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Despite his recent struggles, Tiger Woods is still a favorite to be near the top of the leaderboard when the 2012 Deutsche Bank Championship tees off Friday at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass.
Woods turned in an ugly final round at The Barclays this past week, carding a 5-over 76 that dropped the world's third-ranked golfer from being in the hunt into an eight-way tie for a 38th-place finish. History, however, is in Woods' favor as he heads to Massachusetts for the second of the PGA's four FedEx Cup playoff events.
A poor final day at Bethpage provides motivation, yes, but Woods comes into TPC Boston with a consistent record at the course. As Bob Harig of ESPN pointed out, the No. 1 player in the Ryder Cup Standings has only been out of the top 11 finishers once in seven tries. Woods also won the championship in 2006.
That could spell trouble for the field, which also includes world No. 1 Rory McIlroy and 2011 Deutsche Bank winner Webb Simpson.
Several golfers in the field have Los Angeles connections. UCLA's John Merrick will tee off at 9:04 a.m. ET, while USC product Kevin Stadler will begin at 12:34 p.m. ET. They'll be followed by Murrieta, Calif., native Rickie Fowler, who tees off at 12:46 p.m. ET, and Orange, Calif., native Hunter Mahan will tee off at 12:58 p.m. ET.
For more on the Deutsche Bank Championship, check out SB Nation's golf hub.