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JAYALGER’S WEEKLY BEAR TRAP
“You don’t know what pressure is until you play for five bucks with only two dollars in your pocket” - Lee Trevino
PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR THE NORTHERN TRUST 2019
The Course - Liberty National Golf ClubIt’s time for the FedEx playoffs where the top 125 ranked golfers on the FedEx points list get to compete for a $70 million prize pool with the winner getting a nice payday of $15 million. The first leg of the playoffs is at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, NJ. This parkland-style course has a superb view of the New York City skyline with a patriotic Lady Liberty in view. LNGC will play as a par-71, 7,353-yard course with four par 3s and two par 5s.
Hole breakdown is as follows:
| Par 3 | 4 |
| Par 4 <400 | 3 |
| Par 4 400-450 | 3 |
| Par 4 450-500 | 5 |
| Par 4 >500 | 0 |
| Par 5 | 3 |
| Total | 18 |
Course Data Barclays 2013
Course Data by Par Barclays 2013
Course Stats
- Par 71
- 7,353 yards
- Architect(s)
- Bob Cupp & Tom Kite, 2006
- Turf
- Tees, Fairways - Bentgrass
- Greens - Bentgrass, avg size 4,500 sq ft,
- Smaller than average
- Sand bunkers - 90
- Water Hazards - 10
- Difficulty
- 2013, 22nd of 43 courses played (+0.151 RTP)
- 2009, 8th of 51 courses played (+1.282 RTP)
Brief Tournament Information
- Full field - 122 golfers
- Field Strength - Very strong. Top 125 FedEx Cup points except Sam Burns (injury), Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson
- Standard cut of 70 plus ties
- 2013 - E
- Winners (since 2014)
- 2018, Ridgewood CC, Bryson DeChambeau, -18
- 2017, Glen Oaks Club, Dustin Johnson, -13
- 2016, Bethpage Black, Patrick Reed, -9
- 2015, Plainfield CC, Jason Day, -19
- 2014, Ridgewood CC, Hunter Mahan, -14
- 2013, Liberty National GC, Adam Scott, -11
- Additional Notes
- Course record - 62, Kevin Chappell (2013)
The Stats to Consider
- Limited data to 4 rounds in 2013. Therefore, it is difficult to tell if correlations are truly relevant.
- The longer par 4s (450-500) are the most difficult. Scoring on the par 4s (or at least avoiding bogeys) will be advantageous against the field.
- Holes are only in same direction twice - holes 8 & 9 and holes 15-16; course routing will keep golfers guessing where the wind is coming from as this is a coastal course and open to winds (usually worse in the afternoon).
- With smallish greens, long iron approach shots will need to be on target.
Quotes about the course
- ADAM SCOTT (2013) - “The greens are not very big, so if you're hitting the green, I think you're going to see a lot of birdies because they are not going to be long putts.”
- JASON DUFNER (2013) - “I think the green complexes and the approaches are very, very challenging. I think at times you can hit good shots and end up 40, 50, 60 feet away, or sometimes in a bunker off the green.”
- PHIL MICKELSON (2013) - “I love this golf course. I think it's very well done, and without the rough, it plays‑‑ I would equate it to like Augusta National.”
THE CHARTS
2018-19 Season
2018-19 Season
The Picks
Anyway, I hope that this helps you in your own process to select your golfers for this week. Please leave me any questions, comments, suggestions or any rants and touts you would like to discuss either here on Vicehood.com, in our Slack, on twitter @algertorr, or on DK/FD/FDR jayalger. Good luck this week!
