2018 Northern Trust tee times, viewer's guide

The final stretch of the PGA Tour season begins on Thursday at Ridgewood Country Club, site of the first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the Northern Trust. The Paramus, N.J. club, an A.W. Tillinghast design, last hosted the event in 2014, when Hunter Mahan claimed the victory. The top 100 players in the FedEx Cup standings following the conclusion of play on Sunday will advance to the second leg of the playoffs, the Dell Technologies Championship, which will take place at TPC Boston.

While the absence of Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson and Rickie Fowler will be noticeable this week, the field still packs plenty of intrigue, starting of course with Tiger Woods, who is making his first appearance in the FedEx Cup Playoffs since 2013. At 20th in the FedEx Cup standings, this is far from a make-or-break week for the 14-time major winner, but there's no doubt he wants to continue to build on his strong comeback season as he continues to search for an 80th career victory. He'll play alongside Marc Leishman and Tommy Fleetwood this week, a repeat of the trio's first and second round grouping at the Masters earlier this season.

Another group to watch will be Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka, who rank first, second and third in the FedEx Cup standings, respectively. This trio will go off immediately following the Woods-Leishman-Fleetwood group on Thursday and Friday, which should make for a raucous atmosphere in the Garden State.

TV Coverage

The Golf Channel will carry live coverage on Thursday and Friday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET, as well as Saturday 1 p.m. to 2:45 p.m and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. CBS will take over on Saturday beginning at 3 p.m. and on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Leader board

Follow all the action from New Jersey on the Golf Digest PGA Tour leader board.

Thursday Tee Times

No. 1 Tee

7:21 a.m. -- Kevin Tway, Jamie Lovemark, Ollie Schniederjans

7:32 a.m. -- Matt Kuchar, Joel Dahmen, Michael Kim

7:43 a.m. -- Jimmy Walker, Jason Kokrak, C.T. Pan

7:54 a.m. -- Emiliano Grillo, Si Woo Kim, Charles Howell III

8:05 a.m. -- Gary Woodland, Ian Poulter, Andrew Putnam

8:16 a.m. -- Aaron Wise, Xander Schauffele, Luke List

8:27 a.m. -- Paul Casey, Kyle Stanley, Kevin Na

8:38 a.m. -- Russell Henley, Daniel Berger, Jason Dufner

8:49 a.m. -- J.T. Poston, Bronson Burgoon, Vaughn Taylor

9 a.m. -- Martin Laird, Sam Ryder, Grayson Murray

12:11 p.m. -- James Hahn, Tom Hoge, Peter Uihlein

12:22 p.m. -- Adam Hadwin, Brice Garnett, Kelly Kraft

12:33 p.m. -- Ryan Moore, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Whee Kim

12:44 p.m. -- Beau Hossler, Jordan Spieth, Byeong Hun An

12:55 p.m. -- Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson, Tony Finau

1:06 p.m. -- Justin Rose, Bubba Watson, Jason Day

1:17 p.m. -- Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay, Patton Kizzire

1:28 p.m. -- Trey Mullinax, Charl Schwartzel, Rory Sabbatini

1:39 p.m. -- Sung Kang, John Huh, Harold Varner III

1:50 p.m. -- Nick Taylor, Sam Saunders, Sean O'Hair

No. 9 Tee

7:10 a.m. -- Hideki Matsuyama, Satoshi Kodaira, Kevin Chappell

7:21 a.m. -- Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Troy Merritt

7:32 a.m. -- Zach Johnson, Cameron Smith, Scott Piercy

7:43 a.m. -- Brian Gay, Keegan Bradley, J.J. Spaun

7:54 a.m. -- Tiger Woods, Marc Leishman, Tommy Fleetwood

8:05 a.m. -- Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka

8:16 a.m. -- Webb Simpson, Francesco Molinari, Bryson DeChambeau

8:27 a.m. -- Charley Hoffman, Alex Cejka, Ryan Palmer

8:38 a.m. -- Richy Werenski, Nick Watney, Danny Lee

8:49 a.m. -- Jhonattan Vegas, Harris English, Seamus Power

12 p.m. -- Branden Grace, Abraham Ancer, Russell Knox

12:11 p.m. -- Kevin Streelman, Keith Mitchell, J.B. Holmes

12:22 p.m. -- Stewart Cink, Chris Kirk, Ted Potter, Jr.

12:33 p.m. -- Alex Noren, Kevin Kisner, Billy Horschel

12:44 p.m. -- Chez Reavie, Ryan Armour, Brendan Steele

12:55 p.m. -- Brandt Snedeker, Austin Cook, Brian Harman

1:06 p.m. -- Chesson Hadley, Pat Perez, Andrew Landry

1:17 p.m. -- Anirban Lahiri, Tyrrell Hatton, Brandon Harkins

1:28 p.m. -- Scott Stallings, Tyler Duncan, William McGirt

1:39 p.m. -- Ryan Blaum, Scott Brown, Brian Stuard