That was one hell of a finish to the BMW Championship. You had two completely different players battling all through the back nine and six sudden death holes before a winner was crowned. Patrick Cantlay’s putter was magical throughout the week in Baltimore and came through in the clutch when he needed it most. It was nice to see a guy who doesn’t pummel the ball 300+ every single time come out on top of a masher like Bryson DeChambeau. After the players had to battle U.S. Open style conditions at last year’s BMW Championship, they punished Caves Valley this weekend. It was almost embarrassing to way these pros took it to this course.
I will say that Bryson took a lot of heat from the Maryland crowds over the weekend, so much show the PGA Tour had to step in and ban people from yelling out “Brooksy” at him. If you yell that out at a tournament, you can be kicked off the grounds. I think that’s a little ridiculous but it’s the way of the world these days. Let’s move onto the Tour Championship.
The FedEx Cup Playoffs comes to a conclusion this week at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta, Georgia. This tournament will be unlike anything we’ve seen this season. Fans were not happy in 2018 when Tiger Woods won the Tour Championship but did not accumulate enough points to win the FedEx Cup which went to Justin Rose. The PGA Tour changed the format to where the winner of the Tour Championship also wins the FedEx Cup and the $15 million dollar bonus. In an attempt to appease the fans, the PGA Tour came up with a new format to play the Tour Championship. The higher you are in the FedEx Cup standings, the better your starting position will be at the Tour Championship. This weekend’s tournament will start with this leaderboard:
Patrick Cantlay -10
Tony Finau -8
Bryson DeChambeau -7
Jon Rahm -6
Cameron Smith -5
Justin Thomas -4
Harris English -4
Abraham Ancer -4
Jordan Spieth -4
Sam Burns -4
Collin Morikawa -3
Sungjae Im -3
Viktor Hovland -3
Louis Oosthuizen -3
Dustin Johnson -3
Rory McIlory -2
Xander Schauffele -2
Jason Kokrak -2
Kevin Na -2
Brooks Koepka -2
Corey Conners -1
Hideki Matsuyama -1
Stewart Cink -1
Joaquin Niemann -1
Scottie Scheffler -1
Daniel Berger E
Erik van Rooyen E
Sergio Garcia E
Billy Horschel E
Patrick Reed E
While Patrick Cantlay has a huge advantage this weekend, it is not the be all end all. In 2019, the first year of this format Justin Thomas had top spot with the 10 under starting score but it was Rory McIlory who won the Tour Championship starting at 5 under. Rory is a two time winner at East Lake but this year starting so far behind might be a stretch for him to come back and win it for a third time. I’ll be targeting a lot of guys in the four under and above range this weekend.
East Lake is a Par 70 that measures out 7,346 yards. This course was designed by Donald Ross who also created two similar courses: Sedgefield (Wyndham) and Detroit Country Club (Rocket Mortgage). While a lot of the players in this field haven’t played those events, we do have some history to draw from this week. For example, Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele have never finished outside the Top 10 at East Lake. When you look at the stats which have correlated to success at East Lake, the ones I’ll focus on this week are Fairways Hit, Strokes Gained: Approach, Greens in Regulation, Strokes Gained: Around the Green, Sand Saves, and Par 4 Efficiency 450-500. Golfers will need to keep out of trouble as we’ve got six water hazards and over 70 bunkers. Fairways and greens as much as possible.
If I’m being completely honest, I’m going to play very little this weekend. I’ll save my bankroll and use it in two weeks when the PGA Tour kicks off their 2021-2022 season with their first full field event at Safeway Open. I’ve put together a core play article focusing more on the players who are starting from behind and have to catch Patrick Cantlay. I feel like that’s the strategy to take down a big score this weekend but you can’t completely fade him.
