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FedEx Cup Playoffs

Clark Takes Lead at BMW Championship

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ST. LOUIS – (Wire Service Report) – Wyndham Clark pulled off his second consecutive bogey-free 64 Friday to establish a one-stroke lead at the BMW Championship at the Bellerive Country Club.

Clark is 12-under-par 128 at the halfway mark of the FedEx Cup playoffs’ middle event. The top 30 in the points race after Sunday will qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship.

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Clark entered this week fifth in points thanks to a two-win season that included his second U.S. Open. He admitted a playoff win would look nice in his trophy case.

“Obviously majors are the No. 1, and then any time you can win any tournament’s big, but a signature event or a playoff event is massive,” Clark said. “I’ve been close in this event a couple times, so it would be nice to pull through and get a W.”

Clark made three birdies on each side Friday. He has hit 31 of 36 greens in regulation this week, leading the field, while getting up and down from the sand in all three attempts

While Clark is safely booked for Atlanta next week, Gary Woodland has everything to play for as No. 31 in the standings, currently the first player out. He birdied his last two holes to shoot a 5-under 65 and take sole possession of second at 11 under.

“I played nicely. I didn’t hit it as well as I did yesterday, where I was in complete control,” Woodland said. “The key for me was, I lost it a little bit on the back nine, lost some shots to the right, and I was able to adjust, kind of take a step back. … I checked my grip and hit four really great shots coming in on 17, 18, so proud of the adjustment I made there.”

J.J. Spaun (66) is third at 10 under. Sungjae Im of South Korea fired a 64 to tie Chris Gotterup (67) for fourth at 9 under, while Patrick Cantlay carded a 65 to join Michael Thorbjornsen (66) at 8 under.

Im (No. 40), Cantlay (No. 43) and Thorbjornsen (No. 41) are all vying to play their way into the Tour Championship field. Per the PGA Tour’s live standings, Thorbjornsen is projected to move into the 30th and final spot and Cantlay would only get to No. 31.

“I would say almost regardless of where I’m at, top of the FedEx Cup or on the bubble, I don’t really think about it,” said Cantlay, the 2021 FedEx Cup champion. “I definitely know the best way to move up that board is to play well this week and so I just put all my attention there.”

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy dropped from a share of the lead to a tie for eighth at 7 under after posting a 69 Friday. He’s joined by Collin Morikawa (65), Russell Henley (66) and Maverick McNealy (66).

World No. 1 and FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler bounced back from an opening 72 to post 65. That moved him to 3 under for the week, tied for 25th. There is no 36-hole cut in the three playoff events.

Scheffler carded two bogeys and two bounce-back birdies on the front nine before coming home in 5-under 30.

“Yesterday I had a couple nasty lip-outs and the greens were pretty chewed up late in the day,” Scheffler said. “Today get out there a little earlier on fresh greens, see a couple go in early, and things just start to look a little simpler when there’s not a lot of stuff in your way.”

–Field Level Media

Rose Takes FedEx St. Jude

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MEMPHIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – England’s Justin Rose birdied four of the last five holes of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind to force a playoff and birdied the third playoff hole to capture the first leg of the PGA Tour’s season-ending, three-tournament playoffs.

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Rose’s magical finish in regulation – birdies at 14, 15, 16 and 17 — allowed the 45-year-old veteran to pass 54-hole leader Tommy Fleetwood and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and join J.J. Spaun, the reigning U.S. Open champion, in the playoff.

Spaun birdied two of his final three holes in regulation to join Rose in the playoff. Rose and Spaun both had birdie putts on the first playoff hole lip out forcing a return trip to No. 18. On their second tries, they converted birdie putts with Spaun’s coming from 30 feet.

The hole location on 18 was changed for the third playoff hole and Rose dropped his birdie putt from 12 feet. Spaun’s seven-foot attempt for birdie slid left of the cup.

“That was an amazing last 90 minutes,” Rose said. “I never stopped believing.”

The Top 50 in the FedEx Cup points standings advance to the second round of the playoffs, the BMW Championship, which will be held at Caves Valley Golf Club at Owings Mills, Maryland beginning Thursday.

Rose began his charge shortly after a bogey at the par-4 12th hole to move up the leaderboard.

Rose didn’t play any practice rounds before the start of the St. Jude and he skipped the Wednesday pro-am because of illness, but the absences didn’t affect his play.

Rose had a chance to win on the 72nd hole, but his 13-foot birdie putt slid past the hole forcing the playoff with the 34-year-old Spaun. He had the exact same putt on the first playoff hole.

Fleetwood once again was denied the opportunity to win for the first time in 15 years on the PGA Tour. Entering the final round with a one-stroke lead, he was unable to hold a two-stroke lead with three holes to play. He had a par-bogey-par finish.

