Now, they wait and hope to hear from Steve Stricker.
The Tour Championship was the last chance for several golfers hoping to be named one of six captain’s picks for the upcoming Ryder Cup to earn favor. Stricker, who will lead the United States team, will announce the six picks to complete the 12-man team on Wednesday in advance of the competition at the end of the month.
Collin Morikawa, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay have already earned spots by finishing in the top six in the Ryder Cup point standings. There were 11 golfers who advance to the Tour Championship this week that now hope to get a call to be added to the team that will take on Europe at Whistling Straights in Wisconsin. Here is how they fared (listed in order of final standings):
7. Tony Finau: Tie-11 (Even par for the week)
8. Xander Schauffele: T-5 (-12)
9. Jordan Spieth: T-20 (Even)
10. Harris English: T-18 (-2)
11. Patrick Reed: 25 (-2)
12. Daniel Berger: T-11 (-8)
14. Scottie Scheffler: T-22 (-2)
15. Jason Kokrak: T-11 (-6)
16. Sam Burns: T-18 (-2)
17. Billy Horschel: T-9 (-10)
19. Kevin Na: 3 (-14)
“My phone will be open,” said Reed, who returned to play after not playing a competitive round in nearly a month due to bilateral pneumonia. “I’ll text him obviously (Sunday) and just kind of let him know how I felt throughout the week, just want to talk to him on Wednesday, told him I would keep him updated on how I feel and how everything went and things like that.”
Would-be winners
Without the staggered scoring system, Jon Rahm and Na would have tied for the lead as both finished the week 14-under par.
Rahm entered the tournament in fourth with a starting score of 6-under par. Na entered in 19th with a starting score of 2-under par.
“No matter what golf course I play, if I’m on, I can play,” Na said. “This is a golf course that I always felt like it didn’t really suit my game. Hitting two to three clubs more than everybody else on every hole, greens are firm, if you miss the fairway for me there’s no chance out of the rough for me. I drove it beautifully, where I was hitting a lot of fairways. That was the key to a successful week.”
The rest of the top-10 would have been Schauffele (-12), Cantlay (-11, who actually won at 21-under), Thomas (-11), Viktor Hovland (-11), Horschel (-10), Johnson (-8), Berger (-8) and Sergio Garcia (-7).
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
Winners and losers
Cantlay kept his spot atop the leaderboard all week and cashed in on the huge FedEx Cup payday of $15 million dollars as the winner.
Some players made big jumps on the final point standings that will be reflected in their bank accounts. Others will miss out on a lot of money.
Here’s a look at some of the big winners and losers:
⋅ Na entered the 30-man playoff in 19th place that has a payout of $520,000. He moved up 16 spots and finished third and received $4 million.
⋅ Horschel entered in 29th place that has a $405,000 payout. He moved up 20 spots and tied for 9th place and received $890,000.
⋅ Berger entered in 26th place that has a payout of $435,000. He moved up 15 spots and tied for 11th place and received $705,000.
⋅ Garcia entered in 28th place that has a payout of $415,000. He moved up 14 spots and tied for 14th and received $583,750.
⋅ Morikawa, who led the FedEx Cup point standings to start the playoffs, entered the Tour Championship in 11th place that has a payout of $750,000. He finished tied for 26th and received $425,000.
⋅ Finau entered in second place that has a payout of $5 million. He finished tied for 11th and received $705,000.
⋅ English entered in seventh place that has a payout of $1.3 million. He finished tied for 18th and received $527,500.
⋅ Spieth entered in ninth place that has a payout of $950,000. He finished tied for 20th and received $497,500.
The streak continues
Schauffele has never shot an above-par round at East Lake Golf Club during the Tour Championship. He concluded this week with sub-par rounds of 68-69-67-64. Sunday marked the 20th consecutive round of par or better.
Go Dawgs
Rory McIlroy heard it plenty playing the final round with English. “Go Dawgs,” as it has all week, was the battle cry shouted at Harris, a Georgia alum. Perhaps unbeknownst to him, McIlroy put himself right in the middle of the Georgia-Alabama college football rivalry.
“I know their slogan or motto at this point,” McIlroy said. “It’s better. I played with J.T. (Justin Thomas) here last year and all I heard was ‘Roll Tide.’ I feel like Georgians don’t have quite the accent that the people from Alabama do. ‘Go Dawgs’ is a little easier on the ears.”
About the Author
