Deutsche Bank Championship Set for Friday


The second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs begins Friday - with a rare scheduled Monday finish on Labor Day - at TPC Boston. On hand to defend his title in the $8 million Deutsche Bank Championship will be Charley Hoffman.

After last week's rain-shorted Barclays, which Dustin Johnson won by two strokes after going 19-under 194 over 54 holes, the field for the playoffs was reduced to the top-100 players. In fact, 99 players will be playing this week in the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Hurricane Irene played a big factor at The Barclays, and it also influenced the preparation for TPC Boston. In an effort to minimize potential damage by Irene and its associated tropical storm, workers dismantled much of the special tournament equipment that had been installed. Signage and the green mesh around the bleachers and TV towers were removed, and some corporate boxes and video boards were safely stored.

Kevin Chappell changed his travel plans due to the hurricane. The PGA Tour rookie arrived on Monday at TPC Boston to find no power on the golf course and a darkened clubhouse. "It was like a ghost town around here," Chappell told The Associated Press.

"It was a little bit humbling to see what goes into tournaments," he added. "We get worked up over missing a cut, and it's not the end of the world. You have people out here working their butts off to make sure we have a well-run golf tournament. It's pretty special what we get to do."

As tournament director, Eric Baldwin is the person who makes most of the big decisions before and during the Deutsche Bank Championship. Baldwin said it takes six weeks to prepare the course for the big show. But thanks to Irene, that lead time was significantly reduced.

"We still had 25 to 30 tents that we never put up until the storm passed," Baldwin told the AP. "We took down some of the wind screens. We removed 95 percent of the signage. And then we had no power. Our office went offline for two days so we had to set up a temporary office."

But the players showing up Wednesday for the Pro-Am won't find much amiss. "They will have little to any sense that anything happened," Baldwin said. "That's a testament to all of the guys who do the hard work and never get credit."

At the conclusion of the Deutsche Bank Championship, the Playoffs field will be reduced to the top-70 players prior to the third event, the BMW Championship at Cog Hill in Lemont, Ill. When the BMW Championship ends, there will only be the top-30 points-earners remaining for the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.

The FedEx Cup points are quintupled during the four Playoff events. Thanks to his win last week, Dustin Johnson moved to No. 1 on the list, followed by Barclays' runner-up Matt Kuchar. For the complete points standings, visit http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/current/02394_projections-1.html.  

For the field and Friday's tee times, visit http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r505/tee-times.html.