The Northern Trust was pushed to a Monday finish. So why not have a playoff to extend the action further?
Tony Finau and Cameron Smith each finished 72 holes at 20 under to extend the first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs beyond regulation and into the dinner hour at Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey.
But on the first playoff hole, after Finau teed of first, Smith hit out-of-bounds right, effectively ending the extra golf before everyone could walk off the tee box. Finau then hit a 5-iron onto the green, high-fived his caddie and cruised on in from there.
He started the week with but one PGA Tour victory. It came more than five years ago in the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. He has gone a overly discussed 1,975 days and 143 starts since then, amassing 11 top-3 finishes along the way.
NORTHERN TRUST: Winner’s bag | Leaderboard | Photos
But that streak is over. Finau is now 2-3 in playoffs and he vaults to the No. 1 spot in the FedEx Cup standings.
On Saturday afternoon, the PGA Tour moved the final round back to Monday. By 7 p.m. ET that night, nine inches of rain fell on Liberty National. On Monday, the tee times were pushed back three times before finally starting at 11:30 a.m. ET. The final round was contested without any fans on site.