JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Jon Rahm is young enough at 26 that the FedEx Cup has been a big part of the PGA Tour as long as he has been chasing his dreams, and winning the trophy would mean a lot to him.
He just doesn’t like the way it works, and holding on to a one-shot lead Saturday in the third round in The Northern Trust was only a reminder that great golf doesn’t really mean much without a great finish.
“I don’t like it. I don’t think it’s fair,” Rahm said Friday at Liberty National.
What never made sense to him was someone who could win the all the postseason tournaments and then finish with a dud at the Tour Championship (Sept. 2-5 in Atlanta) and “you can end up with a really bad finish.”
The PGA Tour was trying to create drama among more than a few players at the final event. This is the postseason, and the example often cited was the New England Patriots going undefeated until losing the Super Bowl.
Rahm had an answer for that, too.
“They still finished second,” he said.
For now, Rahm can only worry about the tournament at hand, and while he has produced a mixture of great shots and great saves to reach 16-under 197, one shot ahead of Erik van Rooyen, Rahm still has his hands full.
Play was pushed to Monday, as Henri — downgraded to a tropical storm — posed too much danger for players, spectators and volunteers to be at Liberty National on Sunday. If the weather or the conditions don’t cooperate, the tournament could go to Tuesday.
In a memo sent to players Sunday night, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said he is amending the bad weather guidelines to allow for a Tuesday finish regardless of how much golf is played on Monday.
Some pop-up storms were possible late Monday afternoon.
Monahan cited the importance and the sequential nature of the FedEx Cup playoffs in making an exception to the guidelines.
There was plenty at stake in the PGA Tour postseason. The top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings after this tournament advance to the BMW Championship, which starts Thursday outside Baltimore.
Keith Mitchell was at No. 101. He is in a six-way tie for 11th place and currently is projected to move up to No. 69, which would get him into the BMW Championship. Tom Hoge was at No. 108 and in a three-way tie for sixth at Liberty National, projected to move to No. 57.
Van Rooyen was in position to win at one shot out of the lead, and his travel schedule suddenly became a lot less complicated.
Credit: John Minchillo
Credit: John Minchillo
The South African arrived at Liberty National at No. 76 and planning to play next week, whether that was at Baltimore or Switzerland for the Omega European Masters.
Van Rooyen won the Barracuda Championship two weeks ago for his first PGA Tour title. With the points now worth quadruple value, he appeared certain to extend his tour season one way or another.
For others, their season is over.
Adam Scott, who missed a 4-foot putt in a playoff that would have won the Wyndham Championship last week, followed an opening 67 with a 75 to miss the cut by one shot. He was among 28 players outside the top 70 in the FedEx Cup who missed the cut.
Rahm isn’t the only player who doesn’t like the postseason model.
The new system that began in 2019 awards a two-shot lead to the No. 1 seed at the Tour Championship who starts at 10-under par.
“At the end of the day you could win 15 events, including both playoff events, and you have a two-shot lead,” Rahm said. “I understand it’s for TV purposes and excitement and just making it more a winner-take-all and they gave you a two-shot advantage. But over four days, that can be gone in two holes, right?”
He doesn’t have a solution of his own. And he does like the idea that with a staggered start of 10 under for the top seed down to even par for the final five players in the 30-man field, at least players know what they have to do.
He just knows the FedEx Cup is a trophy he’d like to have.
“It’s a trophy that a very select group of people are going to be able to put their name on,” he said. “It’s one of those, kind of like in majors and great events like The Players, to where ... you have to show up and play good.”
For now, Rahm can only do so much, and the world’s No. 1 player is doing it well.
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