OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Akshay Bhatia received the 30th and final spot in the Tour Championship field after late blunders by Michael Kim and Rickie Fowler on Sunday at the BMW Championship.
The FedEx Cup playoff field was trimmed from 50 to 30 following the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club, won by Scottie Scheffler. Kim and Fowler were the first two players on the wrong side of the cut line, though both had their chances throughout the final round.
Only one golfer player his way into the top 30 from the outside this week: Englishman Harry Hall, whose sixth-place finish propelled him from No. 45 to No. 26. That came at the expense of Lucas Glover, whose 10-over-par week dropped him from 30th to 36th.
Hall pitched in for birdie at the difficult par-3 17th hole — a move that Scheffler pulled off soon after on his way to victory.
“I’ve been hitting that chip shot on the practice chipping green all week, like the same spot warming up every day with a 54 (wedge) into the grain on an upslope,” Hall said. “As soon as I saw the lie, I’m like, I’ve been doing this all week.”
It’s the first time the 28-year-old advanced to the Tour Championship.
“Yeah, massive. Really happy,” Hall said. “Can’t wait to play in the FedEx Cup next week and hopefully keep continuing to play well.”
All 30 players will begin the Tour Championship at even par, and the winner after 72 holes will claim the FedEx Cup. It’s a change from recent years after the PGA Tour employed a staggered format that allowed the No. 1 player in the points standings to begin the Tour Championship at 10 under, No. 2 to start at 8 under and so on.
Bhatia began the week 29th in FedEx Cup points and finished in 30th, and his journey there didn’t lack drama. On Saturday, he shot a round of 66 that included a hole-out eagle and a hole-in-one at No. 17. Without that ace, it is more than likely that Bhatia wouldn’t have finished high enough to earn the points necessary to advance to Atlanta.
But on Sunday, he put himself in a bind by bogeying four of his final seven holes in a round of 72. He had to wait for the afternoon rounds to finish and see what Hall, Kim and Fowler did.
Fowler was 4 under through 10 holes and 10 under for the tournament, within striking distance of the lead and a near-certainty to finish in the top 30. After a bogey-birdie-bogey run, Fowler overshot the 15th green and couldn’t get his third shot all the way up the slope to the green, eventually leading to a double bogey.
Fowler was aiming to climb into the top 30 after moving from 64th to 48th in points at last week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship. He tied for seventh at 7 under, while Kim bogeyed two of his final five holes and placed 10th at 6 under.
“I started to feel better and better as the summer went on,” Fowler said. “Played a lot. I was getting worn down, but I was ready to keep on going.”
The field of 30 at the Tour Championship, Aug. 21-24 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta:
1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Rory McIlroy
3. J.J. Spaun
4. Justin Rose
5. Tommy Fleetwood
6. Ben Griffin
7. Russell Henley
8. Sepp Straka
9. Robert MacIntyre
10. Maverick McNealy
11. Harris English
12. Justin Thomas
13. Cameron Young
14. Ludvig Aberg
15. Andrew Novak
16. Keegan Bradley
17. Sam Burns
18. Brian Harman
19. Corey Conners
20. Patrick Cantlay
21. Collin Morikawa
22. Viktor Hovland
23. Hideki Matsuyama
24. Shane Lowry
25. Nick Taylor
26. Harry Hall
27. Jacob Bridgeman
28. Sungjae Im
29. Chris Gotterup
30. Akshay Bhatia
–Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media
