Keegan Bradley, left, talks with Scottie Scheffler at the St. Jude Championship golf tournament on Aug. 14, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. The tournament is scheduled to begin Thursday.Mark Humphrey/The Associated Press
The BMW Championship is the last stop before the leading six players get automatic spots in the Presidents Cup next month at Royal Montreal.
Turns out the first FedEx Cup playoff event had a strong effect, too.
Jordan Spieth might have been a long shot to make the U.S. team, but last week sealed it. He finished 26 shots out of the lead, failed to advance and said he would be having surgery on his left wrist. His season is over.
It also was a big blow to Mackenzie Hughes of Canada, who dropped out of the top 50. International captain Mike Weir wants a strong Canadian presence, but none is in the top six and four other Canadians are ahead of Hughes.
Weir gets six captain’s picks after the Tour Championship. Hughes won’t be at East Lake, either. This comes two years after Hughes, renowned for his putting, was curiously left off the International side for the matches at Quail Hollow, where he is a member.
For the Americans, there figures to be significant turnover from their last team competition at the Ryder Cup.
Three players already are effectively eliminated – Spieth, Rickie Fowler (didn’t qualify for the postseason) and Brooks Koepka (ineligible because he plays for LIV Golf).
The leading five – Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark and Patrick Cantlay – were at Marco Simone. Sahith Theegala is holding down the sixth spot over Tony Finau.
Max Homa, who went 4-0 in his Presidents Cup debut at Quail Hollow, finished last in the 70-man field last week. He has not contended since his Sunday chance at the Masters (his lone top 10 was at Wells Fargo, where he finished 13 shots behind). Homa is at No. 9 in the standings.
Right behind is Brian Harman, who has one top-10 finish in his past 13 starts.
The wild card, again, is Justin Thomas. He is at No. 16 in the standings and he could use a mile-high effort this week. Thomas faced plenty of scrutiny after being picked for the Ryder Cup team without having qualified for the postseason.
U.S. captain Jim Furyk could have some interesting choices, such as 20-year-old Nick Dunlap or 22-year-old Akshay Bhatia, depending on what kind of performances he sees at Castle Pines and then East Lake.
The International team, which has lost nine in a row, is the side that would appear to have some stability. The leading five players were at Quail Hollow and Byeong Hun An played in the 2019 matches. Four others from the 2022 team have done well enough to merit consideration.
Solheim Cup push
The Women’s British Open at St. Andrews is the final qualifying event for the Solheim Cup, with seven players vying for the final two automatic spots for the U.S. team.
Lauren Coughlin, who won the Women’s Scottish Open, and Allisen Corpuz, who tied for 15th in Scotland, clinched their spots. Meghan Khang and Andrea Lee are holding down the final two spots among seven automatic qualifiers.
Rose Zhang is at No. 8, though she also is leading in the two spots awarded to players from the women’s world ranking not already eligible.
Stacy Lewis gets three captain’s picks, one of them likely going to Lexi Thompson, who has shown renewed form since announcing her retirement from a full schedule.
Europe takes two players from its European Solheim Cup standings, the leading six players from the women’s world ranking and Suzann Pettersen will get four captain’s picks.
The matches are Sept. 13-15 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va.
Keegan hangs on
Keegan Bradley figured to be safe when he started the postseason at No. 39, but that was a little misleading. There were 93 points between Bradley and No. 38, and only 105 points down to Jake Knapp at No. 50.
Bradley left the TPC Southwind projected outside the top 50 and he narrowly hung on, moving inside when Tom Kim finished bogey-double bogey-double bogey.
He has said his goal was to get to the Tour Championship. But the Ryder Cup captain did well to make it to the BMW Championship. The top 50 get into all eight signature events next year, allowing Bradley to be around players likely to make his team for Bethpage Black.
Plus, he doesn’t have to put tournament directors in a spot by asking for exemptions.
Winners out
Winning a PGA Tour event that offers full FedEx Cup points is worth a trip to the Masters and PGA Championship, a start at Kapalua for The Sentry and a two-year exemption. But it doesn’t guarantee the top 50 in the FedEx Cup and the guarantee of playing the eight US$20-million signature events the following year.
Nick Taylor (Phoenix Open), Jake Knapp (Mexico Open), Peter Malnati (Valspar Championship), Davis Riley (Colonial) and Jhonattan Vegas (3M Open) did not reach the BMW Championship.
Don’t expect Vegas to lose sleep over it. He was No. 139 in the FedEx Cup and in danger of losing his card when he won in Minnesota.
Saunders retires
Trying to play golf at the highest level is difficult enough. Sam Saunders did this while being known his entire career as the grandson of Arnold Palmer.
Saunders strived for his own identity while embracing his heritage with remarkable poise.
But the 37-year-old is ready to move on. Saunders missed the cut on the Korn Ferry Tour last week and posted to Instagram that it was his last professional round. He did not qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour postseason after making only four cuts this year.
“I started this career over 15 years ago, and today was my last professional round,” Saunders wrote. “I didn’t want to post anything or make a big to-do of it, but I have too many people I want to thank, and acknowledge what a treat it has been.
“It was never easy for me, and I never reached my playing goals, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
He did not indicate what he plans to do. It would not be surprising to see him take on a key role in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Divots
Adam Scott and Jason Day are the only players at the BMW Championship who played Castle Pines in the International. Neither was a full PGA Tour member at the time. Scott had just turned 20 and was making his sixth start as a professional. … Lauren Coughlin has earned US$1,876,282 this year. Her career LPGA earnings from four previous full seasons were US$867,197. … Hideki Matsuyama has finished in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup every year since his first full season on the PGA Tour. His 11 straight is the longest active streak. … Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion Lottie Woad has won the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the leading female in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for 2024. The first McCormack Medal winner from England, Woad gets exemptions into the U.S. Women’s Open and the Women’s British Open next year. … Willie Smith took home one-third of the entire purse – US$50 – when he won the inaugural Western Open in 1899. The winner of this week’s BMW Championship – the successor to the Western Open – gets US$4-million.
Stat of the week
Scottie Scheffler has finished in the top 10 at 15 of his past 16 tournaments. The exception was the U.S. Open.
Final word
“My name is ahead of a lot of guys that were playing for those big points, no-cut events.’’ – Maverick McNealy, who finished at No. 53 in the FedEx Cup. His only signature event was a sponsor exemption to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.