Deutsche Bank Championship :: The front runners

With a total of 2,500 FedExCup points on offer, the top 100 players in the race for the FedExCup head to TPC Boston this week in the hope of capturing the Deutsche Bank Championship.

The favourite

World No.1 Rory McIlroy travels to Boston this week as the favourite once again. The Northern Irishman shot 74 in his opening round at The Barclays last time out but recovered over the weekend to finish in 22nd place. That result may have stopped his three-tournament winning streak but the 2012 Deutsche Bank champion is still on the crest of a wave following his spectacular end of season run. He should have a say in who comes out on top.

The defending champion

The 2013 FedExCup and Race to Dubai winner Henrik Stenson will be looking to build on his final round three-under-par posted at The Barclays last week. Prior to that, the 38-year-old notched a season’s best third place finish at the PGA Championship. The Swede will be looking for more of the same at TPC Boston as he looks to become the first man to win consecutive FedExCup titles.

One to watch

Matt Kuchar put an end to any doubts over his fitness last week after finishing fifth in The Barclays. That was the 2012 Players champion’s 11th top ten of the season, consistency that saw him make Tom Watson’s US Ryder Cup team with ease. Tied fourth at TPC Boston last year, expect to see Kuchar among the late starters on Sunday.

The outsider

Bostonian Keegan Bradley will be cheered on by the New England crowd this week. The world No.24 has made the top 20 in his previous two Deutsche Bank Championship outings. With the Ryder Cup less than a month away, the American will be doing all he can to impress Tom Watson and earn a captain’s pick.

Scot watch

Russell Knox is the only Scot in the field at the Deutsche Bank Championship and he’ll be hoping to start this week’s event as well as he did last time out. After the first two rounds of The Barclays, the world No.105 was six-under-par but he couldn’t quite take that form into the weekend, as he finished 38th. Without a top ten since March, Knox will be desperate to challenge for the Deutsche Bank Championship.