Deutsche Bank Championship

September 3 - 6, 2010
TPC Boston
Norton, MA
Par 71 / 7,214 yards
Purse: $7.5 million with $1.35 million going to the winner
Defending Champion: Steve Stricker
List of Champions & Scores

Results & Scores 2009 Deutsche Bank Championship

Box Score of 2009 Deutsche Bank Championship

Tournament facts:

Tournament information:

As the tournament is held over Labor Day weekend, it has the distinction as being the only tournament on the PGA Tour to conclude on a Monday.

Though the event lacks history, its short stint on the PGA Tour has produced some monumental happenings. Most notably: the rivalry between Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods. In 2004, Tiger and Vijay battled down to the final hole. Ultimately, Singh's 69 was enough to give him the tournament title and the World's Number One ranking, dethroning Woods after five years of dominance.

In 2006, the rivalry was renewed, and this time, Woods was not to be denied. Singh shot a course record 61 in the third round going into the final round with a three shot lead over Woods. Despite shooting a 68 he was still a loser as Woods shot 63 to overcome the three-shot deficit and win the title.

The 2007 event is also memorable with Phil Mickelson holding off the challenge of Tiger Woods, Arron Oberholser and Brett Wetterich.

In 2008 Vijay Singh shot a final round 63 and cruised to a five shot victory which paved the way for him to win the FedEx Cup.

Course information:

As players matriculate back to Boston each year for the Deutsche Bank Championship, they were met with changes made by Gil Hanse and Brad Faxon. This year they will see changes to the green area and mounding around the 2nd hole. In 2008 players saw changes to the 4th, 7th and 16th holes. The changes weren't as big, mostly cosmetic like mounds being added to the right side of nine. Also changes were made to the chipping areas around No. 1 and No. 10 greens. Bunkers also were altered in shape at the fourth and 11th holes. At the latter, a 230-yard par-3, and island of turf was installed in the middle of the large front-right bunker.

The changes made for the 2007 event was well received by the players, most of them liked making the 4th hole a possible drivable par 4. It's a step in the right direction because in previous years they have been very luke warm on the Arnold Palmer design course.

Still the course is for the taking, last year the course played to a 69.948 average and was 37th toughest course on the PGA Tour. In 2008 it played to a 69.869 average and was 42nd toughest course on the PGA Tour.

The Buzz:

There is no way of predicting the course of the storm or timing. It's suppose to hit on Friday afternoon and if the storm takes a easterly route it will bring limited winds and rain. It's also a fast moving storm so the effects won't be long. The best scenario would be if it's slow in tracking up the Atlantic, takes an easterly path and just brushes the course late Friday, giving the course time to recover for Saturday. But one scenario could be for it to move quickly up the coast and have a more westerly track in which the brute of the storm hits TPC Boston around noon on Friday. If that happens not only trees but TV towers, spectator stands and tents could fly around and put a serious dent into things. Along with the loss of trees, flooding could cause delays that would put the tournament in jeopardy.

Hopefully mother nature will be kind on the event.

Now the big talk will be wild card picks for the Ryder Cup, frankly there is not clear cut favorites. I foresee Tiger Woods getting a spot and Zach Johnson but after that it's a wide open race with Sean O'Hair and Stewart Cink the early favorites. Some other choices could be Nick Watney, Bo Van Pelt and Ryan Palmer but let me put out by wild card pick, Rickie Fowler. He has had five top-ten finishes but has not played well since the British Open. Still Fowler was great in last years Walker Cup and he is the future so give him some reps.

Talking about Tiger he has been a different players at the PGA Championship and Barclays. He has shown some signs of what he use to be and seems to care about getting back to the level that he was at last year. This may sound weird but I would not be surprise to see him win either this week or next.

But of course he and everyone else will have to get lucky to avoid Hurricane Earl.

Here are some things to look for this week:

Photo: © Dick Durrance II/Wire Images The 18th hole of the TPC Boston, is a short par 5 with a hazard in front of the green that will create a lot of excitment.

Now in past years it was obvious that this course was a long hitters haven. In 2008 it was Vijay Singh while in 2007 it was Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods in 2006, all very long hitters Still don't rule out the short hitters, just look at last year's winner Steve Stricker. But he isn't the only one, the 2005 champion Olin Browne is one of the shorter hitters on tour and 2003 runner-up Rocco Mediate is also short. In the same breath it's safe to say that accuracy doesn't pay on this course. In it's seven years of being played, of the 92 players that have finished in the top-ten in driving accuracy, only 14 have been in the top-ten.

• Key stat for the winner:
  Looking at the stats from it's seven year history, look for those with sharp iron games to produce the best score. Look for a smart player that doesn't attack the holes but plays placement golf to win. Of the seven winners, two led the greens hit category while the other four winners were 2nd, 4th, 5th & 8th ranked. Now last years winner Steve Stricker is the only one out of the top-ten, he was T25th last year.
• Since the event doesn't start until Friday, players will have an extra day to get use to the course. Look for those that are starting to practice on Tuesday to rule the roost.
• The greens are 6,000 square feet, which is about average on the PGA Tour. They have a lot of undulation in them and that could be one of the reasons why winners haven't dominating the putting stats.
• There are only three par 5s on the course, still in looking at the winners Adam Scott in 2003 was 13 under par, Singh in 2004 was 9 under par, Browne in 2005 was 5 under, Woods in 2006 was 9 under, Phil Mickelson in 2007 was 10 under in 2008 Vijay was 12 under while last year Steve Stricker was 10 under so being low on the long holes has plenty of benefits.
• Interesting to note that Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods won the Deutsche Bank the month after taking the PGA Championship. It's also interesting to note that Deutsche Bank winners Woods, Singh and Adam Scott have also been runner-up here. As for this year's PGA Champion Martin Kaymer he isn't playing this year.
• In conclusion, look for those that have been playing well the last couple of weeks to do well this week. Of course we know that Matt Kuchar won last week with Martin Laird finishing 2nd. But there isn't any real cut "hot players" coming into play this week. Now usually the defending champion doesn't play good, but look at Steve Stricker to do well this week, he was T3rd at the Barclays. I also have a feeling that this could be Tiger's week to shine for all four days.
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