2021 Northern Trust: Round 2 Matchups

Aug 20, 2021

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At the strongest field ever assembled for a PGA Tour playoff event, it was two of the game's biggest stars in the world, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas, who put on a ball-striking clinic and sit on top of the leaderboard. Throughout the day, the Liberty National course played much tougher than it did back in 2019, as the average score was 0.22 strokes over par. During the morning wave, Harold Varner shot 66 thanks to a hot putter and was the early leader in the clubhouse. When the afternoon wave hit the course, Rahm and Thomas took over the show, matching each other shot-for-shot, each shooting an 8-under par 63. After not playing for a month, Rahm showed no signs of rust. Only making four putts longer than four feet, he was absolutely on fire with his irons, gaining 4.2 strokes on approach alone. Thomas was even better with his irons, gaining 4.6 strokes on the field. He had an amazing nine birdie opportunities inside 10 feet. While the putter has given Thomas fits of late, he gained 2.5 strokes putting. He gave credit to his old putter after the round, which he put back in his bag for the week. Even though three rounds remain, it's really hard to imagine anyone not named Rahm or Thomas winning this tournament. Data Golf has the odds of either Rahm or Thomas winning at over 67%, and nobody else has better than 3% odds.