Geoff Ogilvy has made a spectacular return to form to snare second place in the second US PGA Playoff event, the Deutsche Bank Championship.
After a long battle with his game, the Victorian came close to winning the tournament, eventually surrendering to American Chris Kirk, who netted the biggest title of his career.
Ogilvy thought his season was over and flew home to Arizona after missing the cut in the opening playoff event, the Barclays Championship.
But the 2006 US Open champion scraped into the Deutsche Bank event in 100th and last spot.
He built on that opening to fire a flawless six-under-par 65 final round at TPC Boston.
Ogilvy actually shared the lead walking down the 17th hole but closed with two pars while Kirk picked up birdies to win by two shots.
The result has rocketed Ogilvy from 100th to 24th in the FedEx Cup standings, ensuring him a spot in this week’s 70-man field for the BMW Championship at Cherry Hills.
It also means he has a good chance of making the 30-man field for the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta where the $US10 million bonus is up for grabs for the season’s points winner.
“Everything is a bonus,” Ogilvy said. “I mean this time last week I was going home or I was home. I was content with that.”
The result is a key for Ogilvy who was battling all year before he won the Barracuda Championship in Nevada four weeks ago to edge into the playoffs.
No Australian has ever won the FedEx Cup but there are a several with a chance this year including Jason Day (ranked seventh), Adam Scott (16th), John Senden (19th) and Ogilvy.
Senden closed with a 66 to finish tied fifth in the Deutsche Bank while Day (71) was tied seventh and Scott tied 13th after a closing 67.
Stuart Appleby (26), Steven Bowditch (45), Marc Leishman (47) and Matt Jones (67) also qualified for Colorado this week with Bowditch claiming two eagles in a front-nine 29 in a final-round 65.
Kirk moved into top spot in the playoff standings when he fired a bogey-free closing-round 66 to win the championship from Ogilvy, Billy Horschel and Russell Henley, who tied for second.
Kirk has now put himself well in contention to be one of the three Ryder Cup picks that will be announced this week.
“It’s my biggest win ever,” Kirk said.
Billy Horschel had a chance to at least force a playoff — and possibly win — when he stood in the fairway on the par-five 18th hole with a six-iron in his hand. Horschel hit the shot so badly that it barely reached the hazard, and he made bogey for a 69.
Kirk won for the third time in his career, though never against a field this strong — and never with this much riding on it.
He was No. 14 in the Ryder Cup standings, five spots away from being an automatic qualifier. This victory could go a long way toward U.S. captain Tom Watson using one of his three selections on the 29-year-old from Georgia.
But Kirk said he was trying not to think about that, saying he already had other plans for the weekend (Sept. 26-28) of the Ryder Cup. But he would gladly break those for a trip to Scotland.
“I definitely put myself in contention for one,” Kirk said. “If I get picked great. If not, I’m still happy with my win today,” he said.
By: Robert Grant