Sleeper Picks: The Open Championship

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Jon Rahm comes from behind with a 66-64 weekend, then makes a crazy, trans-continental putt to beat Dustin Johnson in a playoff and win the BMW Championship at vexing Olympia Fields. It's the second victory in six weeks for Rahm, who overcame a bizarre Rules gaffe in the third round. He vaulted to second in the FedExCup heading into this week's TOUR Championship to decide it all, and after his recent victory at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide becomes the one to watch on really hard golf courses. Welcome to the Monday Finish. THREE KEYS TO SUCCESS 1. He made a great bogey. Rahm's biggest hiccup of the weekend was when he picked up his ball before marking it on the fifth hole of his third round Saturday, incurring a one-stroke penalty. It was a rare brain-cramp, but he made his 6-footer for bogey and didn't look back. "I don’t know if I would have won had it not happened," he said. "It kind of made me mad at myself, and I just went on with my focus after that and was able to play amazing golf and stayed aggressive. ... I can tell you after that two-putt, making that 6-footer for bogey, I was like, OK, that’s it, no playing around, go. That’s kind of what mentally did it for me." In the past, Rahm might have blown his top at making such a mental error. Not this time. For more on Rahm's win, click here. 2. He didn't let the course win. No one told Olympia Fields this wasn't the 2003 U.S. Open. Only five players - Rahm (64), Dustin Johnson (67), Joaquin Niemann (67, T3), Hideki Matsuyama (69, T3) and Tony Finau (65, solo fourth) - finished the tournament under par. Jason Day, who had been on a hot streak, finished 14 over, while countryman Marc Leishman finished 30 over. Rahm, though, likes it hard; six weeks earlier, he had tamed a similarly difficult but windier Muirfield Village course to win the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. "The way I played today was so solid," Rahm said. "I only missed two fairways in 18 holes, hitting mostly drivers. Only missed actually one green in 19 holes that I played today, gave myself plenty of chances, never really stressed for pars. "This round was about as well as I think it could have gone," he added. "Probably overall as a weekend, I think this one might have been a little bit better (than the Memorial)." 3. He waited for his A game. After a 5-over 75 in the first round Rahm was eight behind first-round leader Hideki Matsuyama, and he was still seven behind 36-hole leaders Patrick Cantlay and Rory McIlroy after a second-round 71. It wasn't until Rahm's third-round 66, which got him back to 2 over, that he looked like he might have a shot at winning. "Thursday I really struggled off the tee, never got comfortable really with any part of my game," he said. "Friday I was playing pretty similar. Let’s just say for people that don’t know, Thursday and Friday played significantly more difficult than the weekend did. I mean, those greens were really firm, fast and the wind was blowing a lot harder than it did the last two days ... "It is true," he added, "after Friday I went to the range and figured some things out, just got comfortable. I knew it wasn’t too far away, slowly got better each day, figured it out, came out on Saturday and played really good golf and just kept it going today." OBSERVATIONS Johnson keeps sense of humor Two crazy putts took center stage in deciding the BMW. The first one kept Dustin Johnson in it for potential back-to-back victories, and the second denied him in the playoff. DJ's final stroke of regulation was zany enough - a downhill, double-breaking, do-or-die birdie putt of 43 feet that clanked the pin and dropped. It was the shot of the tournament for only about a half hour, because then came an even crazier shot - Rahm's 66-footer, also downhill and also double-breaking, in the playoff, ending things after one extra hole. "Yeah, I mean, I was just laughing kind of," Johnson said. "I was kind of laughing at my putt, too, because it was one of those where you - you’re not really thinking you’re going to make it. But gave it a good roll, and obviously I did make it." Johnson gave a wry smile at seeing Rahm make an even longer putt from a similar line. "My hope was to get myself somewhat of a doable uphill putt," Rahm said, "somewhere hopefully within three feet, but that was extremely difficult, so three to six feet. I was just kind of hoping to give myself that type of a chance." He obviously did a lot better than that. Niemann breaks mini-slump Rahm wasn't the only one who had a great weekend at Olympia Fields. Joaquin Niemann, whose first TOUR win came at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier nearly a year ago, shot 68-67 to finish T3. The result moved him from 31st to 18th in the FedExCup, getting him into the TOUR Championship for the first time in the second season in which he was eligible. Mackenzie Hughes (71, T10) was the other player to move into the top 30, while Adam Long (by just three FedExCup points) and Streelman fell out of the top 30. Niemann's play was a surprise, to put it mildly. The 21-year-old missed the cut at THE NORTHERN TRUST, finished T42 at the Wyndham Championship, and missed the cut at the PGA Championship. He had struggled even going back to June, when the TOUR returned. But his performance at Olympia Fields, especially Sunday, when he shot a front-nine 31, served as a reminder of how good he is when he's on, and what a bright future he has. "Yeah, it’s awesome to get one of those weeks that you play good," Niemann said. "I haven’t been playing great the last couple weeks, so this gave me a lot of confidence what is coming next for East Lake. I just feel great. I’m happy to be in this situation right now." QUOTEBOARD "I still can't believe what just happened." - Jon Rahm "The goal was to be No. 1 going into East Lake, and I am still No. 1." - Dustin Johnson "I played awesome the front nine. I was 4 under. I was right there." - Joaquin Niemann FEDEXCUP STANDINGS The No.1 seed in the FedExCup standings will start the TOUR Championship at 10-under par and with a two-shot lead before the season-ending tournament starts Friday. Although Jon Rahm won the BMW Championship, Dustin Johnson secured the top seed with his runner-up finish. He will start this week's TOUR Championship, which begins Friday, with a two-stroke lead over Rahm and a three-stroke lead over No. 3 seed Justin Thomas. Here's how the rest of the top 10 shake out. 1. Dustin Johnson -10 2. Jon Rahm -8 3. Justin Thomas -7 4. Webb Simpson -6 5. Collin Morikawa -5 6. Daniel Berger -4 7. Harris English -4 8. Bryson DeChambeau -4 9. Sungjae Im -4 10. Hideki Matsuyama -4 SOCIAL SNAPSHOT

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ATLANTA - The ‘Golf With A Purpose' Charity Challenge, a televised nine-hole charity exhibition, takes place on Thursday, Sept. 3 from 2-4 p.m. ET. The event will benefit the East Lake Foundation and the TOUR Championship's other charitable beneficiaries. NBA legend Vince Carter will team with four-time PGA TOUR winner Ryan Palmer, while former Pittsburgh Steelers running back, NFL Hall of Fame member and Super Bowl XL champion Jerome Bettis will join forces with 2020 Payne Stewart Award recipient Zach Johnson. Fans can support the East Lake Foundation's mission of continued neighborhood revitalization and commitment to advancing and operationalizing racial equity by visiting TOURChampionship.com/Charity. HOW TO WATCH Coverage of the exhibition match will air from 2-4 p.m. (ET) as a special presentation of PGA TOUR LIVE and will be simulcast on Golf Channel, GOLFTV (internationally) and other PGA TOUR media platforms, including PGA TOUR social channels.

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