2020 Northern Trust Sleeper Picks

ByChris Duffing
northern trust sleepers

After a week off for most (many of the top golfers in the world skipped the Wyndham), the 2020 Fedex Cup playoffs begin in Norton, Massachusetts with The Northern Trust at TPC Boston. Justin Thomas takes his slim lead into the weekend with 18 golfers within striking distance chasing this week’s 1500 points. Collin Morikawa, Webb Simpson and Bryson DeChambeau are hot on JT’s heels and all looking to make a statement.

I suggest you make your 2020 Northern Trust longshot bets at Intertops – they continue to have the best odds of any sportsbook!

Results Recap

Unfortunately, I did not get to watch the Wyndham Championship this weekend as I was on vacation out golfing the breathtaking Cabot Links course in Cape Breton, which was certainly long overdue!

I did, however, receive some updates and noticed that Si Woo Kim – my top sleeper pick – had a healthy lead after the 3rd round going into Sunday.  Unfortunately, he had a very disappointing final round shooting EVEN and still finishing 3rd after shooing -5/-5/-8 the previous three days.  I thought I had this one “in the bag”…but again, the winner eluded me.  Harris English also put out another decent performance and I think I will lean on him as a nice longshot this week in hopes that he continues his hot play.

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Here are last week’s sleeper picks results (the cut line was -3):

  • Si Woo Kim – T-3rd (-18)
  • Harris English – T-23rd (-12)
  • Lanto Griffin – Withdrew before tee-off
  • Ryan Moore – Missed cut (-2)
  • Rory Sabbatini – Missed cut (+1)
  • Brice Garnett – Missed cut (+1)
  • Jim Furyk – Missed cut (-1)

Reasoning Behind This Week’s Sleepers

This week, I will base my sleeper picks mostly on past performances at the TPC Boston course as well as hot recent play since the Covid-19 layoff.

Here are some key factors to consider for the 2020 Northern Trust:

  1. Approach shots will be long (175 yds +) for half of the holes this week – long hitters should have a strong advantage.

  2. Fairways are easy to hit with landing areas being generous – once again favoring big hitters.

  3. Accuracy hitting the green will be a factor as the greens only have tiny areas that will allow for 1 or 2 putts.

  4. The forecast for this weekend is warm and calm and mostly clear – this will lead to some very low scores and possible records being broken.

Looking for more top picks? Check out our 2020 Northern Trust Betting Picks page for course details and info about the favorites to win.

MY FAVORITE SLEEPER PICK FOR THE 2020 NORTHERN TRUST

Harris English (80 to 1)

harris english golfer

Harris English has been the most consistent golfer this season. Let’s go over his results so far in the 2019/20 season:

3rd, 6th, 33rd, 4th, 5th, MC, 48th, 71st, 16th, 17th, 9th…Covid Break…MC, 17th, 13th, 18th, 19th, and 23rd.

As you can see, he has made 15/17 cuts and has finished in the top 25 twelve times!  He has also had five top 10 finishes.  Not only has his entire season been excellent and consistent, his weekend rounds have been very consistent – he only has 4 over-par rounds since the break.  English finished 12th here at TPC Boston in 2015, so he definitely has the juice to get it done at 80-1.  I am expecting BIG THINGS here.

ANOTHER GREAT LONGSHOT TO WAGER ON

Paul Casey (40 to 1)

paul casey golfer

Casey was right up there last week at the Wyndham Championship going into the weekend, but a poor showing on Saturday derailed his hopes.  He still managed to finish a respectable 31st (-9).  Maybe he was just taking a breather after almost winning the PGA Championship, coming in 2nd.  Casey is a world class golfer and although he hasn’t had the greatest 2019-20 season, he does deserve to be in the mix for the Fedex Cup title…but he will need a special finish this week or next to get up into the top 30 and qualify for the finals.  He has shown good things on this course including finishes of 4th and 2nd. I think he will be part of it all come The Tour Championship in 2 weeks.

SUPER SLEEPER PICK

Zach Johnson (150 to 1)

zach johnson golfer

 I am not sure why Zach Johnson is 150 to 1 this week.  He is coming off a 7th place finish last week at the Wyndham and has a couple additional nice finishes since the pandemic break with an 11th at the Travelers and a 31st at the WorkDay.  He has shown flashes of his old self recently, which means he should be a contender at TPC Boston, where he has made 11 of 13 cuts including several top 25 finishes.  The real question is – can he win?  I think anyone “can” win here and he should be in the top 25 golfers in terms of odds.  So I will take a risk on him scoring a big win for my wallet.

OTHER 2020 NORTHERN TRUST LONGSHOT BETS

Tiger Woods (40 to 1) – Is it time for the Tiger to pounce?  Tiger hasn’t played bad this year despite his infrequent play and he has solid history here at TPC.  Woods has a win, two 2nd place finishes and a 3rd.  His high ball flight should work very well here and with a good forecast he should be in contention.  Why not take a chance on Tiger making a statement to end the 2020 season now that it really means something?

Gary Woodland (50 to 1) – Gary Woodland has made all 7 of the cuts here at this course and has finished no worse than 41st, including three top 20 finishes.  He always seems to be within striking distance come the weekend, and despite faltering the last few weeks, he was red hot for most of the year.  He took last week off and hopefully that is enough to put him in contention for 1500 Fedex Cup points this weekend.

Jordan Spieth (80 to 1) – So what happened to Jordan?  He was supposed to be the next Tiger and the last couple years have removed him from that equation…  Did he age ungracefully?  Did he just win enough?  Quietly, he hasn’t been terrible since returning from the layoff this summer…posting a 10th out of the gate and a 13th at The Memorial.  This shows there still is potential there, but I guess the 80-1 odds are justified based on the field this weekend.  Taking a real dice roll here that Jordan “finds something” at TPC where he has 2 top 10 finishes including a recent 2nd place finish in 2017.  He has some low scores on this course with his best being a -17.  So there IS a chance.

Phil Mickelson (100 to 1) – Good old 50-year old Phil has played respectably over the past several weeks looking like he would pull another win off at the WGC-Fedex St. Jude coming in 2nd and leading the Travelers going into the weekend.  But, Phil’s problem lately is always having a bad round somewhere in the 4-day tourneys and that has cost him.  Phil seems to thrive under pressure and he needs a good showing here to move on to the next couple weeks.  He has four top 10 finishes on this course, including a win – so I expect some good play from him and at least some entertainment.  Hard to believe his sleeper 100-1 odds.

Bottom Line

Golf is about to get really good.  Even though the season is ending, the top 125 golfers will be dueling over the next 3 weeks to crown a Fedex Cup champ….AND…then we immediately start the new season with a Major – the US Open – just a month away.  And, wait, that’s not all – a fall version of The Masters is coming in November.  It should be quite the end of the year in the world of golf and the world of sports.  I think many will remember this year and this Fedex Cup Championship as well as the unique placement of the next 2 majors.  With all the young talent rising to the top right now, this could be a big turn in the history of golf – I am eagerly looking forward to it all!  The 2020 Northern Trust should be great…I am just hoping I can close out a nice sleeper pick victory and take some money to the bank…

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