FedEx Cup Playoffs Update

One down, three to go.

Current world number one Dustin Johnson grabbed a fourth win of the year at The Northern Trust in Greensboro, New York just last week and we now head to Boston for the Dell Technologies Championship.

Formerly the Deutsche Bank Championship, this week's event plays as the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs for the 16/17 season.

The remaining field will jostle for position as we head into the one-week hiatus preceding the final pre-East Lake tournament - that being the BMW Championship in Illinois. Those who made the cut after last week's opener at Glen Oaks Club will slug it out over Labor Day weekend around a reworked TPC Boston for a winner's share of the $8M prize pool.

Catch the top-5 shots from The Northern Trust last week below:

A Recap: Whose bubble burst?

Twenty-five players fell at the first hurdle during this year’s Playoffs including the 2016 PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker. Other notable absentees this week include Byong-hun An and his South Korean compatriot Seung-Yul Noh, as well as a two-time FedEx Cup playoff event winner in Steve Stricker.

We also lost a former world number one in the Englishman Luke Donald.

Who's 'On The Bubble'?

Another 30 men will fall victim to the cut this week within the merciless FedEx Cup format. As we start to whittle the field down to the real crème de la crème, there are some stellar names at risk and players who will count themselves as having had a solid 2016/17 PGA Tour season may be shown the exit door after their week in Boston.

Bubba Watson performed admirably at The Northern Trust last week to move from outside the top-100 and into 72nd position in the updated FedEx Cup standings. A solid showing will be required to ensure his plans to coach his son's T-Ball team are not brought forward.

Household names in Brandt Snedeker, J.B. Holmes and the 2016 Champion Golfer of the Year, Henrik Stenson will be absent from this week's event - all seemingly due to injury - and will see their seasons come to a premature end.

2013 Masters Champion Adam Scott was expected to be another omission from the Dell Technologies Championship field but, after the early delivery of his second child. After a reasonably lacklustre season by his own very high standards, the Aussie will need to perform well to improve on his current position just outside the top-70.

Jonas Blixt, Chris Stroud, Grayson Murray, Rod Pampling each have a single win on Tour this year but could all miss out on a trip to Illinois, while Rafa Cabrera-Bello - a Rolex Series event winner on the European Tour - needs to a strong finish to his first full year as a PGA Tour member in order to extend into a third Playoff event.

Tournament Focus: Dell Technologies Championship

Venue: TPC Boston
Par: 71
Length: 7,342 yards

The golf course at TPC Boston is an Arnold Palmer design and was reworked back in 2007 by Gil Hanse and consultant Brad Faxon.

There are two new holes - the 12th and 13th - with both lengthened and featuring new greens, while the uphill 231-yard par 3 will play as one of the hardest holes on the course. Despite the fact that heavily sub-par scores are required to win, the course is far from easy.

You can check out Golf course superintendent Tom Brodeur's TPC Boston history lesson below:

Last year Rory McIlroy overturned a six-shot deficit on the final day's play to usurp Englishman Paul Casey and win by two clear strokes. A similar performance from the four-time major winner would see him in the mix for back-to-back FedEx Cup titles.

Possible winners

Let's be honest, at this stage of the season locating a winner from such a quality field is akin to 'needle in the haystack' stuff. We stand by our prediction from last week of Spieth to take the FedEx title but, with that said, who wins this week in Boston?

Let's give it a go.

Hideki Matsuyama rarely misses a cut and, if he does, it would be inconceivable that he would miss two in a row - right? Let's hope so. The Japanese superstar is in great form despite a poor showing at The Northern Trust. Expect normal service to resume this week.

Justin Thomas is similar to Matsuyama in that he secured multiple wins early in the season to forge a healthy position in the FedEx Cup standings. He then went one better at Quail Hollow to become a maiden major winner. A T-6 followed at The Northern Trust and it's true to say that the young Kentuckian is hard to stop when he gets on a roll.

Marc Leishman seems to have another win left in him this year. Needs to recover after a poor showing in the first Playoff event and has every chance of doing so in Boston.

Who is your winner for the second Playoff event this week? Who misses out on the BMW Championship in a fortnight's times? Let us know in the comments below.