weeks from now at the BMW Championship outside Chicago.
History Lesson
The defending champion is Chris Kirk, who won when eventual FedEx Cup Champion Billy Horschel hit his second shot on the closing par-5 18th into the water. Kirk broke his hand this year and hasn't been the same since, and Horschel hasn't exactly lit it up on tour this season either, with most of his headlines being made from what he said about the USGA and Chambers Bay's greens at the U.S. Open. Neither are strong recommendations.
In 2013, Henrik Stenson beat Steve Stricker by two and in 2012 Rory McIlroy by one shot over Louis Oosthuizen. McIlroy returns this week after taking a week off to rest his ankle.
Our recommendation is Stenson, who finished second last week at The Barclays and would have won most weeks if it hadn't been for the insane play of Jason Day. He ranked third in greens in regulation and second in strokes gained-tee to green last week.
Who to Pick
Look, it's impossible to ignore what Jason Day did last week. Utterly dominating, especially on Sunday, making more than 148 feet worth of putts en route to his six-shot victory. For the week he was third in strokes gained-tee to green, first in strokes gained-putting and first in strokes gained-total. Crazy
This week, the FedEx Cup Playoffs move to Boston for the Deutsche Bank Championship, where one man will win a golf tournament and 69 others will earn a spot two weeks from now at the BMW Championship outside Chicago.
History Lesson
The defending champion is Chris Kirk, who won when eventual FedEx Cup Champion Billy Horschel hit his second shot on the closing par-5 18th into the water. Kirk broke his hand this year and hasn't been the same since, and Horschel hasn't exactly lit it up on tour this season either, with most of his headlines being made from what he said about the USGA and Chambers Bay's greens at the U.S. Open. Neither are strong recommendations.
In 2013, Henrik Stenson beat Steve Stricker by two and in 2012 Rory McIlroy by one shot over Louis Oosthuizen. McIlroy returns this week after taking a week off to rest his ankle.
Our recommendation is Stenson, who finished second last week at The Barclays and would have won most weeks if it hadn't been for the insane play of Jason Day. He ranked third in greens in regulation and second in strokes gained-tee to green last week.
Who to Pick
Look, it's impossible to ignore what Jason Day did last week. Utterly dominating, especially on Sunday, making more than 148 feet worth of putts en route to his six-shot victory. For the week he was third in strokes gained-tee to green, first in strokes gained-putting and first in strokes gained-total. Crazy good stuff.
You also have to look at who is on the bubble.
Our pick of those guys is Morgan Hoffmann, who is 72nd. He hasn't done anything flashy this season, but he finished T26 at Wyndham and was T39 last week at The Barclays. It's nothing crazy, but was 33rd in strokes gained-tee to green.
McIlroy makes his FedEx Cup Playoffs debut, and while he didn't garner the final headlines at Whistling Straits, his game was actually pretty solid. For the week he ranked fourth in strokes gained-tee to green, gaining nearly 13 strokes on the field in that department. His issue was on the greens, where his usually deadly putter was 67th in strokes gained, losing 2.5 shots to the field.
And then there's Jordan Spieth, who uncharacteristically missed a cut last week at Plainfield Country Club. He also uncharacteristically put a new set of irons in the bag at what would seem like a really odd time to do so. Not surprisingly,
