Players reflect as Northern Trust leaves the Northeast
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Players reflect as Northern Trust leaves the Northeast

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JERSEY CITY, N.J.—The Northern Trust wants to hang on to the Northeast region for a little while longer as Hurricane Henri postponed the final round from Sunday to Monday. Monday’s fourth round will be the final one at The Northern Trust, as the FedEx St. Jude Invitational will slide in to the first playoff event.

Next season, the PGA Tour will not have an event in the New York or Boston areas, two markets that have been late summer staples for the Tour. Even in just the past few years, we saw Dustin Johnson shoot 30 under at TPC Boston to win by 11, and a US rout in the President’s Cup at Liberty National in 2017.

The New York crowd made up for lost time this week and were their usual vocal selves as the FedEx Cup playoffs returned to Liberty National. As the players battled for a trophy, they took the time to reflect on what the area means to the Tour.

The New York and Boston fans are known for being some of the rowdiest in the country, and Justin Thomas took notice over the years.

“They are all passionate, which is what I love. Obviously, they are both probably a little harsher than others, but they are passionate, and they like cheering for you,” Thomas said.

For Thomas, the only thing that could add to the experience was representing the red, white, and blue.

“The Presidents Cup here was great, I was able to feed off that energy, and since, you know, we were on our home land in the US, we had a lot of support that week and it was a lot of fun,” Thomas said.

Cameron Smith gave the New York crowd quite a show Saturday as he had a 12-footer on 18 to shoot 59 but a 60 moved him into a share of the lead entering the final round. Smith hasn’t loved the crowd all the time, calling them brutal, but he appreciated their support Saturday.

“They were right behind me, so that was cool. I thought my drive on 16 was pretty good. And that put me in a spot to maybe shoot that 59,” Smith said.

About the author

Peter Santo

Peter Santo is a golf writer and a graduate of Emerson College. He previously covered all sports for The Boston Globe, Associated Press, and The Washington Times.

When not writing about or playing golf, he can often be found listening to or creating country music.

He can be reached by email at petersanto1129@gmail.com

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