Adam Scott and Marc Leishman are into the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta next weekend but they will have some serious chasing to do under the tour climax’s new format.
Scott played another fine round of 67 at Medinah today to finish inside the top 10 in the BMW Championship – his seventh top-10 finish of an excellent season – but left himself too much to do to break his winning drought.
The Aussie veteran has not won since the 2016 WGC Cadillac Championship but his 2019 has been outstanding, with his world ranking back inside the top 20.
Scott, 39, will begin the Tour Championship ranked 13th on the Fedex Cup points list with $US 60 million in prizemoney and the bonus pool on the line.
Leishman also had a good day at Medinah, shooting a second consecutive 67 to finish tied-19th, and he will be ranked 21st of 30 going into Atlanta next week.
The PGA Tour has changed the format to a handicap system next week, with the No. 1 ranked player on the standings, Justin Thomas, beginning the week at 10-under par, the second seed at eight-under and working back from there.
As the 13th player Scott will start at three-under par, meaning that he is spotting Thomas seven shots before he starts at East Lake.
Jason Day missed out on the tour Championship after finishing 54th in the BMW Championship meaning his season in America is over.
Thomas won the BMW Championship with relative comfort, taking a six-shot lead into the final round and winning by three shots from fellow-American Patrick Cantlay. Thomas rolled in a four-metre birdie putt at the last for a closing 68 and 25-under par overall, clinching his 10th win on tour but his first in a year.
“I forgot how hard it is to win,’’ he said later, acknowledging that Cantlay had made life difficult for him with his closing 65. Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama was third at 20-under.
Among those to miss out on next week’s Tour Championship were Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth.
The Fedex Cup winner earns $US 15 million.