Weather or not: Tee times dictate scoring Thursday in Scotland

THE OVERVIEW NEWTON SQUARE, Pa. – Good news for the rest of the field at this week’s BMW Championship. Bryson DeChambeau, at age 24, is tired. “Not going to lie. Winning two in a row is a lot more than I thought it would be mentally and physically,â€� he said Wednesday. Not that he’s complaining. With wins in the first two FedExCup Playoffs events, DeChambeau has a lock on the No. 1 spot in the points standings. No matter how he performs at Aronimink, he will remain at the top when the TOUR Championship tees off in two weeks. Although a player has won two tournaments in the same season nine times in the Playoffs’ 12-year history, no player has even won three Playoffs events in the same year. DeChambeau would like to be the first. Of course, in all honesty, if forced to choose, he’d rather win at East Lake than Aronimink, since winning the TOUR Championship would guarantee him the FedExCup. Of the 69 players in this week’s field, DeChambeau is the only one who needn’t bother with points projections or FedExCup movement. He can focus solely on the tournament itself, knowing that the points reset after the BMW Championship will not impact him. It’s a unique position for golf’s most unique player. Not since Vijay Singh in 2008 has a player won the first two Playoffs events – and that was before the points were adjusted to prevent a player from wrapping up the FedExCup prior to East Lake. With less on the line than anybody else, DeChambeau could have easily taken the week off and gained a valuable week of rest while his competitors battle in the Philly heat. Give him credit for simply showing up at Aronimink. “I thought about taking a week off,â€� he said. “I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t do that to the BMW and I couldn’t do that to all the fans and the sponsors that have helped put this event on. “It would be easy for me to say, ‘Hey, I’m just going to skip this week because I’m tired.’ But no, I want to win three in a row and get some world ranking points as well.â€� If DeChambeau does win this week, he would be the first player in the FedExCup era to win tournaments in three consecutive weeks at any point of the season. Tiger Woods won events in three straight weeks near the end of the 2006 season. While he faces a smaller field (69 players) this week than he did at THE NORTHERN TRUST (119 players) or last week’s Dell Technologies Championship (98 players), he realizes the odds are not in his favor. “Going back to statistics, it would be harder to win three in a row,â€� he said Monday after winning at TPC Boston. “But I’ve got a couple of days to prepare on a golf course I’ve never seen before … If I keep executing shots well, I’m going to give myself a chance – just like these last few weeks.â€� Even if he doesn’t win, DeChambeau will at least get a chance to rest in the off-week prior to the TOUR Championship. Well, not really. Two months ago, he bought a house. He closes on it next week. THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER THE FLYOVER At 242 yards, the eighth hole is the longest par 3 at Aronimink. Expect it to be the toughest hole at the course. In 2011 when the course last hosted a PGA TOUR event, the stroke average at the eighth was 3.379, making it the third hardest par 3 on the PGA TOUR that season (out of 206 par-3 holes). An elevated back tee to a narrow green bisected by a mound – par all four days will be more than acceptable. LANDING ZONE The 13th is the shortest par 4 at Aronimink, listed at 385 yards on the scorecard. In 2011, tournament officials moved the tees up in the third, encouraging players to go for the green. Bill Haas had the only successful tee shot of the 41 attempts that round. On most days, players will avoid driver and simply try to find the fairway for a short iron into a guarded green. Here’s a look at where all tee shots landed at the 13th in 2011. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Joe Halvorson: “There is a risk for scattered thunderstorms after 2 p.m. Thursday as a cold front approaches from the north. Storms will be likely along this front Thursday evening into Thursday night. With this boundary stalling just south of the area, showers and thunderstorms will remain possible on Friday, with likely chances forecast during the afternoon hours. Rain will continue overnight into Saturday, likely becoming light and isolated after 10 a.m. Afternoon showers are possible Sunday afternoon as a system lifts though the Great Lakes. The heat index will be in the mid-90s on Thursday.â€� For the latest weather news from Newton Square, Pennsylvania, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK He’s answered a lot of questions, I think, for a lot of people the last two weeks. I’m actually inside the number right now. You might forget. BY THE NUMBERS 0 – Number of three-putts in 144 holes played by Tony Finau in the Playoffs. That’s the longest active streak of any player. 42 – Number of players who have the opportunity to move inside the top 5 in FedExCup points. The number doesn’t include Bryson DeChambeau, who is guaranteed to remain No. 1. The 42 players are chasing Nos. 2-5, who will also control their own destiny at East Lake. 48 – Number of spots Hideki Matsuyama has improved in FedExCup points since the start of the Playoffs. That’s the largest move by any player in this week’s field. 1,418 – The projected number of FedExCup points needed to move inside the top 30 for the TOUR Championship. Currently, just 20 players are above that total. Click here for this week’s Scenarios. SCATTERSHOTS Jordan Spieth grew up in Dallas and is a diehard Cowboys fan. As you might imagine, that doesn’t go over well in the land of the reigning Super Bowl champions. During a practice round Tuesday, he kept hearing the same thing from the gallery: “How ‘bout the Eagles?â€� Jordan tried to ignore it, but finally couldn’t. “If you don’t respond, they’ll yell it louder and louder and louder,â€� he said. “So finally just like, ‘Yes, I get it. Thank you.’â€� Added Spieth: “I don’t work for the Cowboys. I’m born and raised in Dallas. Can’t hate a person for being a fan of their hometown team. … I’m sure that won’t be the last time I hear it this week.