Viktor Hovland was the star of the show at Olympia Fields Country Club on Sunday, shooting a course record 61 to propel him to a two-shot victory at the BMW Championship.
The Norwegian, who has also secured one of Europe's six automatic spots for Ryder Cup 2023, birdied seven of his last nine holes to sign for a sublime 9-under-par and clinch the title on -17.
It is Hovland's second PGA Tour title of the year, with him having also claimed the spoils at the Memorial Tournament, while he has climbed to second in the FedEx Cup standings ahead of the Tour Championship.
While Hovland will be revelling in his stunning performance, it proved to be another missed opportunity for world number one Scottie Scheffler who had looked on course for his third title of the year but had to settle for a share of second.
The American has been a model of consistency and, along with his wins at the Phoenix Open and the Players Championship, he has recorded a further nine top-five and two top-10 results.
Scheffler's most recent success came in March and a cold putter over the next few months has denied him more success.
However, the flat stick was wielded with greater authority last week and he is a danger heading into the Tour Championship, which he is +163 To Win Outright.
The BMW Championship was also the final qualifying event for the USA's Ryder Cup team for the event at Marco Simone Golf Club, Rome and there were some late changes to the six automatic spots.
Brooks Koepka, who won the PGA Championship for the third time this year, dropped out of the top six and down to seventh, which is likely to see him miss out as captain Zach Johnson is not expected to choose LIV players for his picks.
Xander Schauffele was the beneficiary from this situation, as he snatched the sixth and final place, joining Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay and Max Homa on the team.
Johnson will be naming his six captain's picks on August 29th and there is plenty of talent to choose from, with the likes of Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley, Justin Thomas, Tony Finau and Sam Burns all hoping to be involved.
Lucas Glover is another that has forced his way into the Ryder Cup mix following his back-to-back victories at the Wyndham Championship and St. Jude Championship.
The 2009 US Open champion has never played in the biennial men's golf competition but his red-hot form over the past couple of weeks makes him an interesting price at +300 to make the team.
Last week's event proved to be a poor one for Hideki Matsuyama, who withdrew ahead of the second round after sustaining a back injury.
It was the latest ailment the Japanese has suffered in a disrupted season and it abruptly ended his chances of making the Tour Championship for the 10th consecutive season.
Sahith Theegala also missed out on a trip to East Lake by one place, while Englishman Justin Rose finished 34th in the FedEx standings and his Ryder Cup hopes have been hurt by this.
The culmination of the BMW Championship means the top 30 players now head to Atlanta this week for the Tour Championship, which has been held at East Lake permanently since 2004.
A starting-strokes system will be in use, with the leading player in the standings, Scheffler, beginning the tournament on -10, two strokes clear of Hovland in second.
Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy follows next on -7 and he +350 to win the event and be crowned FedEx Cup champion a record-extending fourth time.
The table below outlines the starting strokes for each player going into Thursday's opening round.
Name | Starting score |
Scottie Scheffler | -10 |
Viktor Hovland | -8 |
Rory McIlroy | -7 |
Jon Rahm | -6 |
Lucas Glover | -5 |
Max Homa, Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman, Wyndham Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick | -4 |
Tommy Fleetwood, Russell Henley, Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele | -3 |
Tom Kim, Sungjae Im, Tony Finau, Corey Conners, Si Woo Kim | -2 |
Taylor Moore, Nick Taylor, Adam Schenk, Collin Morikawa, Jason Day | -1 |
Sam Burns, Emiliano Grillo, Tyrrell Hatton, Jordan Spieth, Sepp Straka | Even |
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