Els starts Champions season off with 7th title

Patrick Cantlay became the first player to win the BMW Championship back-to-back since the FedEx Cup began in 2007.

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ATLANTA – A hilly layout with fairways lined by long, Bermudagrass rough. It’s enough to remind Justin Thomas of the site of his greatest triumph, and East Lake could be the place where he puts the perfect ending on an impressive season. Thomas is tied for the lead halfway through the TOUR Championship, sitting at 7 under par to share the top spot with Paul Casey and Webb Simpson. A win would clinch the FedExCup for Thomas, who has already won five times this season. “It’s so rare that we play Bermuda rough this long and this thick,â€� Thomas said after Friday’s 66, which was capped with an eagle at the par-5 18th. “The only place I have was Quail (Hollow). So, in terms of the premium of hitting the fairway and how important it is, it’s definitely somewhere in that aspect.â€� He has excelled off the tee this week by eschewing his usual power game for more control off the tee. Instead of trying to bomb it over fairway bunkers, Thomas is teeing the ball lower to hit those head-high, fairway-finding “stingerâ€� tee shots. After struggling with his driving at the BMW Championship, where he finished 47th, Thomas has hit 20 of 28 fairways at East Lake Golf Club, second-best in the field. “If you’re in the fairway you can attack the golf course,â€� said Dustin Johnson. A win at East Lake would put a bow on Thomas’ dream season, allowing him to leave Sunday on the high of a FedExCup crescendo. His five wins this season includ the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow and the second event of the FedExCup Playoffs, the Dell Technologies Championship. This season’s accomplishments also include a 59 in his Sony Open in Hawaii victory and a record-setting 63 at the U.S. Open, where he finished ninth. Despite this lengthy list of accomplishments, he arrived at East Lake at No. 2 in the FedExCup standings, surpassed by Jordan Spieth’s consistent postseason play (he’s posted two runners-up and a T7 in three Playoffs events). Any player in the top 5 of the FedExCup standings can clinch the Cup with a win at East Lake, regardless of how his closest competitors fare. A FedExCup-clinching win by Thomas would mirror Spieth’s victory here two years ago. Spieth was the best player during the regular season, winning four times and the season’s first two majors, but Jason Day passed him in the FedExCup standings by the time they’d arrived at East Lake. Wanting to put a cherry atop a historic season, Spieth rode a hot putter at East Lake to victory over Henrik Stenson, earning both the TOUR Championship and the FedExCup. Three of the past four FedExCup champions were No. 2 in the standings when they arrived at the TOUR Championship. Thomas, of course, finds himself in the same position. He won his second start this season, then added back-to-back wins in Hawaii. Some inconsistent midseason play preceded his PGA Championship win, and he added victory No. 5 at TPC Boston. “I want to win any week but it definitely would be a nice cap,â€� Thomas said. Not only would a win give him the FedExCup, but it would be his sixth of the season. That’s the most since Tiger Woods won six times in 2009. Thomas is hitting the ball well enough at East Lake that he’s in the lead despite losing strokes to the field on the greens. He leads the 30-man field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee by missing just eight fairways while averaging 306.5 yards on all tee shots. He’s also fourth in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, having hit 27 of 36 greens. Thomas, who’s had 58 putts through two rounds, is 19th in Strokes Gained: Putting this week. Friday’s 66 was the second-lowest round of the day – bested only by Patrick Reed’s 65 – but Thomas felt it could have been lower, as he failed to convert on several opportunities where he had wedge in his hand from the fairway. “I had a couple wedges I didn’t hit as close as I felt like I should have, and just really hit some good putts that I don’t know how they didn’t go in,â€� said Thomas, who had 30 putts Friday. He’ll have his work cut out for him, though, as the top 10 players on the leaderboard are separated by just two shots. John Rahm, No. 5 in the FedExCup, is one shot back, along with Reed and Justin Rose. Some say the TOUR Championship is an easy tournament to win because of its small field, but it’s also made up solely of players who’ve proven to be the best over the entire season. Winning will not be easy, but he can take comfort from the simplicity of the task that awaits him this weekend. Winning takes care of everything. “It’s nice to have everything in my own hands and know that if I just take care of what I need to do, then it’s over with,â€� he said. He can provide the perfect ending to the season with a win at East Lake, but that’s easier said than done.

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