“I’m obviously disappointed,” Fleetwood said. “I was next to somebody (Rose) who played unbelievable golf down the stretch.”

– Field Level Media

Fleetwood Leads at FedEx St. Jude

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MEMPHIS – England’s Tommy Fleetwood struggled early and lost his lead at the FedEx St. Jude Championships before recovering on the back nine Saturday to remain atop the leaderboard after three rounds of the opening leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

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Fleetwood shot 1-under 69 and is at 14-under 196 after the third round at TPC Southwind. He will carry a one-stroke advantage into Sunday’s final round over England’s Justin Rose and a two-shot lead over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.

Rose posted a 67 and finished with birdies on holes 16 and 18, which sandwiched a bogey at the 17th. Fleetwood bogeyed the final hole after missing the fairway on his drive, his only missed fairway of the round. Fleetwood had a three-shot lead after 17 holes.

Fleetwood, 34, is seeking his first win on the PGA Tour. Rose, 45, is attempting to become the first player in his 40s to win on Tour this season.

Scheffler closed with birdies on Nos. 16 and 18 to post a 5-under 65, tied for the best round of the day, and is at 12-under 198.

U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun made the biggest move Saturday. He matched Scheffler’s 65 to advance from a tie for 11th to a tie for fourth at 11-under 199. Andrew Novak is also at 199 after making back-to-back pars to end his round.

Rickie Fowler shot a 66 to put himself in position to qualify for the second round of the playoffs. He’s tied for sixth at 9-under 201 and just inside the top 50 in the Cup standings.

Those who finish in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup standings after Sunday’s round will advance to next week’s BMW Championship — the second of the PGA Tour’s three playoff tournaments — in Owings Mills, Maryland.

Fleetwood has had five top-five finishes this season, including a runner-up showing at the Travelers Championship in June.

Rose was runner-up to Rory McIlroy at the Masters and had two top-20 finishes — sixth at the Scottish Open and 16th at The Open — last month.

– Field Level Media

Bradley Takes the BMW Championship

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CASTLE ROCK – Keegan Bradley, the USA’s Ryder Cup captain for 2025, rode patriotic cheers to victory at the BMW Championship as he shot even-par 72 in the final round Sunday for a 12-under-par 276 at Castle Pines Golf Club in Colorado.

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It capped a dramatic resurgence for Bradley, who was named the US Ryder Cup captain last month and was the last man (No. 50) in the field this week.

Yet, his seventh PGA Tour win means Bradley will enter the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta next week in fourth place at 6 under based on the staggered start used at the season’s final tournament.

Bradley, who was not selected as a captain’s pick on the 2023 Ryder Cup team, heard cheers from the gallery of “Let’s go captain” and “U-S-A” everywhere he went. Bradley took a lead he would not relinquish with a par on the 537-yard, par-4 10th hole that broke a tie with Australian Adam Scott (72), who had a three-putt bogey on the hardest hole on the course.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (72) tied for 33rd at the BMW, but he enters East Lake as the top seed and will start at 10 under par. Xander Schauffele (71, tied for fifth) will be second at 8 under par and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who withdrew with a back injury from the BMW, will be third at 7 under.

Sam Burns shot a final-round-best 7-under-par 65 to finish tied for second with Scott and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg (71) at 11-under 277. It’s the fourth career runner-up finish for Burns, who had eight birdies in his round and narrowly missed a bunker shot on the par-4 18th hole that would have tied the lead.

 

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Burns’ lone bogey on the par-5 14th slowed his rally, but he bounced back with consecutive birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 to enter the Tour Championship ninth in FedEx Cup points.

Australian Cam Davis (66) led the field with 24 birdies on the week and tied for fifth at 8-under 280 with Tommy Fleetwood of England (69) — who played his way into the Tour Championship as he moved from 31st to 22nd in the FedEx Cup standings — plus Schauffele and South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (70).

Chris Kirk (69) played his way into East Lake as he rose from 32nd to 26th after a tie for ninth with Sweden’s Alex Noren (75).

–James Nokes, Field Level Media

Can Viktor Hovland Defend at FedEx?

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MEMPHIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Viktor Hovland can empathize with most amateur golfers in at least one easy-to-understand way.

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He doesn’t enjoy being on the golf course when he’s playing poorly.

Of course, Hovland’s standards are quite different than the average Sunday duffer. The young Norwegian star was coming off winning the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus last year when he changed swing coaches.

It was part of a quest to hit a more consistent cut. But as has happened to so many elite players before him who have attempted swing changes, it backfired on Hovland.

After closing out 2023 with five consecutive top-10 finishes, Hovland opened this year with a T22 in the 59-player field at The Sentry. What’s followed has been a lone top-10 in his past 12 starts on tour — a solo third at the PGA Championship.

