There was a pressure-packed tournament within the BMW Championship on Sunday and a spot in the Tour Championship at East Lake was at stake.
Sixty-eight players started the BMW Championship last Thursday, but by day’s end Sunday, only 30 survived to move on to East Lake.
Scottie Scheffler’s tie for third earned him the top-seed and the 10-under par start with Patrick Cantlay starting at eight-under.
But the aside the the pressure to win, there was a lot of pressure just to make it inside the top 30.
By day’s end, young Aaron Wise finished 30th and, in the process, knocked Shane Lowry out, leaving the Irish star at 31st. Trey Mullinax was unlucky no. 32, J.J. Spaun, 33, Tom Kim, 34, and David Riley 35th. Wise entered the week at 31st and needed a good week. He was nine-under heading to the final 18 but struggled coming home. A double at the par three 15th then a bogey at 16 put him in danger. He needed a par-par finish and he came through. He missed a 13-footer for birdie at 17 then two putted from the back fringe (28 feet) for a closing par, a round of 73 and a tie for 15th at seven-under.
Veteran star and former Masters champion Adam Scott was teetering on the brink all afternoon. The talented Aussie was two-over at the turn and looked headed home. That was until he carded an eagle at the par five 12th then added a birdie at 14. That helped him shoot an even par 71, he finished 10-under, tied for fifth and that was good enough to get him to the 29th spot. Thank goodness for the eagle-birdie combo on the two back nine par fives.
Rookie Sahith Theegala looked like he was playing his way out of the top 30. Things weren’t going well until he put on a great back-nine birdie run with birdies at 12, 13, 14 and 17 for a 33 coming home. He shot 68, finished tied for 15th and that wrapped up the 28th spot for him. “I was very nervous,” Theegala admitted after he finished. “I almost had the shakes on the range. I made a nice putt at 18 (seven feet) — I knew I had to make that putt (to make the top 30).”
And there’s reason to celebrate making it to East Lake.
The guy finishing 30th get a cool half-million in addition to what he makes in the tournament.
Will Gordon Shoots 63 Then Wins Boise Open Playoff:
Will Gordon picked the right day to shoot an eight-under par 63. He secured his PGA Tour card with a come-from-behind playoff win at the Boise Open on Sunday.
Gordon scorched Hillcrest Country Club, posted 21-under par then waited to see what might transpire.
Overnight leader Phillip Knowles finished with 70 to tie Gordon and M.J. Daffe’s 65 put him in a three-way tie.
“I just went in the locker room and hung out,” Gordon said of the 90 minute wait. “I called a couple buddies who had called me and just talked to them. When somebody bogeyed No. 18 and Phil (Knowles three-putted for par at) 15, I was like, ‘Better go hit some balls.’ I was honestly just hoping I had a chance. I would say it went well into my mentality the whole year: I’m going to control what I can control, and what I could control during that time was trying to conserve energy, keep a positive mindset and be ready if the opportunity came.”
The three went back to the 18th and Gordon was the only player to make par and victory was his.
The three-event Korn Ferry Tour finals continue this week at Ohio State University’s Scarlet Course, which hosts the Nationwide Children’s Hospitals Open.
Paddy Harrington Winds Second Senior Event:
Paddy Harrington has established himself as a force on the Champions Tour and on Sunday, he added the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open to his resume.
The tournament was held at En-Joie Country Club, site of the old BC Open on the PGA Tour. Harrington’s final round 67 took him to 16-under par — three clear of Mike Weir and Thongchai Jaidee. Harrington started the day a shot behind Weir but put together a bogey-free round. Weir shot 71, Jaidee, 66.
Harrington won the U.S. Senior Open in June and has four runner-ups and a tie for third in 11 starts this season on the over-50 set.
Jim Furyk (68) and Vijay Singh (69) were 12 under, and 64-year-old Bernhard Langer (68) followed at 10-under with Darren Clarke (69), Ken Tanigawa (68) and Gene Sauers (70).
11 Comments
baxter cepeda
The best part of all this is no one knew anything they were doing.
Wise is not wise enough to follow the fed ex cup leaderboard. So he didn’t know.
