Lydia Ko tied for LPGA Tour lead at chilly Lake Merced

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The FedExCup Playoffs present a unique tradeoff as compared to all other events; that is, a participant can go winless and still be crowned champion. The odds are stacked against that scenario, and it would still require a dynamite season leading up to the Playoffs to make it possible, but points leader Jordan Spieth is halfway there with a pair of runner-up finishes. If it happens, you wouldn’t say that any of the winners of the four tournaments in the Playoffs were more or less confident throughout, but it might be tough for Spieth to associate the value of the crown in the absence of a trophy during the series. Whatever happens, it’s compelling theater with bonus drama for the permutations geeks, myself included. Jason Day recorded a wire-to-wire victory at the 2015 BMW Championship at Conway Farms. Like Spieth this week, the Aussie strutted in as the No. 1 in the FedExCup standings. Day then put on a clinic as his splits illustrate below. Two years prior, Zach Johnson overcame Jim Furyk (and a 59) with the kind of laser show on approach with which he’s been synonymous throughout his career. Not dissimilar to how St. Andrews provided a level playing field for the diversified attacks of Johnson and Day in the 2015 Open Championship (when ZJ prevailed in a playoff and Day finished one stroke back), Conway Farms caters to all styles. However, the winner will have executed masterfully in multiple areas of his game. In other words, while the low aggregate projects to be double digits under par, don’t expect a putting contest to break out. With no cut and the probability of low rounds, we’re compelled to invest in scoring statistics. The 2015 field averaged 4.05 par breakers per 11.93 greens in regulation, a ratio that supports the angle. NOTE: Golfers inside the top 20 in each statistic in the FedExCup Playoffs are listed only if they are scheduled to compete in the BMW Championship. * – Finished inside the top 10 at the BMW Championship in 2013 and/or 2015. Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green Rank  Golfer 1  *Dustin Johnson 2  Jordan Spieth 3  Justin Thomas 4  Justin Rose 5  Patrick Cantlay 6  Paul Casey 7  Hudson Swafford 8  Stewart Cink 10  Patrick Reed 11  Marc Leishman 12  Kevin Chappell 13  *Kevin Na 14  *Jason Day 15  Jon Rahm 16  Emiliano Grillo 17  *Charl Schwartzel 18  *Hideki Matsuyama 20  Russell Henley Greens in Regulation Rank  Golfer 1  Patrick Cantlay 3  Marc Leishman 4  Jordan Spieth T5  *Dustin Johnson T5  Gary Woodland 8  Luke List 9  Keegan Bradley 10  Paul Casey T11  Stewart Cink T11  Sergio Garcia T11  *Hideki Matsuyama T11  *Henrik Stenson 16  Louis Oosthuizen 17  Hudson Swafford 18  Brendan Steele T19  *Jason Day T19  *Rickie Fowler T19  Emiliano Grillo T19  Justin Rose Putting: Birdie-or-Better Percentage Rank  Golfer 2  Jordan Spieth 3  Jon Rahm 4  Justin Thomas 5  Kyle Stanley 6  Paul Casey 7  Brooks Koepka 8  *Jason Day 9  Justin Rose T10  *Kevin Na 12  Grayson Murray 13  Sergio Garcia 14  Kevin Chappell 15  Jason Dufner 17  Marc Leishman 18  *Rickie Fowler 19  *Dustin Johnson 20  Robert Streb Scrambling Rank  Golfer 1  Justin Thomas 2  *Daniel Berger 3  Patrick Cantlay 4  Webb Simpson 5  Patrick Reed 7  *Dustin Johnson 9  Jon Rahm 10  Bill Haas 11  Adam Hadwin 12  Rafa Cabrera Bello 14  Phil Mickelson 16  Ian Poulter T17  Lucas Glover 19  Jhonattan Vegas 20  Pat Perez Forty-two golfers in this week’s field of 70 completed 72 holes at Conway Farms in at least one of the previous two editions. Of that subset, 23 are prepping for their third appearance. Not surprisingly, only two in my Power Rankings – Jon Rahm (No. 7) and Patrick Cantlay (No. 14) – are first-timers. That’s because both are making their debuts in the FedExCup Playoffs this season. Finishes of those in this week’s field at the 2013 BMW Championship Sorted by finish (players in bold appeared in both 2013 and 2015) Win: Zach Johnson T4: Jason Day T8: Charl Schwartzel T11: Ryan Moore T16: Keegan Bradley; Jordan Spieth T18: Sergio Garcia; Billy Horschel; Gary Woodland T24: Matt Kuchar; Webb Simpson T28: Bill Haas T33: Phil Mickelson; Justin Rose; Henrik Stenson T39: Rickie Fowler; Russell Henley; Charles Howell III; Marc Leishman T44: Ian Poulter T54: Jason Dufner T59: Rory McIlroy; Patrick Reed 61st: Brendan Steele T62: Kevin Chappell; Dustin Johnson 68th: Charley Hoffman Finishes of those in this week’s field at the 2015 BMW Championship Sorted by finish (players in bold appeared in both 2013 and 2015) Win: Jason Day 2nd: Daniel Berger T4: Rickie Fowler; Rory McIlroy T7: Dustin Johnson; Hideki Matsuyama T10: Kevin Na; Henrik Stenson T13: Zach Johnson; Justin Rose; Jordan Spieth; Brendan Steele; Justin Thomas T19: Bill Haas; Louis Oosthuizen T23: Paul Casey; Kevin Chappell; Robert Streb T28: Keegan Bradley; Ryan Moore; Patrick Reed T32: James Hahn; Billy Horschel; Phil Mickelson T39: Sergio Garcia T41: Kevin Kisner; Matt Kuchar; Pat Perez T47: Tony Finau; Danny Lee T49: Russell Henley; Brooks Koepka T53: Brian Harman; Charley Hoffman; Sean O’Hair; Ian Poulter T60: Gary Woodland T64: Webb Simpson

