How TPC Boston Will Test LPGA Tour Stars In Inaugural FM Championship

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BOSTON — The last time there was professional golf at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass., things got a little out of hand.

Dustin Johnson won the 2020 Northern Trust, absolutely picking apart the course with a record-breaking 30-under performance for the weekend. With no fans in attendance (amid COVID-19), the eventual Masters champion shot no worse than a 67 over four rounds, going 67-60-64-63 to secure the win.

Johnson won the tournament by a staggering 11 strokes, yet he did so without firing the best round of the weekend. That honor belonged to a rising star named Scottie Scheffler who blitzed the course in Round 2 to shoot a course-record 59.

Things might look a little different this weekend when the LPGA Tour makes its return to New England for the first time in 20 years. The FM Championship will be held at TPC Boston, the first tournament in the region since South Hadley, Mass., hosted the 2004 U.S. Open.

The difference begins in the setup. The men played TPC Boston as a par-71, while the women will attack it as a 6,598-yard, par-72. What’s exciting about getting to see the women play the course this week is that it should play differently than golf fans became accustomed to seeing on the PGA Tour. Tiger Woods in the past noted how players who hit it long and high were best suited for success at TPC Boston. Past winners include Woods, Rory McIlroy (twice), Bryson DeChambeau and Johnson, all players who check the high-and-far box.

While the women are hitting the ball farther than ever, they aren’t hitting it as far as the men or the same way. Trackman’s research released earlier this summer revealed the average carry of a PGA Tour drive was 282 yards with an average max height of 35 yards. On the LPGA Tour, those numbers were “only” 223 yards of carry and 26 yards of max height.

“You guys (the average golfer) can relate to us better than you could to Dustin Johnson or Keagan (Bradley),” six-time major winner Pat Bradley told NESN.com at FM Championship media day last month. “They hit it just as well as the guys (just not as far). … That’s why I think TPC (Boston) is going to be a great test for the women. I think (the LPGA Tour) can push it back and it will be nice to see, it will be interesting to see where the tee markers are.”

In some ways, they play a style that’s more in line with how courses are designed to play, albeit at an extremely high level. It will still be gettable in some ways, too, set up to play 500 fewer yards than the PGA Tour in addition to the change in par.

The tree-lined course with no shortage of hazards will test accuracy off the tee. For as easy as it has looked over the years, TPC Boston can still “bite you in the bum,” as Cameron Smith said in 2018. The rough almost certainly will be grown up, turning wayward drives into brutal approach shots. The green complexes are tricky, and there’s a lot of undulation around the putting surfaces that puts a major emphasis on short game. All of ths is intensified if the rain stays away and dry weather keeps conditions firm and fast.

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While the product might look slightly different than what Massachusetts golf fans have come to expect from the professional game in the Bay State, make no mistake: There’s going to be another impressive Labor Day weekend display in Norton.

“I think the modern game, the modern equipment, these young ladies work out, they’re prepared,” Bradley added. ” … These young ladies can play.”