The race for the FedEx Cup title and the lucrative $15 million prize that goes along with it begins at the 2021 Northern Trust from Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey.

This is the first of three legs, with the top-125 players on the regular season points list qualifying.

After this tournament, only the top 70 will continue forward at the BMW Championship.

Following that event, just the top 30 will compete to win the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup crown.

Dustin Johnson comes into the postseason as the defending champion of the prestigious award.

Collin Morikawa, who won the Open Championship in July, leads the points list coming into The Northern Trust, which is being held at Liberty National for the second time in three years (2020 was at TPC Boston).

Jon Rahm, who wasn’t able to compete at the Olympics after another positive COVID-19 test, is the heavy favourite to claim the trophy come Sunday.

There are some big names that failed to crack the top-125, including Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari.

There are four Canadians advancing to the playoffs, each considered a long shot to win against a stacked field.

Corey Conners, who is competing in the postseason for the third straight year, has the shortest odds at +6600.

Adam Hadwin, who has two straight top-10’s in stroke play events, is facing an uphill climb to win his second PGA Tour title at +12500.

Mackenzie Hughes and Roger Sloan both are even more unlikely to get into the winner’s circle, according to oddsmakers at +15000.

The latter had his best finish on the PGA Tour last week at the Wyndham Championship, where he lost a six-man playoff, which was won by Kevin Kisner.

Here's our first look at the field for the 2021 Northern Trust.
 

Betting Odds To Win 2021 Northern Trust – Top 15
 

Jon Rahm                      +900

Jordan Spieth               +1600

Dustin Johnson            +1800

Collin Morikawa           +1800

Xander Schauffele       +2000

Brooks Koepka             +2200

Bryson DeChambeau   +2200

Rory McIlroy                +2200

Justin Thomas              +2500

Daniel Berger               +2800

Abraham Ancer            +2800

Patrick Cantlay             +2800

Hideki Matsuyama      +3000

Scottie Scheffler           +3000

Viktor Hovland             +3300


Daniel Berger on cusp of victory
 

A golfer that has flown under the radar recently is Daniel Berger, but he’s quietly been playing some strong golf.

Back in February, he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am for his second title in as many years, and he’s made 11 of 12 cuts since.

In his last five outings, Berger has placed inside the top 8 on three occasions.

They were at big-time events, with a T-5th at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, T-7th at the US Open and T-8th at the Open Championship.

In his last 12 rounds, he’s first in strokes gained: approach, fourth in ball striking and 10th in total strokes gained.

On the season, the four-time champion is sixth in SG: approaching the green and eighth in greens in regulation.

He’s not one of the bigger names so his odds are longer than they probably should be, as +2800 to win outright offers a lot of value.
 

Past Five Winners at Northern Trust

2020 Dustin Johnson            -30   (11 shot win)

2019 Patrick Reed                 -16   (1 shot win)*

2018 Bryson DeChambeau   -18 (4 shot win)

2017 Dustin Johnson             -13 (playoff over Jordan Spieth)

2016 Patrick Reed                 -9    (1 shot win)

*Tournament played at Liberty National

 

Fore Your Information
 

Horse For This Course

Adam Scott         +4000

Adam Scott very nearly won his 15th PGA Tour event last Sunday at the Wyndham Championship, where he lost in a six-man playoff.

On the first extra hole, he failed to convert a four-foot birdie putt that would’ve sealed the title.

He’s had a lot of success at this track, having tasted victory at Liberty National in 2013. Then in 2019, he finished fifth.

Combined, he gained over 22 shots on the field in those two events, and made up 20 strokes tee-to-green against his competitors.

In his last 21 starts, Scott has been solid, if not spectacular, as he’s missed just one cut in that time frame.

Eleven of his last 16 rounds Scott has shot s in the 60s.

He’s up against a much deeper field than last week in Greensboro, North Carolina, but his +4000 odds are still very intriguing.

 

Trending Up

 Adam Hadwin    +12500

Like last week, where we were all over fellow Canadian Roger Sloan for the top 5/10/20 markets (Sloan was runner-up), Adam Hadwin could very well be perfect to have a similar finish.

In his last two strokes play events, Hadwin has put together a T-10th at the Wyndham Championship (where he was just two shots out of a playoff), and a T-6th at the 3M Open.

At that 3M Open, he held a piece of the lead after 36 holes.

In those eight rounds, Hadwin was seventh in total strokes gained, and was inside the top-35 in seven key strokes gained categories.

Six of those eight rounds were 68 or better.

This season, the Abbotsford, B.C., native is 16th in strokes gained: putting, which should give him plenty of chances at birdies.

Considering Hadwin has the lone PGA Tour title to his credit (2017 Valspar Championship), asking him to outlast an entire field of elite golfers is probably too tall a task.

Like Sloan at last week’s Wyndham Championship, Hadwin will have great odds in the top 5/10/20 markets considering his odds are so high to win outright.