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TOUR Championship: Preview

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ATLANTA – Sports fans sometimes complain that “the regular season doesn’t matter.” That can not be said of the PGA Tour season as the regular season efforts of Scottie Scheffler will start his TOUR Championship at (-10) in comparison to the likes of K.H. Lee, J.T. Poston, Sahith Theegala, Adam Scott, and Aaron Wise who will all begin their pursuit of the FedEx Cup at (even) par when the players tee-off (tomorrow) Thursday, August 24 at East Lake Golf Club.

Yes, the 47-event 2021-22 PGA TOUR Season will conclude at the TOUR Championship this weekend, where the FedEx Cup Champion will be crowned. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, the Tour leader in wins this season with four, enters the TOUR Championship at No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings and will begin the tournament at 10-under via FedEx Cup Starting Strokes. Scheffler is making his third consecutive appearance in the TOUR Championship, finishing No. 5 in 2019-20 and No. 22 in 2020-21. Scheffler, who won his first major championship title earlier this season at the Masters Tournament, looks to become the second player to win the Masters and the FedEx Cup in the same season (Jordan Spieth, 2014-15).

If he wins the 2022 FedEx Cup, Rory McIlroy would become the first player to win the FedEx Cup three times. When McIlroy won his second title in 2019, he joined Tiger Woods as the only two players to win the season-long race twice.

Xander Schauffele, who enters the weekend at No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings, has advanced to the TOUR Championship in all six seasons on the Tour. Schauffele won the TOUR Championship as a rookie and has finished in the top 10 in all five starts, tied with Justin Thomas for the longest active streak on Tour.

Sam Burns is making his second consecutive appearance at the TOUR Championship, finishing 18th in 2021. Burns is one of four players who has three or more victories this season, collecting titles at the Sanderson Farms Championship, Valspar Championship and Charles Schwab Challenge (others with 3+ victories: Scottie Scheffler/4, Cameron Smith/3, Xander Schauffele/3).

Cameron Smith has three wins this season, including THE PLAYERS Championship and The Open Championship. Smith withdrew prior to the start of last week’s BMW Championship and fell from No. 3 to No. 5 in the FedEx Cup standings. With a win, Smith would become the second player to win THE PLAYERS Championship and the FedEx Cup in the same season, joining McIlroy (2018-19), and the first to win The Open and the FedEx Cup in the same season.

Scott Stallings finished runner-up at last week’s BMW Championship to move to No. 12 in the FedEx Cup standings and qualify for the TOUR Championship for the first time in his 12-year PGA TOUR career. Stallings has a career-high seven Top-10s this season (five in last nine starts).

J.T. Poston is making his first start in the TOUR Championship. Poston was No. 112 in the FedEx Cup standings after the U.S. Open and earned a runner-up (Travelers Championship) and a win (John Deere Classic) the following two weeks, becoming the only player outside the Top 75 after the U.S. Open to qualify for the TOUR Championship.

Will Zalatoris withdrew from the tournament due to a back injury. As a result of his WD, if all 29 players finish 72 holes, Zalatoris will finish 30th in the FedEx Cup, receiving $500,000 in FedExCup bonus money.

Starting Strokes for the remaining 29 players are unaffected.

The Way They’ll Start at TOUR Championship

  1. Scottie Scheffler -10
  2. Patrick Cantlay -8
  3. Xander Schauffele -6
  4. Sam Burns -5
  5. Cameron Smith -4
  6. Rory McIlroy -4
  7. Tony Finau -4
  8. Sepp Straka -4
  9. Sungjae Im -4
  10. Jon Rahm -3
  11. Scott Stallings -3
  12. Justin Thomas -3
  13. Cameron Young -3
  14. Matt Fitzpatrick -3
  15. Max Homa -2
  16. Hideki Matsuyama -2
  17. Jordan Spieth -2
  18. Joaquin Niemann -2
  19. Viktor Hovland -2
  20. Collin Morikawa -1
  21. Billy Horschel -1
  22. Tom Hoge -1
  23. Corey Conners -1
  24. Brian Harman -1
  25. K.H. Lee Even
  26. J.T. Poston Even
  27. Sahith Theegala Even
  28. Adam Scott Even
  29. Aaron Wise Even

Adam Scott Tops Busy Leaders at BMW

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WILMINGTON – Fourteen-time PGA Tour winner Adam Scott holds a one-stroke lead after the second round of the BMW Championship, his 17th 36-hole lead/co-lead on the PGA Tour.

Three Masters Tournament winners that’ve been or currently are ranked No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking are T-2 or better: Scott (1st), Scottie Scheffler (T-2) and Jordan Spieth (T-2). Scott and Spieth rank Nos. 3 and 4 in career PGA Tour wins among players that qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young (T-2) has five runner-up finishes this season and is the highest-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking without a win.

