Rickie Fowler’s game plan: to “be aggressive, make some birdies, and hopefully scare the boys a bit”. Four shots off Spieth’s lead, and with a very real chance of winning the FedEx Cup if he pulls it off today, that tactic certainly makes plenty of sense. What he’d pay for Jimmy Walker’s start. He’d certainly need to avoid the one made today by the man he pipped to this year’s Players Championship. Kevin Kisner opened his round with three bogeys in a row. After rounds of 76, 77 and 72, his miserable week continues. He’s currently +18, 28th out of 28, four shots worse off than Patrick Reed and eight behind Bill Haas.
A fast start for Jimmy Walker, who has birdied the opening three holes. Up
and down from behind a tree down the left of 1; a 30-footer raked in at
2; an approach at 3 spun to eight feet. From way down the leaderboard
he’s now risen to +5. No chance of winning anything today, of course,
but with a huge prize fund for the FedEx Cup, every place on the
leaderboard is worth a fair few quid.
The two leaders both seem in fine fettle ahead of their toe-to-toe slugfest. Jordan Spieth
admits his ball striking is “not there at all”, but his short game -
specifically his bunker play and his putting - is back up there to the
level of this year’s majors. His record in those again, should anyone
need reminding: 1, 1, T4, 2. Astonishing. He’s unquestionably been the
number-one golfer this year, which is saying something given the way
Jason Day’s been playing, but he’s probably been the most impressive
star in All Sports too. Anyone better? No, nobody better. As for Henrik
Stenson, he’s his usual deadpan self. Walking into the clubhouse
earlier, he smiled at the camera trained on his every step and announced
that “now I know what the monkey feels like at the zoo”. He’s quite
happy to “still be in the game” despite yesterday’s miserable 72,
circumspection his watchword. It couldn’t be poised much better, this.
An afternoon rich with promise.
The weather: A chance of a little rain, perhaps,
though even if it comes it’ll be nothing like the previous days.
Waterproofs off. The course itself is still wet and heavy, though, and
the wind’s up, so it’ll be quite the test at East Lake nonetheless. The
two lads out in front will still have to win this tournament. And there
are plenty of folk in the pack waiting for any slip-ups. The FedEx Cup
is another matter, though, with Spieth, Stenson and Fowler the trio most
likely.
The dramatic denouement of the 2015 PGA Tour is upon us. We know it’s that time, because they’re already advertising the start of the 2016 PGA Tour
in all the magazines, with a picture of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and
Tiger Woods comin’ atcha like Premier League footballers. Hey, gotta
keep movin’!
But let’s wrap this one up first. At the halfway stage of the season’s final tournament, the Tour Championship at the East Lake course in Atlanta, the conclusion of the race for the FedEx Cup was threatening to become something of a damp squib. And not just because of the rain. Henrik Stenson - who won this tournament and with it the FedEx Cup in 2013 - was three clear of the field and looking good.
However he came back in 37 strokes yesterday, while Jordan Spieth sunk a 20-footer on the last for a 68, and now the leaderboard after the third round looks like this ... and we might as well do the whole thing, for there are only 28 players in the field ...
-8: Spieth
-7: Stenson
-4: Fowler, Casey
-3: McIlroy, Z Johnson
-2: Holmes
-1: Watson, Rose
E: Berger, Lee, Matsuyama, Kuchar, Day, Bowditch
+1: Na
+2: D Johnson
+4: Koepka
+5: Hoffman, Bae, Snedeker
+7: Haas
+8: English, Walker
+9: Streb
+10: Piercy
+13: Reed
+15: Kisner
WD: Oosthuizen
DNS: Furyk
But of course this is not the whole picture. The Tour Championship itself is one thing, but the destination of the FedEx Cup is what this is really all about. There are far too many combinations to list here - me simple folk - but what follows are the main points. If anything else occurs, we’ll be witnessing something quite weird unfolding.
If Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson or Bubba Watson win today, they are guaranteed to win the FedEx Cup too. (This is all down to points accrued over the season; life’s too short to go down that road.) As things stand, it’ll most likely be a shootout between Stenson and the man of the year Spieth. Fowler, four off the lead, might also have a say. Bubba and the new world number one Day may be too far back.
As for the other well-placed players? If Paul Casey wants the FedEx Cup, he’ll have to win today and rely on Day finishing in a three-way tie for 13th or worse, Spieth finishing tied fifth or worse, Fowler finishing in a three-way tie for third or worse ... there are more conditions, but as we say, the time we have on this planet is finite. Suffice to say Casey is the very definition of the outside chance.
Rory McIlroy is similarly clutching at straws. He needs to win and hope Day finishes tied sixth or worse, Spieth tied fourth or worse, Fowler tied third or worse, Stenson tied three-ways for second or worse, and Bubba tied second or worse. Too many ifs and buts there, surely, and unlikely ones to boot. The Open champion Zach Johnson may be the best outside bet: he’ll lift the FedEx Cup if he wins today from five shots back with Day finishing tied second or worse, and could even finish second himself and retain a mathematical chance of winning the £6.6m end-of-season booty. We’ll get the abacus out in the event.