â€� A year ago, Tony Finau shot a final-round 64 at the BMW Championship at Conway Farms to claw his way inside the top 30 and reach the TOUR Championship. Not only has he already a secured a spot this season, he’s now vying for a coveted top-5 position. “The BMW was a turning point I feel like in my career,â€� Finau said. “I was on the outside looking in going into the final round. I knew I had to put a special round together – and I shot 64. I’ll never forget.â€� If you see players wearing red-and-black ribbons this week, it’s for a good reason. Defending BMW champion Marc Leishman has encouraged the rest of the field to wear the ribbons in honor of Sepsis Awareness month. Leishman’s wife Audrey had a near-death experience with sepsis in the spring of 2015 and soon after started their Begin Again Foundation. 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CROMWELL, Conn. – Pretty much, the stars all seemed aligned against Chez Reavie in Sunday’s final round of the Travelers Championship. To wit: He was starting the fourth round with a six-shot lead, but TPC River Highlands is a place where four times in the previous 14 years, the winner had started Sunday six or seven behind. Reavie was head-to-head with Keegan Bradley, whose four PGA TOUR wins had all been of the come-from-behind fashion, furious finishes almost part of his persona. Related: Leaderboard | Winner’s bag There had been eight birdies in his final 11 holes Saturday, and you have to figure that somewhere, Golf Gods gathered to remind one another that they have quotas for this sort of stuff. Oh, and Reavie is the definition of “unheralded,â€� a man whose only PGA TOUR win came in his rookie season 11 years ago. So, as Bradley whittled the deficit to five at the turn, then to four, then three, then two and, finally, to one at the par-4 15th hole, it was worth a big exhale and a reminder what people who know Reavie say about the 37-year-old. “He’s tough as nails,â€� said Paul Casey, who was a senior at Arizona State when Reavie arrived as a freshman in 2000. “He doesn’t have the physical attributes that seem to be what you need to play nowadays (Reavie is 5-9, about 160 pounds), but he’s always nipping at your heels, like a Jack Russell (Terrier).â€� Pausing to smile and catch his breath, Casey, who had just shot 5-under 65 to nail down a share of fifth, said it was a joy to speak about Reavie. “He’s brilliant.â€� As a person, Casey meant, but on this day, he was as a front-runner, too, and because he was a mere 11 years and 258 tournaments since his first TOUR win. “I was fortunate enough to stay patient,â€� said Reavie, who had to be, because he kept hitting fairways and greens and missing birdie chances. That was a recipe for danger, Reavie reasoned, “because I knew Keegan would come out firing.â€� So, when the birdie tries misfired – from long distance at the 10th, then from 28, 21, 12, 12, 10, and nine feet on each of the next six holes – Reavie stood on the 17th tee, his lead a fragile one. To some, it was time to drag out that list of those who had come from at least six shots back after 54 holes to win the Travelers – Brad Faxon back in 2005, Bubba Watson twice, Marc Leishman, too – and start to engrave Bradley’s name to the rollcall. Those folks clearly don’t know what Justin York knows – that it was the perfect time for Reavie to step up. “He’s a bulldog,â€� said York, who has caddied for Reavie for nearly six years. “He’s as mentally tough as anyone out here.â€� Indeed, it was Bradley who blinked, not Reavie. From 160 yards out in a fairway bunker, Bradley bladed a 9-iron long, made double-bogey, and when, finally, Reavie’s fairway-and-green routine led to a birdie, the game was over. With 69 for 17-under 263, Reavie finished four clear of Bradley (67) and Zack Sucher (67). What came with the $1,296,000 prize and 500 FedExCup points were accolades that might be more valuable – if you cherish the character of a person, that is. “He is,â€� said longtime PGA TOUR caddie Jim “Bonesâ€� Mackay, “off the charts as a person, an awesome human being.â€� For all the times Mackay crossed paths with Reavie for more than 10 years on the PGA TOUR, it’s a small corner of the golf universe where he truly got to appreciate this quiet young man who was born in Kansas, grew up in Arizona, and honed his golf game at Dobson Ranch GC in Mesa. It’s Whisper Rock in Scottsdale, which attracts competitive golfers as members the way the Louvre houses priceless artifacts. “If you golf competitively there, you become mentally tough,â€� said York, who swears that his boss’s improvement as a player is two-fold – the work he’s done with Mark Blackburn and the many days and months and years he has spent at Whisper Rock. “The Rock,â€� as it is called, is where guys you’ve never heard of, amateurs for the most part, don’t want shots and don’t need ‘em. “The members can beat you up – in a nice, friendly way,â€� said Casey, who is one of a long list of PGA TOUR guys who play there. Phil Mickelson, Martin Kaymer, Kevin Streelman, Aaron Baddeley, Geoff Ogilvy, Gary McCord, Peter Kostis … they’re just a sampling of the golf talent that shows up where an unwritten rule greets everyone. “You check the ego at the door,â€� said Casey. Ah, no wonder Reavie loves it. After all, he’s as unpretentious as anyone you’ll meet. For sure, “there were some long years in the middleâ€� of his career, as a wrist injury derailed him, and four times between 2009-2015 he failed to make the FedExCup playoffs. But even Bradley cited Reavie’s doggedness. “That’s the way he plays; he’s tough,â€� said the co-runner-up. “I wasn’t surprised.â€� Back in the days before the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, word got around “The Rockâ€� that Reavie was in great form, having shot 61, 61, 64. “Obviously,â€� said Mackay, “he was playing very, very well.â€� When Reavie took that action to Pebble Beach and finished tied for third, his best performance in a major, no one back at Whisper Rock was surprised. And when Reavie fought off Bradley and closed out a 72-hole tournament with just three bogeys against 20 birdies, Casey, representing Whisper Rock GC and probably a long line of friends who have met Reavie along the way, was there to offer a warm embrace. “He’s a great friend, someone you can trust,â€� said Casey, “and he’s getting better with age.â€�

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