Hovland is coming off a T30 at the Olympics and sits in 57th place entering the first leg of the playoffs at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Only the top 50 after this week advance to the BMW Championship, but Hovland is confident that he sees the light at the end of the tunnel of a very frustrating season to date.

“It feels like it’s been a lot of peaks and valleys. I mean, it’s just not that fun to play golf when you don’t know where the ball is going,” he said on Tuesday.

“I do pride myself in trying to make the best out of it, but it gets to a point where you kind of lose that belief — you just see a shot, and that’s not good enough. I can try to grind my hardest. I can try to chip in from there. But you do that too often, too many times during the course of a round or a tournament, it’s too much to overcome.

“And I feel like it’s a waste of time for me to be playing golf if that’s where I’m at. I’d rather be off the golf course and work on it, trying to figure out why I’m doing those things.”

Hovland has withdrawn from multiple events this year — the WM Phoenix Open after a T58 at Pebble Beach and later from the RBC Heritage, a signature event, after shooting an 81 to miss the cut at the Masters. Both WDs prompted rumors that Hovland was considering a move to LIV Golf, but he has insisted that he’d rather work on his game at home than struggle in competition.

Morikawa, Hovland Surge to Lead after 36

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ATLANTA – With birdies on his final two holes, Collin Morikawa opened with rounds of 61-64 –(125) to break the TOUR Championship 36-hole scoring record of 127, previously set by Tiger Woods in 2007.

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Tying Morikawa on the leaderboard, but not with a TOUR record-setting performance, Viktor Hovland recorded a second-round 64 in his fourth consecutive start at the TOUR Championship and sits (68-64 and -16) after starting at (-8) and the No. 2 slot in the FedEx Cup standings after winning last week’s BMW Championship.

Scottie Scheffler (3rd place) enters the weekend two shots back, marking the second time in the FedEx Cup starting strokes era that the No. 1 seed entering the week has not held at least a share of the 36-hole lead (Justin Thomas/2019).

With two great rounds in the 60s (63-67), Travelers Championship winner Keegan Bradley sits in 4th place heading into the weekend. The favorite son of New England plays well in the Georgia sun.

Making his seventh consecutive start at the TOUR Championship, Xander Schauffele (T5) carded a second-round (64) to reach 12-under, recording his 23rd of 26 career rounds under par in the event.

With a 3-under 67, three-time FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy (7th) recorded his 30th consecutive round at par or better on TOUR, the longest active current streak. McIlroy is looking to become the first back-to-back FedEx Cup champion.

Whole Lotta Golf is ahead and they’ll tee it up for third round at 12:21pm today at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta,

TOUR Championship | Leaderboard After 36 Holes

T1 Viktor Hovland – 68-64 (-16)

T1 Collin Morikawa – 61-64 (-16)

3 Scottie Scheffler – 71-65 (-14)

4 Keegan Bradley – 63-67 (-13)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

Glover Leads at FedEx St. Jude

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MEMPHIS – Lucas Glover holds his fifth career 54-hole lead/co-lead and is 1-for-4 converting the victory (2023 Wyndham Championship). He’s the first player to hold the 54-hole lead in back-to-back weeks on TOUR since Patrick Cantlay (2021 BMW Championship, TOUR Championship)

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At 43 years old, Glover became the first player to hold the 54-hole lead at 40 or older in the FedExCup Playoffs since Tiger Woods (42 years, 2018 TOUR Championship).

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Making only his second FedEx Cup Playoffs appearance, Taylor Moore (2nd/-13) carded a (65) and leads the field in Greens in Regulation Percentage at 75.93% (41/54) through three round. He earned his maiden PGA TOUR title at the Valspar Championship alongside two other Top-10s this season (T4/Zurich Classic of New Orleans; T4/Rocket Mortgage Classic).

Tommy Fleetwood (3rd/-12) posted his third consecutive (66) and seeks to join Will Zalatoris (2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship) and Camilo Villegas (2018 BMW Championship) as players to win their first PGA TOUR title in a FedExCup Playoffs event.

Max Homa (T4/-11) posted a bogey-free (65) to sit inside the Top 5 through 54 holes on TOUR for the first time since The Genesis Invitational (2nd/finished 2nd). Homa has finished no higher than T42 in six previous starts at TPC Southwind (2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship)

Justin Rose (T23/-6) needed 21 putts to post a bogey-free 9-under (61), tying the course record set by Tom Lewis (R3/2020), Bob Estes (R1/2001) and Jay Delsing (R4/1993). He’s played his last 36 holes at (-12).

