Thomas hangs on to win BMW Championship

Ryan Armour … As one of the shortest knockers on the PGA TOUR, you’d expect the 43-year-old to have a puncher’s chance at Seaside and Waialae where he recorded top 25s earlier this season, but he didn’t permit his weakness to slow him down at the big ballpark of Muirfield Village where he finished T22 on the first Sunday of June. He’s coming off a T54 at the Travelers Championship, but he co-led the tournament after an opening 64 and ranked inside the top 25 in fairways hit, greens in regulation, proximity to the hole and strokes gained: putting for the week. Currently 96th in the FedExCup, but already fully exempt through next season, so he can step on the pedal in Detroit. K.H. Lee … The rookie from South Korea rose to another level after a forgettable 10 starts to open the season, but since the Genesis Open, he’s 12-for-14 with four top-15 finishes, including a T13 at last week’s Travelers Championship where he was one of the six co-leaders after 18 holes. For the week, he ranked inside the top 20 in fairways hit, greens in regulation and scrambling. The 27-year-old also put himself in position at Muirfield Village four weeks ago in co-leading at the midpoint, so it’s evident that his comfort level is directly proportional to his climb in the FedExCup where he’s currently 79th. Michael Thompson … Once he locked up his 2019-20 card earlier this season, he eased off the gas and retreated into a familiar rhythm of a lighter schedule. To wit, this is his first start since a T14 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. It ended a mini-slump stretching four starts and he’s still an impressive 68th in the FedExCup. He’s always profiled as a strong putter, a skill that will come in handy when he’s missing the smaller greens at Detroit Golf Club, but he’s also among the most accurate off the tee on the PGA TOUR. Stephan Jaeger … The 30-year-old has soft hands around greens, but he’ll need to pile up a few more scoring opportunities at Detroit Golf Club this week if he’s going to be a threat. However, he’s battled from outside the top 160 in the FedExCup to his current position of 136th with a T17-T14-T30 surge in his last three starts, so he has momentum. Chip McDaniel … As @sault0885 put it best on my Twitter, “Chip must be thrilled to have a day off.” Indeed, a whirlwind would be a downgrade given what the 23-year-old product of the University of Kentucky has experienced in recent weeks. McDaniel started the month as a sectional qualifier (in Springfield, Ohio) for the U.S. Open. He made the cut at Pebble Beach, finished 78th and then flew overnight to Boston. After landing, he drove to Ellington, Connecticut, for the open qualifier for the Travelers Championship and survived a 9-man playoff for three spots in the tournament proper. Operating no doubt on a combination of adrenaline and fumes, he managed a T43 at TPC River Highlands that included a third-round pairing with Brooks Koepka. Naturally, McDaniel had entered the open qualifier for this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, but when one of the last two sponsor exemptions became available, he received one. You gonna bet against this guy? NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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The final round of the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship will be played on Monday after Kevin Sutherland and Paul Broadhurst traded pars through six playoff holes in near darkness.