BMW Leaderboard | After 36 Holes

Adam Scott 65-69—134 (-8)

Scottie Scheffler 68-67—135 (-7)

Cameron Young 67-68—135 (-7)

Corey Conners 68-67—135 (-7)

Jordan Spieth 68-67—135 (-7)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

Bradley Leads BMW After 18 Holes

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WILMINGTON – The 2018 BMW Championship winner, Keegan Bradley,tied his career-low nine-hole score (29) and holds one-stroke lead after 18 holes of the 2022 version of the tournament.

After playing his way into the BMW Championship via a T-5 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Adam Scott is projected to move from No. 45 to No. 13 if he keeps up his pace. Scott hasn’t qualified for the TOUR Championship since 2019.

Harold Varner III and Shane Lowry, both T-3, seek their first TOUR Championship start and are slated for the Top 30.

Defending FedEx Cup Champion and 2021 BMW Championship winner Patrick Cantlay opens with 68 (T-13). No player has successfully defended his BMW Championship title since the tournament became a FedEx Cup Playoffs event in 2007.

BMW Leaderboard | After 18 Holes

Keegan Bradley 64 (-7)

Adam Scott 65 (-6)

Harold Varner III 66 (-5)

Shane Lowry 66 (-5)

Justin Thomas 66 (-5)

FedEx Cup Playoffs Continue at BMW

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WILMINGTON – The BMW Championship, the second event of the FedExCup Playoffs, will determine the 30 players who will qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs finale, the TOUR Championship. The BMW Championship is the oldest non-major on the PGA Tour schedule, dating back to 1899. The Wilmington Country Club is playing host, marking the PGA Tour’s first-ever event in the state of Delaware and the 10th different venue to host the BMW Championship since the inception of the FedEx Cup in 2007.

Defending FedEx Cup Champion and 2021 BMW Championship winner Patrick Cantlay sits at No. 7 in the FedExCup standings. Cantlay seeks to become the first player to defend his BMW Championship title since the tournament became a FedEx Cup Playoffs event in 2007. If Cantlay goes on to win the FedEx Cup title, he would be the first to win the season-long race in backto-back years and third player to win it multiple times (Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy). There have been four occasions where a player has won the BMW Championship en route to capturing the FedExCup: Tiger Woods(2007, 2009), Billy Horschel (2014) and Patrick Cantlay (2021).

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is making his third appearance in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, advancing to the TOUR Championship in each of his first two seasons on Tour (No. 5 in 2019-20, No. 22 in 2020-21) with Top-25 finishes in both BMW Championship starts (T20/2020, T22/2021). Scheffler has won four times this season, including the Masters Tournament, and looks to become the second player to win the Masters and the FedEx Cup in the same season (Jordan Spieth, 2014-15).

Eight rookies have advanced to the BMW Championship: Joohyung Kim, Taylor Moore, Taylor Pendrith, Mito Pereira, Davis Riley, Alex Smalley, Sahith Theegala and Cameron Young, with four of the eight sitting inside the top 30 in the FedExCup standings: Young (13), Kim (25), Riley (26) and Theegala (27).

There has not been a season in the FedEx Cup era in which more than two rookies qualified for the TOUR Championship (seasons with 2: 2015-16, 2016-17, 2019-20). Two rookies have won this season (Chad Ramey/Corales Puntacana Championship, Joohyung Kim/Wyndham Championship).

BMW Championship | Tournament Facts

COURSE: Wilmington Country Club, Wilmington, Delaware

YARDS/PAR: 7,534 yards/Par 71

ARCHITECTS: Robert Trent Jones, Sr. (1959)/Andrew Green (2021)

PRIZE Money – Purse: $15,000,000/$2,700,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Patrick Cantlay

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 2,000

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @FedExChamp @BMWChamps

TV COVERAGE: The first two rounds (today and August 19) are scheduled for coverage from 3:00pm to 7:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel. On Saturday, coverage is set for 12:00pm to 3:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel and 3:00 to 6:00pm (ET) on NBC. On Sunday, Golf Channel will be covering from 12 Noon to 2:00pm (ET) and NBC from 2:00pm to 6:00pm (ET).

PGA TOUR LIVE STREAMING: ESPN+ Live streaming coverage will run from 9:00am to 7:00pm (ET) today and Friday. Weekend streaming on ESPN+ PGA TOUR Live from 7:30am to 6:00pm (ET).

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM Radio will have live coverage of the BMW begins at 1:00pm to 7:00pm (ET) today and Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, coverage will air 1:00pm to 6:00pm (or completion of event). PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92 or online via PGATourCom.

How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)

Zalatoris Wins his First at FedEx St. Jude

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MEMPHIS – Will Zalatoris won his first career PGA Tour title in his 56th Tour start at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. In doing so, Zalatoris became the first player since Camilo Villegas at the 2008 BMW Championship to make a FedEx Cup Playoffs event his maiden Tour title.