But if you think all this is hellaciously confusing, pity the poor players. Here’s the tournament leader Spieth: “I thought I was tied with Stenson. I didn’t realise I was leading until about 20 minutes after I finished and someone mentioned it.” Confused? You won’t be, after this year’s episode ...
11.35am EDT (4.35pm BST): Patrick Reed, Kevin Kisner
11.45am EDT (4.45pm BST): Robert Streb, Scott Piercy
11.55am EDT (4.55pm BST): Harris English, Jimmy Walker
12.05pm EDT (5.05pm BST): Brandt Snedeker, Bill Haas
12.15pm EDT (5.15pm BST): Charley Hoffman, Sangmoon Bae
12.25pm EDT (5.25pm BST): Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka
12.35pm EDT (5.35pm BST): Steven Bowditch, Kevin Na
12.45pm EDT (5.45pm BST): Matt Kuchar, Jason Day
1.05pm EDT (6.05pm BST): Justin Rose, Daniel Berger
1.15pm EDT (6.15pm BST): JB Holmes, Bubba Watson
1.25pm EDT (6.25pm BST): Rory McIlroy, Zach Johnson
1.35pm EDT (6.35pm BST): Rickie Fowler, Paul Casey
1.45pm EDT (6.45pm BST): Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson
We’ll get going here at 12.30pm Atlanta time, 5.30pm BST. See you then!
But let’s wrap this one up first. At the halfway stage of the season’s final tournament, the Tour Championship at the East Lake course in Atlanta, the conclusion of the race for the FedEx Cup was threatening to become something of a damp squib. And not just because of the rain. Henrik Stenson - who won this tournament and with it the FedEx Cup in 2013 - was three clear of the field and looking good.
However he came back in 37 strokes yesterday, while Jordan Spieth sunk a 20-footer on the last for a 68, and now the leaderboard after the third round looks like this ... and we might as well do the whole thing, for there are only 28 players in the field ...
-8: Spieth
-7: Stenson
-4: Fowler, Casey
-3: McIlroy, Z Johnson
-2: Holmes
-1: Watson, Rose
E: Berger, Lee, Matsuyama, Kuchar, Day, Bowditch
+1: Na
+2: D Johnson
+4: Koepka
+5: Hoffman, Bae, Snedeker
+7: Haas
+8: English, Walker
+9: Streb
+10: Piercy
+13: Reed
+15: Kisner
WD: Oosthuizen
DNS: Furyk
But of course this is not the whole picture. The Tour Championship itself is one thing, but the destination of the FedEx Cup is what this is really all about. There are far too many combinations to list here - me simple folk - but what follows are the main points. If anything else occurs, we’ll be witnessing something quite weird unfolding.
If Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson or Bubba Watson win today, they are guaranteed to win the FedEx Cup too. (This is all down to points accrued over the season; life’s too short to go down that road.) As things stand, it’ll most likely be a shootout between Stenson and the man of the year Spieth. Fowler, four off the lead, might also have a say. Bubba and the new world number one Day may be too far back.
As for the other well-placed players? If Paul Casey wants the FedEx Cup, he’ll have to win today and rely on Day finishing in a three-way tie for 13th or worse, Spieth finishing tied fifth or worse, Fowler finishing in a three-way tie for third or worse ... there are more conditions, but as we say, the time we have on this planet is finite. Suffice to say Casey is the very definition of the outside chance.
Rory McIlroy is similarly clutching at straws. He needs to win and hope Day finishes tied sixth or worse, Spieth tied fourth or worse, Fowler tied third or worse, Stenson tied three-ways for second or worse, and Bubba tied second or worse. Too many ifs and buts there, surely, and unlikely ones to boot. The Open champion Zach Johnson may be the best outside bet: he’ll lift the FedEx Cup if he wins today from five shots back with Day finishing tied second or worse, and could even finish second himself and retain a mathematical chance of winning the £6.6m end-of-season booty. We’ll get the abacus out in the event.
But if you think all this is hellaciously confusing, pity the poor players. Here’s the tournament leader Spieth: “I thought I was tied with Stenson. I didn’t realise I was leading until about 20 minutes after I finished and someone mentioned it.” Confused? You won’t be, after this year’s episode ...
11.35am EDT (4.35pm BST): Patrick Reed, Kevin Kisner
11.45am EDT (4.45pm BST): Robert Streb, Scott Piercy
11.55am EDT (4.55pm BST): Harris English, Jimmy Walker
12.05pm EDT (5.05pm BST): Brandt Snedeker, Bill Haas
12.15pm EDT (5.15pm BST): Charley Hoffman, Sangmoon Bae
12.25pm EDT (5.25pm BST): Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka
12.35pm EDT (5.35pm BST): Steven Bowditch, Kevin Na
12.45pm EDT (5.45pm BST): Matt Kuchar, Jason Day
1.05pm EDT (6.05pm BST): Justin Rose, Daniel Berger
1.15pm EDT (6.15pm BST): JB Holmes, Bubba Watson
1.25pm EDT (6.25pm BST): Rory McIlroy, Zach Johnson
1.35pm EDT (6.35pm BST): Rickie Fowler, Paul Casey
1.45pm EDT (6.45pm BST): Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson
We’ll get going here at 12.30pm Atlanta time, 5.30pm BST. See you then!
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