Top 30 set for PGA Tour Championship after Keegan Bradley wins at BMW
By Luke Norris
The top 30 are set for the FedEx Cup finale after Keegan Bradley won the BMW Championship on Monday.
For the first time in a long time, Keegan Bradley is a winner on the PGA Tour after defeating Justin Rose on the first playoff hole at the BMW Championship at Aronimink Golf Club. Not only did the former PGA Champion win for the first time in more than six years, he also played his way into the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings, which means he’ll be at East Lake in Atlanta next week for the Tour Championship, a field that was decided at the conclusion of the BMW. More on that in a moment.
Justin Rose, while obviously disappointed with the second-place finish, does have the fact that he became the top-ranked player in the world to fall back on as a consolation prize. He’ll also enter the Tour Championship in the second position in the FedEx Cup standings, which is a great spot to be in as anyone in the top five who wins the Tour Championship also wins the FedEx Cup. He had a chance to win the BMW on Monday with a par on the 18th and final hole of regulation but a club selection error, a faulty chip and a lipped-out putt put a stop to that. He also had a chance to extend the playoff with a par at the 18th but couldn’t get it to drop, giving Bradley the win.
Bradley, whose last win came at the 2012 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, desperately needed a strong finish at the BMW to get to the FedEx Cup finale and was teetering back and forth with the top 30 all afternoon until sealing the deal with the victory. Entering the week in 52nd position, Bradley had a great week, shooting 66-64-66-64 to vault to sixth in the FedEx Cup standings. It was a fantastic finish and Rose and Bradley were tested by some of the top players in the world all day long.
Had Rory McIlroy been able to make any putts on Monday, he could have gone very low but just couldn’t get anything to drop and finished in fifth. Tiger Woods also made a charge up the leaderboard early and finished with a fantastic round of 65 but the five-shot deficit coming in was just too much to overcome and he finished tied for sixth. 2014 FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel made a run as well, finishing with a 64 and tied for third with Xander Schauffele, who played his way from 41st to 18th this week. Everyone mentioned will be a part of the Tour Championship next week.
As far as who played their way out of the top 30 this week, Emiliano Grillo was one but the other name is quite shocking as Jordan Spieth won’t take part in the Tour Championship for the first time in his career. Needing a strong Monday to get into the field at East Lake, Spieth, who came into the week in 27th position, fell to the 31st spot with a final-round 73.
With the BMW now in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look ahead to the Tour Championship, which will decide the FedEx Cup champion. Any of the 30 players in the field technically have a chance to win the FedEx Cup title with a win at East Lake but there are a lot of scenarios needed for the bottom spots. Sorry, Patton Kizzire, it’s probably not going to happen.
The prime spots are the first five, in which a player who wins the Tour Championship wins the FedEx Cup and the $10 million prize that goes along with it. Those spots belong to Bryson DeChambeau, who won the first two playoff events, Justin Rose, Tony Finau, the likely final member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, Dustin Johnson and defending FedEx Cup champion Justin Thomas.
Again, there are a number of scenarios that could play out at East Lake. But for now, here’s a look at the 30 players who will tee it up next week at the Tour Championship, the finale to the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
- 1. Bryson DeChambeau
- 2. Justin Rose
- 3. Tony Finau
- 4. Dustin Johnson
- 5. Justin Thomas
- 6. Keegan Bradley
- 7. Brooks Koepka
- 8. Bubba Watson
- 9. Billy Horschel
- 10. Cameron Smith
- 11. Webb Simpson
- 12. Jason Day
- 13. Francesco Molinari
- 14. Phil Mickelson
- 15. Patrick Reed
- 16. Patrick Cantlay
- 17. Rory McIlroy
- 18. Xander Schauffele
- 19. Tommy Fleetwood
- 20. Tiger Woods
- 21. Aaron Wise
- 22. Kevin Na
- 23. Rickie Fowler
- 24. Jon Rahm
- 25. Kyle Stanley
- 26. Paul Casey
- 27. Hideki Matsuyama
- 28. Gary Woodland
- 29. Marc Leishman
- 30. Patton Kizzire
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Who’s your pick to win the Tour Championship and will that same person take home the FedEx Cup and the $10 million that goes along with it? Please feel free to join in the conversation in the comments section below.