FedEx St Jude Championship | Leaderboard After 54 Holes

1 Lucas Glover 66 64 66 196 (-14)

2 Taylor Moore 66 66 65 197 (-13)

3 Tommy Fleetwood 66 66 66 198 (-12)

T4 Max Homa 68 66 65 199 (-11)

T4 Jordan Spieth 63 68 68 199 (-11)

Full Leaderboard (link)

Fowler Ready for FedEx Cup Playoffs

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*Tee times at the FedEx St. Jude Championship are delayed until 11:10am (ET) because of storms

MEMPHIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Although it’s been over a month since his last top-10 finish, Rickie Fowler is as confident as ever heading into this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tenn.

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Fowler prevailed in a three-way playoff at the Rocket Mortgage Classic back on July 2, but has since tapered off, finishing tied for 42nd two weeks later at the Genesis Scottish Open before a T23 at The Open Championship on July 23.

It’s a stark contrast from how Fowler was playing before his victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. The 34-year-old had seemingly found his stride, placing inside the top 15 in seven of the eight events prior to his lone title this season, although he did miss the cut at the PGA Championship back in May.

Despite not being able to replicate those types of performances during the final two tournaments of the regular season, Fowler figures the playoffs are as good a time as any to get back on track.

“Excited, probably the best I’ve come into the playoffs as far as a consistent year and how I’ve been playing,” Fowler said. “Nice to come off of getting a little bit of rest, because I was kind of running on an empty tank at the Scottish and the British.

“That was the last of — eight out of 10-week stretch. Got a few days to kind of recharge a little bit at home and get ready for this three-week stretch.”

Fowler is also excited about getting the playoffs started at TPC Southwind, where he shot a first-round 65 last year before struggling over the next three days and carding a 71, 72 and 73 to finish T64 at 1-over 281.

However, Fowler would be open to playing at some new courses during the postseason.

“I like this golf course. I think with the playoffs, it could be kind of cool and interesting to see some more movement,” Fowler said. “East Lake has kind of always been East Lake and the finale.

I think it would be kind of cool to see the Playoffs move around a little bit. I think the only one that really does is the second with BMW. … Like I said, I do enjoy coming to Memphis. I’ve had success at this golf course. I like this place. They’ve got some good eats around here, too.”

Fowler enters the first playoff event with the ninth-most FedEx Cup points, but he still knows it’s going to take a lot to outlast the rest of the field.

“Done a lot of good things this year,” Fowler said. “There’s guys that have definitely played better and won more, but it really comes down to these three weeks, and we have a real chance, but going to need to play really well.”

–Field Level Media

PGA Tour: FedEx Cup Playoffs | Preview

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MEMPHIS – The FedExCup Playoffs begin Thursday (August 10) at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, with the Top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings through the Wyndham Championship qualifying for the Playoffs (down from 125 in 2009-2022).

The Top 50 players after this, the first Playoffs event of 2023, will advance to the BMW Championship and qualify for all eight Signature Events on the PGA TOUR schedule in 2024.

Jon Rahm enters the FedExCup Playoffs as the No. 1 player in the FedExCup standings for the first time in his PGA TOUR career. Rahm has four wins this season and earned a bonus of $4 million for being No. 1 in the Comcast Business Tour Top 10. This is Rahm’s seventh season on TOUR and he has advanced to the TOUR Championship in each of the previous six. He has also won on TOUR in seven straight seasons, the longest active streak of any player that has won in 2022-23 (Justin Thomas won in each season from 2015-16 through 2021-22 and can extend his streak in the FedEx Cup Fall).

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is second in the FedExCup standings, trailing Rahm by 173.780 points. In nine starts in the Playoffs, Scheffler has recorded four top-five finishes, highlighted by a runner-up at the 2022 TOUR Championship. Scheffler’s Official Money total of $19,138,342 is the highest in a single season in PGA TOUR history.

Scheffler, who won THE PLAYERS Championship in March, could become the second player to win THE PLAYERS and the FedEx Cup in the same year and first since Rory McIlroy in 2019.

Three-time FedExCup Champion Rory McIlroy (2016, 2019, 2022) enters the week No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings, winning twice during the regular season (The CJ CUP in South Carolina, Genesis Scottish Open). McIlroy recorded his sixth career victory in the FedEx Cup Playoffs at the 2022 TOUR Championship, tying Dustin Johnson for the most of any player. No player has ever won the FedEx Cup in back-to-back seasons. McIlroy enters the Playoffs with par-or-better scores in his last 20 rounds on TOUR, the longest active streak of any player. His last over-par score came in the final round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday (3-over (75), held a share of the 54-hole lead.

FedEx St. Jude Championship | Tournament Facts

COURSE: TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tenn.

YARDS/PAR: 7,243 yards/Par 70

ARCHITECT: Ron Pritchard

PRIZE Money – Purse: $20,000,000/$3,600,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Will Zalatoris

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 2,000

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @FedExChamp

For Odds and additional Information – See Betting Hero

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)