Adam Scott’s bunker on 18 was sublime, but not sure he knew anything.
Theegala said he had an idea his putt was important. Pretty hard for little kids to imagine putting for a spot in east lake if there is no way
To know anything.
And that’s before this distasteful of a staggered start.
Playoffs mean playoffs. The advantage people get in playoffs are none…except maybe byes…but definitely Not extra goals or touchdowns; and certainly not golf; and certainly not the golf tour that boasts tradition.
I encourage you to listen to the thinking mans show on utube as those two nerds love to hammer Monahan more than yours truly.
Tom Edrington
Scott, being the veteran he is, I’ll bet he knew he needed that last up-and-down — terrific bunker shot!
baxter cepeda
Marvelous shot. Especially since he knew if he had to make a 5 foot putt he would probably miss it.
Man I watched him miss a ton of putts this weeks.
He seems like a poor greens reader. Even decent strokes miss ugly.
Tom Edrington
Adam’s been using that weird method for so long, before anyone else…..trying to putt with a long putter that is not anchored is way beyond difficult, I wouldn’t even try…..do not like those things..
baxter cepeda
And I remember watching Adam putt conventional years ago and he looked pretty good. The thing about putting is not always the way you look. It’s so subtle. Such a fine line.
Tom Edrington
It’s a “gift” that some have from a young age (Ben Crenshaw) for others, it’s a lot of learning but at the end of the day, I believe Tiger Woods was the best putter on Tour in his prime because he could read greens better than anyone else. That’s where a lot of guy fall short, I see a lot of good strokes but questionable reads these days.
baxter cepeda
I agree on tiger.
Tigers ability to go to that next level in the clutch, where U can just tell he will make it, truly unmatched.
It’s so interesting to hear how much Tiger talks about hands in a sport when so many try to teach players of all levels to keep hands out of it.
I see a lot of pretty bad strokes to be honest.
Tom Edrington
You see those bad strokes because the game now is not taught properly……folks should learn to play from the hole then keep moving away from it as they get good…..first club I ever had was a putter…..you start learning how to make three-footers, move to five, six, seven, 10, 15, 20 — then to the fringe and beyond……at the Marine Corps golf course at Quantico, juniors had to demonstrate this sort of proficiency before they were allowed on the course…..years ago I was walking one evening at the club and I let a father and son play through…..kid had a great swing, piped his drive, hit a nice iron shot on the green, about 20 feet and I said to myself “this is where the rubber meets the road” — kid left his first putt 10 feet short, missed the next one, made the one-footer for bogey……
baxter cepeda
Yes today’s junior golfers are increasingly taught to hit it hard and later they will straighten it out and learn some short game.
This is basically how Wie did it.
We did it with the girls the way you describe. A lot of working back from the hole. We still do a ton of that.
What I see is the pga tour truly is a bAll strikers paradise. Obviously players need to be elite strikers over anything else to get into and play the tour to begin with.
For this reason the instruction and practice for ball striking at the highest level is very high. And practice and demand for putting and short game instruction is nowhere near as high.
There are some famous short game coaches on tour but not nearly as many as swing instructors.
So a lot of guys come into the tour with less than stellar putting, because that’s not really what gets one into the pga tour—especially these days that in tour spots are based on a season long competition —in the past Q school made putting more important to get on tour because we know how important putting is in any given week.
In the past a bunch of solid and clutch putters made it more often IMO. That really is the bad part with this new qualifying system.
This new qualifying system in combination with technology changing the game—is why you have a bunch of 6’5” athletic
Specimens making it over the great putters and small ball guys.
It really is a shame. And hopefully as Cantlay addressed in criticizing last weeks playoff course , the pga tour can learn to choose courses better so they don’t continue becoming the bomb and gouge tour.
Tom Edrington
Check out this week’s stop on the European Tour, the course is only 6,600 yards but it kicks everyone’s butt……
baxter cepeda
I don’t remember the course but always remember this omega tournament being one of my euro favorites…so it’s already recorded.
Of course there’s a little head start golf tournament going on that I want to watch once this little guy with me finally gives up the tube this morning.