You’re forgiven if you confused this past week’s BMW Championship with the upcoming U.S. Open. Conditions were tough, fast, and major-esque, as the second last event of the FedExCup playoff proved to be a solid test for the world’s greatest. With only five players finishing under par, Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm just couldn’t get enough of Olympia Fields, taking the tournament to extra innings after Johnson made a 25-footer on 18. In the first playoff hole, Rahm returned the favour, sinking a 66-foot bomb for birdie to clinch the victory and move him to second in the FedExCup playoffs.
But it shouldn’t have gone to a playoff at all. On Saturday, Rahm uncharacteristically picked up his ball without marking it, costing him a one-shot penalty. Fortunately for the Spaniard, the Golfing Gods levelled the score on the 73rd hold, gifting him a long-range, swinging putt that sealed the deal. Johnson, who’s coming off an incredible 11-shot victory at last week’s Northern Trust Open, fired a 3-under 67, just narrowly missing out on his second consecutive tournament win. But it was Rahm’s Sunday, firing a best-of-week 64 in his final round. “If you’re going to tell me I’m going to win a 66-footer to win a tournament I’ll take it any day,” said Rahm. When asked what sort of effect his one-shot penalty had on his mindset during the final round, he said it may have helped propel him to victory. “To be honest, I don’t know if I would’ve won if that didn’t happen. It made me mad at myself and I went on with laser focus after that,” Rahm said after the victory.
Who’s in, Who’s out?
This week’s bubble boy is Billy Horschel, the 2014 FedExCup Champion squeaked into next week’s Tour Championship with a T-33 finish. Adam Long is on the other side of the fence looking in, finishing his season at 31st in the standings, needing only a half-decent finish to advance. Unfortunately for Long, his T-56 finish wasn’t enough to guarantee him a hefty paycheck next weekend. Notables not advancing to next week include Jason Day, Patrick Cantlay, Matt Kuchar and Adam Scott.
Canadian Contingent
Mackenzie Hughes is the sole Canadian to make next week’s Tour Championship. It was a dramatic Sunday finish for Hughes, who was hovering around the top of the leaderboard for most of the week. Hughes made a clutch five-footer on the 72nd hole of the tournament to secure his spot, otherwise it would’ve been a Canadian-free finale.
However, Hughes doesn’t own the Canadian highlight of the week, that goes to Corey Conners, who made a hole-in-one on the sixth hole during his third round. Despite the miraculous ace, Conners, along with fellow Canadians Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin, won’t be teeing it up at East Lake.
Tiger Trials
Tiger’s issues on the course continued this week as the Big Cat finished T-51 in the 70-man field. Woods needed something in the top five to advance to next week’s Tour Championships, but was ultimately unable to muster four consecutive rounds of competitive play, finishing T-51 to conclude his 2019-2020 season. After an opening round 73, which included three straight closing bogeys, Woods look poised to make a charge, but his hopes to advance to next week fizzled out after four consecutive over-par rounds. “This golf course was basically a U.S. Open, with the rough being as high as it is and fairways a little bit narrow,” said Woods. Tigers’ next start is expected to be, you guessed it, the U.S. Open at Winged Foot on September 17-20.
Where Things Stand
There’s been some significant movement atop the FedExCup leaderboard. Here’s a glance at the top ten.
- Dustin Johnson
- Jon Rahm
- Justin Thomas
- Webb Simpson
- Collin Morikawa
- Daniel Berger
- Harris English
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Sungjae Im
- Hideki Matsuyama
For complete standings, click HERE.
The scoring in the final event, The Tour Championship, was tweaked last year, and by all accounts it worked better than the Tour’s previous attempts, so they’re sticking with it. To simplify things, the top-seeded player entering the final event starts the tournament at 10-under par, with the next four at 8-under through 5-under respectively, with the final players in the field –No. 26 through 30—starting at even par.
Jon Rahm: What’s in The Bag?
Jon Rahm is one of TaylorMade’s high profile players, once again proving himself with the company’s latest gear.
Driver: TaylorMade SIM with a 10.5 degree Aldila Tour X shaft
Fairway woods: TaylorMade SIM, 15 (Aldila Tour X shafts) and 19 degrees (Graphite Design Tour AD X)
Irons: TaylorMade P750, 4-PW
Wedges: TaylorMade MG Hi Toe, 52 degrees, TaylorMade MG2, 56 and 60 degrees
Putter: TaylorMade Spider X chalk
Ball: TaylorMade TP5