Sunday’s playoff marked the eighth playoff this season and the first since the Charles Schwab Challenge. It was the fifth playoff at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in the FedExCup era (2007-present). Most recently, Tony Finau defeated Cameron Smith in a playoff at Liberty National Golf Club in 2021.

In his first playoff on Tour, Sepp Straka finished as runner-up but made his fourth Top-10 of the season, moving to No. 8 in the FedEx Cup overall standings. He has never made it past the first FedEx Cup Playoffs event in three previous seasons.

Four players who entered the week outside of the Top 70 moved inside the cut to qualify for this week’s BMW Championship. They are: Lucas Glover(T-3), Adam Scott (T-5), Andrew Putnam (T-5) and Wyndham Clark (T-28).

Of players who made cut, Brendon Todd finished 67th to move outside the Top 70.

Prior to the start of the final round, Cameron Smith (T13) was assessed a two-stroke penalty for a breach of Rule 14.7 (playing ball from the wrong place) on hole No. 4 during the third round as he was operating under Rule 17.1 (when ball is in penalty area). Smith’s score was adjusted from 199 (-11) to 201 (-9). Smith finished T-13 in his first start since winning The Open Championship.

Twitter avatar for @PGATOURPGA TOUR @PGATOUR

An instant classic. @WillZalatoris vs. @seppstraka Every shot from the third and deciding playoff hole @FedExChamp

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FedEx St. Jude Championship | Final Leaderboard

*Will Zalatoris 71-63-65-66—265 (-15)

Sepp Straka 64-66-68-67—265 (-15)

Lucas Glover 65-68-69-66—268 (-12)

Brian Harman 66-66-69-67—268 (-12)

Seven players at -11

*Defeated Sepp Straka on the third playoff hole (par-3 No.11) with a bogey-4

Full Leaderboard: (link)

Spaun One-Up After 54 Holes at St. Jude

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MEMPHIS – In search of his second win this season, J.J. Spaun takes his third career 54-hole lead/co-lead on Tour in his first start at TPC Southwind.

Embed from Getty Images

Sepp Straka seeks to advance to the BMW Championship for the first time in his fourth FedEx Cup Playoffs appearance

With eight Top-10 finishes this season, Will Zalatoris seeks his first PGA Tour win to join Camilo Villegas as the only player(s) to win a maiden Tour title at a FedEx Cup Playoffs event.

With a win, Cameron Smith – two strokes back – would overtake Scottie Scheffler as World No. 1.

Tony Finau (T-8) seeks to become first player to successfully defend a title in a FedEx Cup Playoffs event. A win would mark three consecutive tournament victories.

After 54 holes at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, five players are currently projected to move inside the Top 70 and qualify for the BMW Championship

In:

Tyler Duncan ; Wyndham Clark ; Andrew Putnam; Hayden Buckley; Adam Scott

Out:

Brendon Todd; Alex Smalley; Anirban Lahiri; John Huh; Lanto Griffin

South Korea’s Sungjae Im (T-8) at (-7) posted the low score of the day (63).

FedEx St. Jude Leaderboard | After 54 Holes

J.J. Spaun 62-67-68—197 (-13)

Sepp Straka 64-66-68—198 (-12)

Will Zalatoris 71-63-65—199 (-11)

Trey Mullinax 66-67-66—199 (-11)

Cameron Smith 67-65-67—199 (-11)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

Si Woo Kim and J.J. Spaun Lead at FedEx St Jude Championship

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MEMPHIS – Si Woo Kim and J.J. Spaun each shot eight-under (62s) in the opening round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, to lead the first leg of the 2022 FedExCup Playoffs. Si Woo Kim holed out for eagle on his final hole (No. 18) for career-low nine-hole score (28)

There are 15 other players within three strokes of the lead going into Friday’s second round at TPC Southwind. Another dozen players are four strokes off the lead. Even par (70) was good for only a T-77.

Rickie Fowler, the last man in at No. 125, shot a five-under (65) and is contention not only for a possible tournament win, but also to qualify for the Top 70 and advance to the BMW Championship next weekend in Delaware.

Rookie Sahith Theegala carded a bogey-free (63) in first FedExCup Playoffs appearance.

FedEx St. Jude Leaderboard | After 18 Holes

Si Woo Kim 62 (-8)

J.J. Spaun 62 (-8)

Sahith Theegala 63 (-7)

J.T. Poston 64 (-6)

Tony Finau 64 (-6)

K.H. Lee 64 (-6)

Sepp Straka 64 (-6)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

PGA Tour: FedEx St. Jude Preview

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FedEx Cup Playoffs Begin This Weekend in Memphis

MEMPHIS – The FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first event of the 2022 FedEx Cup Playoffs, will be held at TPC Southwind. The club as hosted PGA Tour events (FedEx St. Jude Classic), a World Golf Championship (WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational) and the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

At the conclusion of the three-week playoff, the 2022 FedEx Cup Champion will receive a bonus of $18 million.