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Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the AT&T Byron Nelson that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Trinity Forest Golf Club just south of Dallas hosts for the first time and plays 7,380 yards to a Par-71. Wise Won 21-year old Aaron Wise fired a final-round 65 to post 23-under-par 261. He defeated Marc Leishman by three shots to win for the first time in his 26th career start on TOUR. The rookie joins Austin Cook and Satoshi Kodaira as the only rookies to collect the biggest check this season. After finishing T2 at the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago, I don’t need to detail his story again but he checks off a major box in fantasy golf: He’s a winner. He won in college, on the MacKenzie Tour and last year on the Web.com Tour. Guys like him have closed the deal enough times to know what it takes to slam the door shut. His stellar play included leading the field in SG: approach the green and GIR as he found 66 of 72. He was second in SG: off the tee and tee to green, plus was T2 with 25 birdies. He was a slacker off the tee as he hit just 50 of 56 fairways, just good enough for T6. I think we learned plenty from the former Oregon Duck this week. I’ve seen plenty of guys finish T2, take a week off and then disappear. Instead he was in the final pairing on Sunday, tied with Marc Leishman, and beat him by three shots. Moving forward gamers have to pay attention as his two best finishes were on a very difficult Quail Hollow Club track and a brand new layout at Trinity Forest. His flexibility to play well on both of those tracks shows how special his game is and can be. PGA TOUR Fantasy Game presented by SERVPRO top selections: So much for Jordan Spieth and his 45 previous rounds on this course! I thought he’d have a distinct advantage this week, especially on the greens, but that was hardly the case. He knocked the cover off the ball but couldn’t get it in the hole as his trusty short game, both chipping AND putting, let him down. He rakes at Colonial so he goes right back into the lineup for me next week. PGA TOUR One & Done presented by SERVPRO top selections: Jimmy Walker doubled No. 18 Saturday and added another bogey on Sunday but after a high-pressure T2 last week at THE PLAYERS, I’m not sure any of us can complain. This is the latest in the season I’ve EVER used him in One & Done games so I’m down with a top 10! It’s great to see him approaching full health as well moving forward. Forest without Trees Trinity Forest played three different styles this week and two of them led to premium scoring conditions. The first two rounds the wind wasn’t in play and Leishman set the low round of the week with 61. After the wind picked up Saturday, the scores went up and the players had to adjust to the cross winds and slicker greens. Finally on Sunday, after a four-hour rain delay, they saw zero wind and optimum scoring conditions including the numbers above in the final round. Of the top 31 players on Sunday, 29 of them were UNDER par. Sunday 62, Again Spieth likened this place to Royal Birkdale before the week started. I opined maybe even similar to Chambers Bay in my preview. Branden Grace has now raked at all three tracks mentioned above. He was leading the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay late on Sunday before one errant tee shot found the train tracks. He is the only player to shoot 62 in a major championship and he did that at Royal Birkdale last summer. His 62 today, with a bogey, on his birthday reinforced his class and a bit of #NappyFactor as he missed the Zurich Classic for the birth of his son. Rounding Off the Podium Keith Mitchell and J.J. Spaun both began the day on 11-under T7. Both finished the day T3 with Grace after firing matching 63’s. This is Mitchell’s third top-10 finish in his last seven events on his own ball. Spaun, who missed time earlier this spring due to a nerve issue in his elbow, picks up his first podium since his solo second at The RSM Classic last November. Spaun opened with 64 so don’t think this is a “one-round wonder”. Open for Business? Most accounts suggested that Adam Scott needed a top-10 finish this week to move into the OWGR top 60 Monday and qualify for the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills next month. With a bogey-free 65 to close, the Aussie finished T9. Since he’s returned to his driver from 2010 and went back to his broomstick putter, he’s cashed T11 and T9 the last two weeks. If he’s No. 61 when it all shakes out on Monday, the former champion at Colonial is in the field this coming week at the Ft. Worth Invitational. Sunday Noise Usually in this section I stick in the contenders that didn’t fire in the final round but with almost the entire field firing under-par scores on Sunday, I’ve chosen a few who might have slipped through the cracks for gamers. Playing on the opposite side of the course, Fabian Gomez, Nate Lashley, Robert Streb and member Beau Hossler all shot 64. They all moved up plenty but there was also a reason they were playing on the other side of the course. … Oh, look, Charles Howell III fired 65-66 on the weekend to claim T9. Study Hall The final round scoring average was 68.253 (-2.747), the easiest of the week and that’s not surprising after the weather delay. … The scoring average for the week was 69.435 (-1.565) as the wind only blew one round of the four. … Ryan Blaum led the field with 26 birdies. … Hideki Matsuyama (T16) beat Spieth this week but I’d take a look at his ball-striking numbers before running him back into the lineup. … Spieth’s longest putt made this week was 12 feet, 11 inches.

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