The Northern Trust Recap: DJ Dominates

Just two weeks after Brooks Koepka took a jab at Dustin Johnson – or a haymaker, depending on your viewpoint – Johnson put on one of the most dominating performances golf has seen in years, one that has once again perched him atop the world rankings. Koepka? He wasn't even there, having cratered out of the playoffs altogether with an injury.

There's no way to officially connect those dots, but it nonetheless is a juicy little golf coincidence. Or karma.

Johnson obliterated TPC Boston and everyone standing in his path, shooting 30-under-par and winning the Northern Trust by 11 strokes. He's back to No. 1 in the world, and this will be his 93rd week there, moving him within four of Nick Faldo for fourth all-time. Johnson also lept into first place in the FedExCup Standings, putting himself in prime position to achieve one of the few crown jewels that has eluded him during his Hall of Fame career: FedExCup champion.

When you win by 11 strokes, there are a lot of mind-boggling stats you can throw out there. Here is just one: Johnson gained more than 18 strokes on the field tee-to-green on the week. EIGHTEEN.

With basically two days of garbage time on TV, it got me thinking about Johnson's career. Specifically, in relation to Koepka's career.

Of course, Johnson's only void – and, yes, it's as wide as the Grand Canyon – is his major win total. One. It's the loneliest number. Koepka has four. In every other metric, other than the most important one, Johnson has outperformed his former BFF/workout partner/who knows what they were.

DJ's second win this season gave him 22 for his PGA Tour career. Koepka has seven. This was Johnson's fifth playoff win – that's tied with Rory McIlroy for the most ever. He has six WGC wins – that's second all-time behind only Tiger Woods. Koepka has no playoff wins and one WGC, and he has been No. 1 for about half as long as DJ has, at 47 weeks.

Johnson also has five runners-up in majors, which is nothing to sneeze at (but maybe something to cry about). Koepka has two. There was also that time DJ got kinda/sorta hosed at Whistling Straits.

So, if both careers ended today, who yuh got?

I'm sure most people would pick Koepka, and I get it. But I think it's a close call. Four majors are a lot, for sure. But it almost seems as if Koepka has had only four good weeks in his entire career (I'm exaggerating). And the Northern Trust field that DJ destroyed was akin to a major field. 

If Koepka is your call, what would it take for you to move Johnson ahead – a second major? A third? Four? How about 30 career wins?

Oh, if you are waffling and need one more stat to consider: Johnson has more than $66 million in career earnings, Koepka a mere $31 million.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

The Top 70

Last year, the first time with the three-event playoff schedule, four golfers played their way inside the top-70 at the Northern Trust. This year, the number jumped to six. Surging Russell Henley made the biggest jump from 101st in the standings (Harold Varner did it from the 102nd position last year). Also advancing: Louis Oosthuizen (started 99th), Jason Kokrak (90th), Robby Shelton (81st), Alex Noren (78th) and Harry Higgs (72nd). If at the beginning of the season you had Shelton and Higgs reaching the BMW on your bingo card, take a big bow. These six players saw their seasons end: Phil Mickelson, who will miss the BMW for the first time in the 14 years of the playoffs, Denny McCarthy, Sung Kang, Henrik Norlander, Xinjun Zhang and Doc Redman. Other guys whose seasons are over: Koepka, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler (who had never missed the BMW), Tommy Fleetwood, Jordan Spieth, Ian Poulter, Chez Reavie, Shane Lowry and Brandt Snedeker.

A Look at The Rest

Brooks Koepka
Koepka withdrew before the tournament started and his season is over. He was in the announced field and even got a tee time. The fact that it was the first time of the morning – 7:20 – either meant that officials knew he was considering pulling out or it was an incredible diss for someone of Koepka's stature. When was the last time a top-10 player and multiple-major winner had been sent out at the very first time? Regardless, this knee injury has now been hampering Koepka for more than a year and it obviously still isn't right. We'll probably see him next at the U.S. Open in four weeks. But who knows? 
 
Tiger Woods
There was always a concern if Woods had to play four times in five weeks. Well, there's a good chance that won't happen – but not for the reason he would've liked. Instead of playing so well at Boston that he could've considered taking this week off and still qualify for the Tour Championship, he didn't play well at all and now is in real danger of not qualifying for East Lake. Yes, he shot 5-under on Sunday to perhaps offer some momentum, but he fell from 49th to 57th in the point standings. He'll in all likelihood need a top-10 at the BMW to get to Atlanta.

Scottie Scheffler
Barring the unforeseen in the final two weeks of the season, Scheffler should win the Rookie of the Year award – and Viktor Hovland will not. That would've been a pretty bold prediction at the beginning of the season. Hovland has been darn good, and he would be in the Tour Championship if it started right now. But Scheffler will certainly be in it, after a 59 on Friday fueled his fifth top-5 cash of the season.  He's up to No. 37 in the world, six spots behind Hovland. … As for shooting a 59, Scheffler is now the 11th guy to do it. Don't mean to minimize it – okay, probably do mean to minimize it – but 58 is the number we should get excited about. At least until someone shoots a 57, which is coming.

Harris English and Daniel Berger
English's runner-up finish was his sixth top-10 and whopping 13th top-25. He's already assured of making the Tour Championship. Berger has a win, a runner-up and now two third-place finishes – just since the restart. He's up to 13th in the world and will also be in Atlanta. Why are these two guys grouped together? Neither of them will play in the Masters. Amazing.

Kevin Kisner
After missing the cut at the Travelers less than two months ago, Kisner was 78th in points and 91st in SG: Putting. There was a direct connection there. Since then, Kisner has three top-5s, two more top-25s, has zoomed to 23rd in points (pretty much a lock for Atlanta) and is now ranked 15th in putting.

Cameron Davis
You could see the demonstrative frustration on Saturday as the 25-year-old Aussie turned a 64-65 start into a 72-73 weekend that sent him spiraling down the leaderboard to T29 and ending his season. On Friday, Davis was not only in position for Olympia Fields, but East Lake. He seems close to taking the next step in his career.

Cameron Smith
Since winning the Sony Open in early January, Smith did not have so much as a top-20. But he tied for 18th at Boston, and, somewhat surprisingly, is in position to play in the Tour Championship. He's 26th in the point standings right now.

Jordan Spieth
Keep moving, everybody. Nothing to see here. Spieth's season is over, though he did edge out Sam Ryder for 107th in the standings.

Gary Woodland
Woodland missed only his third cut of the season, and it came at a bad time, dropping him from 33rd to 39th in the point standings. He's ranked 22nd in the world but will have to battle to get into the Tour Championship.

Phil Mickelson
Mickelson was inside the top-70 when the week began and at a course that should've been a perfect fit for his attack-mode style of play. But he flamed out and now heads to his Champions Tour debut this week. It's really a no-win situation for Mickelson. He's be supposed to win, so if he does, not a big deal. If he doesn't, then the natural question will be: If he can't win on the senior tour, what's he doing on the big tour? For the record, Mickelson is the huge betting favorite at 2-1 on golfodds.com. Steve Stricker is next at 8-1.

Tony Finau
Finau missed the cut to drop from 23rd to 29th in points. He has made the Tour Championship three years running.

Camilo Villegas
Finally, a shout-out to Villegas. Playing less than a month after the heart-wrenching passing of his 22-month-old daughter to cancer, the 38-year-old Colombian returned to golf at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour. Making the cut would have been a remarkable achievement; instead, he tied for 58th in his first tournament in nine weeks. The one-time world No. 7 is now ranked around 1,000th.