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Check out the entire field and how they qualified for the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Club in Angus, Scotland. HOW THEY QUALIFIED The Open Champions aged 60 or under on July 22, 2018 Mark Calcavecchia Stewart Cink Darren Clarke John Daly David Duval Ernie Els Todd Hamilton Padraig Harrington Zach Johnson Tom Lehman Sandy Lyle Rory McIlroy Phil Mickelson Louis Oosthuizen Jordan Spieth Henrik Stenson Tiger Woods Top 10 and ties in the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale Rafael Cabrera Bello Branden Grace Brooks Koepka Matt Kuchar Marc Leishman Haotong Li Alex Noren Matthew Southgate First 50 players on the OWGR for Week 21, 2018 Byeong Hun An Kiradech Aphibarnrat Daniel Berger Patrick Cantlay Paul Casey Kevin Chappell Jason Day Bryson DeChambeau Tony Finau Ross Fisher Matthew Fitzpatrick Tommy Fleetwood Rickie Fowler Sergio Garcia Adam Hadwin Brian Harman Tyrell Hatton Charley Hoffman Beau Hossler Charles Howell III Dustin Johnson Si-Woo Kim Kevin Kisner Satoshi Kodaira Matt Kuchar Andrew Landry Alexander Levy Hideki Matsuyama Francesco Molinari Ryan Moore Kevin Na Pat Perez Ian Poulter Jon Rahm Chez Reavie Patrick Reed Justin Rose Xander Schauffele Charl Schwartzel Webb Simpson Cameron Smith Kyle Stanley Brendan Steele Justin Thomas Bubba Watson Gary Woodland First 30 in the Final Race to Dubai Rankings for 2017 Nicolas Colsaerts Paul Dunne Matthew Fitzpatrick Dylan Frittelli Tyrell Hatton Scott Jamieson Shane Lowry Thorbjorn Olesen Thomas Pieters Jordan Smith Hideto Tanihara Peter Uihlein Lee Westwood Fabrizio Zanotti BMW PGA Championship winners for 2016-2018 Chris Wood First 5 European Tour members and any European Tour members tying for 5th place, not otherwise exempt, in the top 20 of the Race to Dubai Rankings on completion of the 2018 BMW International Open. Alexander Bjork Jorge Campillo Matt Wallace U.S. Open Champions for 2014-2018 Martin Kaymer Masters Tournament Champions for 2014-2018 Danny Willett PGA Champions for 2013-2017 Jason Dufner Jimmy Walker Top 30 players from final 2017 FedExCup Points List Russell Henley Kevin Kisner Jhonattan Vegas Gary Woodland First 5 PGA TOUR members and any PGA TOUR members tying for 5th place, not exempt in the top 20 of the PGA TOUR FedExCup Points List for 2018 on completion of the 2018 Travelers Championship. Chesson Hadley Patton Kizzire Luke List 112th VISA Open de Argentina 2017 Champion Brady Schnell Playing members of the 2017 Presidents Cup teams Emiliano Grillo Anirban Lahiri Adam Scott First and ties on the Order of Merit of the Asian Tour for 2017 Gavin Green First and ties on the Order of Merit of the Tour of Australasia for 2017 Brett Rumford First and ties on the Order of Merit of the Sunshine Tour for 2017 George Coetzee 2017 Japan Open Champion Yuta Ikeda Top two and ties on Official Money List of the Japan Golf Tour for 2017 Yusaku Miyazato First 2 and anyone tying for 2nd place, not exempt in a cumulative money list taken from all official 2018 Japan Golf Tour events up to and including the 2018 Japan Tour Championship Kodai Ichihara Ryuko Tokimatsu Senior Open Champion for 2017 Bernhard Langer The Amateur Champion for 2018 Jovan Rebula The European Amateur Champion for 2018 Nicolai Hojgaard The Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion 2017 Yuxin Lin Open Qualifying Series Australia – Emirates Australian Open 2017. Three places to the leading three players (not otherwise exempt) who finish in the top 10 and ties  Jonas Blixt Cameron Davis Matthew Jones Open Qualifying Series South Africa – Joburg Open 2017. Three places to the leading three players (not otherwise exempt) who finish in the top 10 and ties Shaun Norris Shubhankar Sharma Erik Van Rooyen Open Qualifying Series Singapore – SMBC Singapore Open 2018. Four places to the leading four players (not otherwise exempt) who finish in the top 12 and ties Danthai Boonma Sean Crocker Lucas Hebert Jazz Janewattananond Open Qualifying Series Japan – Mizuno Open 2018. Four places to the leading four players (not otherwise exempt) who finish in the top 12 and ties Shota Akiyoshi Michael Hendry Masahiro Kawamura Manasori Kobayashi Open Qualifying Series Korea – KOLON Korean Open 2018. Two places to the leading two players (not otherwise exempt) who finish in the top 8 and ties Min Chel Choi Sanghyun Park Open Qualifying Series France – HNA Open de France 2018. Three places to the leading three players (not otherwise exempt) who finish in the top 10 and ties Marcus Kinhult Russell Knox Julian Suri Open Qualifying Series USA – The National 2018. Four places to the leading four players (not otherwise exempt) who finish in the top 12 and ties Abraham Ancer Ryan Armour Bronson Burgoon Sung-Hoon Kang Open Qualifying Series Ireland – Dubai Duty Free Irish Open 2018. Three places to the leading three players (not otherwise exempt) who finish in the top 10 and ties Ryan Fox Zander Lombard Andy Sullivan Open Qualifying Series USA – The Greenbrier Classic 2018. Four places to the leading four players (not otherwise exempt) who finish in the top 12 and ties Austin Cook Jason Kokrak Kelly Kraft Brandt Snedeker Final Qualifying Notts (Hollinwell) – Three qualifying places Rhys Enoch Ashton Turner Oliver Wilson Final Qualifying Prince’s – Three qualifying places Retief Goosen Tom Lewis Haraldur Magnus Final Qualifying St Annes Old Links – Three qualifying places Marcus Armitage James Robinson Jack Senior Final Qualifying The Renaissance Club – Three qualifying places Thomas Curtis Grant Forrest Sam Locke Open Qualifying Series Scotland – Scottish Open (Three places for three players not otherwise exempt who finish in the top 10 and ties) Open Qualifying Series USA – John Deere Classic (One place for one player not otherwise exempt who finishes in the top 5 and ties)    

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