The event began in 1967 as the Westchester Classic, played at the Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York, a suburb northeast of New York City in Westchester County. Beginning in 1976, it 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."
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 65-foot (20 m) 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.
In 2017, Chicago-based financial services company Northern Trust replaced Barclays, which had sponsored the tournament since 2005.[3] 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 will feature three events, instead of four, and the Playoffs will conclude by the end of August. Therefore, The Northern Trust will be 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)