World No. 1 and FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler is making his third appearance in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, advancing to the Tour Championship in each of his first two seasons (No. 5 in 2019-20, No. 22 in 2020-21). Scheffler will make his fifth start at TPC Southwind, having played the FedEx St. Jude Classic twice on a sponsor exemption (MC/2014, T43/2018). Scheffler has won four times this season, including the Masters Tournament, and looks to become the second player to win the Masters and the FedEx Cup in the same season (Jordan Spieth, 2014-15). Scheffler received a $4 million bonus via the Comcast Business Tour Top 10 for holding the top spot in the FedEx Cup standings at the end of the regular season and a $1 million bonus for winning the Aon Risk Reward Challenge. The bonuses do not count towards his official money total of $13,176,910 million, the largest in a single season earnings in Tour history.

Tony Finau has won each of his last two starts on the PGA TOUR and is also the defending champion this week, winning the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs in 2021 at Liberty National Golf Club. Finau is one of three players this season to win in back-to-back starts, along with Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele. The last player to win in three consecutive starts on Tour was Dustin Johnson during the 2016-17 season (The Genesis Invitational, WGC-Mexico Championship, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play).

FedEx St. Jude Championship | Tournament Facts

COURSE: TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tenn.

YARDS/PAR: 7,243 yards/Par 70

ARCHITECT: Ron Pritchard

PRIZE Money – Purse: $15,000,000/$2,700,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Tony Finau

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour#FedExCup @FedExChamp

Kim Earns First PGA Tour Title

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Kim’s Win at the Wyndham Marks End of Regular Season

GREENSBORO – Joohyung “Tom” Kim earned his first PGA Tour title at the Wyndham Championship, gaining full-time membership on the Tour for 2023 and qualifying for the upcoming FedEx Cup Playoffs. He will enter the Playoffs at No. 34 in the FedEx Cup standings.

At age 20 years, 1 month, 17 days, Kim is the second-youngest winner on the PGA TOUR since World War II, the youngest being Jordan Spieth, 2013 John Deere Classic). Kim is the first player born in the 2000s to win on Tour.

Kim made a quadruple bogey on his first hole of the tournament (No. 1 in R-1). He is the first player on record (since 1983) to make a quadruple bogey on the first hole of an event and go on to win and the fifth to record such a score on any hole and go on to win.

Kim joined the PGA Tour as a Special Temporary Member after The Open Championship and is the first Special Temporary Member to win on Tour since Collin Morikawa at the 2019 Barracuda Championship.

Kim’s front-nine (27) tied the second-lowest nine-hole score in PGA Tour history (15th instance of (27) or lower) and his final round (61) tied the fifth-lowest final-round score by a winner on record (since 1983).

Sungjae Im finished in a two-way tie for second place and moved to No. 10 in the FedExCup standings, earning $1 million through the Comcast Business Tour Top 10.

As has been a bit of a tradition, two players who didn’t enter the week in the Top 125 in the FedExCup standings moved-up to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs:

  • Joohyung “Tom” Kim (entered the week as a Special Temporary Member)
  • Max McGreevy (entered the week at No. 126)

As CBS Sports signed-off the air yesterday so came an end to Sir Nick Faldo’s 16-year stint as the network’s lead golf analyst and commentator. Here is the final segment:

Wu, Im Lead in Rain-Delayed Wyndham

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GREENSBORO – There are delays at the airport, delays on the highways, delays for deliveries and a delay, once again, at the Wyndham Championship.

The cause? Inclement weather and then darkness on the edge of Sedgefield.

Play was suspended for the day at the Wyndham Championship with only 12 of 86 players completing the third round. The third round will resume this morning at 7:30am (ET).

At 12-under thru 11 holes, Sungjae Im and Brandon Wu share the lead at the weather-delayed Wyndham with this weekend marking the third straight season experiencing weather delays at the championship.

Two past recipients of the Rookie of the Year Award sit T-3 or better as Im is (T-1) and John Huh at (T-3). Meanwhile, five players within two shots of the lead are seeking their first PGA TOUR victory: Wu (T-1), Joohyung Kim (T-3), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (T-5), Anirban Lahiri (T-5), Davis Riley (T-5).

Wyndham Leaderboard

Sungjae Im 63-69 (-12 thru 11 holes)

Brandon Wu 64-67 (-12 thru 11 holes)

John Huh 61-71 (-11 thru 11 holes)

Joohyung Kim 67-64 (-11 thru 10 holes)

Full Leaderboard: (link)