DK | Position | Top Tier | Mid-Tier | Value-Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| G | Patrick Cantlay | Jordan Spieth | Brooks Koepka |
| G | Bryson DeChambeau | Harris English | Corey Conners |
| G | Justin Thomas | Collin Morikawa | Billy Horschel |
FD | Position | Top Tier | Mid-Tier | Value-Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| G | Patrick Cantlay | Harris English | Brooks Koepka |
| G | Bryson DeChambeau | Collin Morikawa | Corey Conners |
| G | Justin Thomas | Louis Oosthuizen | Billy Horschel |
Player News
Justin Thomas arrived at the Travelers Championship amidst a bit of a slump but left with 25 birdies to manage a T9 finish, his first top 10 since March.
Thomas is known for his stellar rate of big finishes over the course of his career but that changed recently with six straight finishes landing outside of the top 10. A cold putter has been the culprit for much of the downturn but he managed to fight through the flat-stick woes this week. Thomas lost 1.9 strokes putting at TPC River Highlands but ranked 3rd in strokes gained tee-to-green. It was a promising result to rebuild some confidence but he still has some work to do in the putting department. Despite the nice finish this week, Thomas is just 66th in the FedExCup race.
Brian Harman tossed together a 6-under 64 on Sunday at the Travelers Championship, posting a piece of second place on the final leaderboard (-20).
Harman entered the week with just one top 25 in his last 14 stroke-play events. It's been a slump for the straight shooter but TPC River Highlands was the perfect cure. The Georgia Bulldog gained 4.4 strokes on approach, 3.5 strokes around-the-green, and 4.9 strokes putting. All three ranked 13th or better for the week. This was far from his first taste of success at the course, going in the books as his sixth career top 10 at TPC River Highlands.
Chez Reavie started the day just one shot off the pace but stumbled with a 1-over 71 to drop back to a share of fourth place on the final leaderboard.
Reavie and overnight leader Keegan Bradley were in a tier of their own to begin the day. Reavie dropped a rung with seven pars and two bogeys before the turn. His driver remained steady (12-of-14 fairways) but lost strokes in each of the other three categories of strokes gained today. It was a day to forget but a week to remember for Reavie who still managed a T4 finish, vaulting him from 114th to 95th in the FedExCup race.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler steadied a 5-under 65 on Sunday at the Travelers Championship, ending the week on 19-under 261, good for a slice of fourth place.
The Texan piled up 21 birdies and a pair of eagles this week at TPC River Highlands. He ended the week ranked second in strokes gained tee-to-green (+11.08). He's now gained at least 10.6 strokes in that department in six straight events. Scheffler carded three sub-66 rounds this week but a two-birdie 70 on Friday is what held him back from truly contending. The World No. 1 now has six straight top-5 finishes and you have to go back to October to find the last time he finished worse than 12th. It's safe to say he's been the most consistent golfer on the planet over the last nine months.
Rory McIlroy raced out of the gate on Sunday at the Travelers Championship before slowing his pace to record a 6-under 64, ending his week in a share of seventh place (18-under 262).
McIlroy circled birdies on five of the first seven holes today. He couldn't maintain that pace but still bettered the field average by more than three shots today. McIlroy tossed together four sub-69 rounds this week at TPC River Highlands but didn't even sniff contention over the weekend. "I don't particularly like when a tournament is like this. Unfortunately technology has passed this course by, right? It sort of has made it obsolete, especially as soft as it has been with a little bit of rain that we had." The Northern Irishman now has five straight top-10 finishes and has his game trending back toward the winner's circle just in time for the season's final major and the FedExCup Playoffs.
Patrick Cantlay gave the leader a small scare down the stretch was swallowed two late bogeys to finish on 19-under this week at the Travelers Championship, four shots off the winning tally of Keegan Bradley.
Cantlay was slow out of the gate with eight pars and a birdie before the turn. He applied some pressure with four birdies on the next six holes, all while Keegan Bradley was starting to leak with three straight bogeys. That shrunk the lead to just three shots be Cantlay stumbled home with two bogeys and a par. "I thought I struck the ball very solid all day. Played smart. Not the finish I wanted obviously, but my game is in a good spot and a lot of big tournaments left this summer." The UCLA alum carded four sub-69 rounds this week and led the field in strokes gained tee-to-green. Cantlay now has six straight top 15s at TPC River Highlands. He collected two victories last season but still searching for his first win of the 2022-23 campaign.