There is a common phrase uttered around Ridgewood Country Club, and it sure looks like it’s going to stand up as The Northern Trust starts on Thursday at the venerable course in Paramus, N.J.
“We have a saying around here: ‘Straight is long,’ because of the rough,” head pro David Reasoner told The Post on Monday.
And if that’s normally the case, then it’s even more so with all the rain that has fallen on the metropolitan area over the past month. That has allowed the rough bordering the fairways to grow thick and tall as the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings come in for the first of four playoff events, culminating in the Tour Championship and a $10 million first prize.
Reasoner said most of the comments he and his staff have received as some pros and their caddies have been out for early looks at the course were about the gnarly rough, which is an uncommon sight at most PGA Tour events where distance is greatly emphasized over accuracy.
“It’s an old, traditional golf course. These players tend to play TPC golf courses,” Reasoner said, referring to the types of long tournament courses that have very little long grass. “The rough itself is rare for them, just to play something like this. A lot of the comments we’re getting is the rough is really [difficult]. They don’t play golf courses like this.”
Reasoner knows the A.W. Tillinghast-designed course as well as anyone, and he believes the setup is going to demand more from a winner than just the ability to bomb the ball. With the weather for the week looking like it should be mostly dry and sunny — finally — the greens are likely going to be firm and fast, demanding that approach shots are placed in the proper areas. If not, it could prove quite difficult to score.
“This golf course calls for someone that can work the ball both ways,” Reasoner said. “Second shots, leaving yourself in the right position, not missing it and short-siding yourself — that can lead to disaster out here.”
Yet that is not the way most pros win nowadays. Four of the top 5 in the FedEx Cup standings are prodigious bombers — FedEx No. 1 Dustin Johnson (sixth in distance), No. 2 Justin Thomas (ninth), No. 3 Brooks Koepka (11th) and No. 5 Bubba Watson (seventh). Scrappy Webb Simpson is the only player in the FedEx top 10 not to be ranked in the top 100 in driving distance. Alternately, Simpson is one of only three players in the FedEx top 10 to be ranked in the top 100 in driving accuracy, along with Justin Rose and Francesco Molinari.
That makes for an interesting situation for the biggest draw of the tournament, Tiger Woods. Playing in his first playoff event since 2013, Woods has regained his distance after four back surgeries, ranking No. 33 on the PGA Tour with an average drive of 304.7 yards. But he is hitting just 55.43 percent of his fairways, ranking him near the worst on tour at No. 175.
That comparison was on display two weeks ago as he made a classic Sunday charge up the leaderboard at the PGA Championship, despite not hitting a single fairway on his front nine. He finished in second place, two shots back of Koepka, who won his second major of the season following a victory at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in June.
And whether Woods can hit more fairways or not at Ridgewood could be a big factor in where he is on the leaderboard — and that could be a big factor in how much attention the tournament gets from outside the diehard golf world.
“Obviously, ‘The Tiger Factor.’ Any time he’s playing, the energy level goes up a little bit,” Reasoner said. “He helps all aspects of the golf tournaments, whether that’s ticket sales or TV coverage. We’re excited. But you look down that leaderboard, and the guys coming into this event, so many good players. Golf is so good right now, and there are so many good players.
“Anybody can win the event. It’s fun to have them here.”
