The event can trace its origins back to a Westchester-based pro-am tournament that began at
The Apawamis Club in
Rye, New York. Founded by William Mitchell "Bill" Jennings, the popular spectator event drew many top players before leaving Apawamis after 1961 when it was merged into the
Thunderbird Classic. It was next played at the Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, New Jersey (1962, 1966–68) and the neighboring
Westchester Country Club (1963–65) also in Rye. Proceeds from the popular event benefited the now defunct United Hospital in Port Chester, New York for many years. Beginning in
1976, the tournament underwent a series of name sponsorships (detailed below), not unlike other PGA Tour stops. The name of the event evolved to the point that, by 1990, it no longer contained the name of its host course or location. However, among golfers on tour and many fans, it was still known by its traditional name, the Westchester Classic. The tournament was usually played during June of each year, either the week before (in even-numbered years) or the week after (in odd-numbered years) the
U.S. Open. It had its greatest attendance in 2001 when
Tiger Woods participated, although two days of heavy rains disrupted play. It had one of its more exciting finishes in 2005, when
Pádraig Harrington eagled the par-5 final hole with a putt to win the title. The most frequent winner of the tournament is
Vijay Singh, with four trophies. Beginning in
2008, it left the Westchester Country Club and began being rotated amongst different clubs in the New York metropolitan area (also detailed below). In 2011,
Hurricane Irene shortened the tournament to 54 holes, which was played that year at the Plainfield Country Club in
Edison, New Jersey. The tournament ended by noontime on Saturday, August 27, allowing ample time for players and spectators to evacuate the golf course. The tournament has traditionally closed
CBS Sports's PGA Tour television schedule, due to the network's commitment to airing
SEC and
NFL football during the fall months; until 2014, the network also had rights to the
U.S. Open tennis tournament, which begins the Monday prior to
Labor Day. (The 2019 changes to the PGA Tour calendar, which resulted in The Northern Trust being moved up two weeks due to the PGA Tour's desire to complete the FedEx Cup Playoffs by the end of August, will not affect this tournament ending CBS's golf season, even though the tournament now takes place three weeks before the first week of the college football season.)
Jim Nantz, who calls the final two rounds of The Northern Trust on television, is also the lead play-by-play announcer for the
NFL on CBS. However, a 2023 change gives both CBS and NBC the entirety of the FedEx Cup playoffs – 2022 NBC, 2023 CBS, 2024 and 2025 NBC, 2026 CBS). In
2017, Chicago-based financial services company
Northern Trust replaced
Barclays, which had sponsored the tournament since
2005. Northern Trust had previously been the title sponsor of the
Los Angeles Open at
Riviera for nine years, known as the "Northern Trust Open" from
2008 through
2016. In 2019, the FedEx Cup Playoffs featured three events, instead of four, and the Playoffs concluded by the end of August. As a result, The Northern Trust was played earlier in August (August 5–11, 2019), followed by the BMW Championship, August 12–18 (70 players); and the Tour Championship August 19–25 (30 players). ==Highlights==