Henrik Stenson has withdrawn from the 2018 Northern Trust with an elbow injury. The 2013 FedEx Cup champion has struggled with the injury all summer and missed the Scottish Open in the lead up to the Open Championship with the same ailment. 

Stenson noted last week at the Wyndham Championship that his biggest problem right now is not being able to "go after it" in the gym. So it seems as if withdrawing from the first of four playoff events is probably more about rest and recuperation for the 50th-ranked golfer in the current FedEx Cup rankings.

Following the Northern Trust, the top 100 in the FedEx Cup rankings will advance to the Dell Technologies Championship, and from there the top 70 go to the BMW Championship and top 30 to the Tour Championship. Stenson also has the Ryder Cup the week after the Tour Championship to think about. He is not currently an automatic qualifier for the European side, but it is presumed that he will be a captain's pick regardless.

While this is obviously not great news for Stenson (or Europe), it doesn't seem to be a massive setback in the long term. I would expect Stenson, who finished T20 at the Wyndham Championship last week, to be back at some point in the playoffs and certainly to play in the Ryder Cup at the end of September.

Joining Stenson in sitting out The Northern Trust are Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Rodgers and Bud Cauley.