Jason Day ends PGA Tour season with late stumble, while Justin Thomas qualifies for Tour Championship while flying home – Australian Golf Digest

by Admin
August 25, 2024

[PHOTO: Getty Images]

Justin Thomas was en route home to Florida when he moved into the top 30 in FedEx Cup points to qualify for the Tour Championship.

Thomas left Colorado outside the top 30 after posting a four-under 68 in the final round of the BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club. He began the round 22nd in points and fell to 31st.

“Just going home. Going to go to Jupiter [in Florida],” Thomas said after he dropped temporarily into 30th place in points. “There’s no need for me to sit here and stress this out all afternoon. It sucks, but it’s the position I put myself in. I’m happily just going to go home and get a couple nights at home and then hopefully head to Atlanta on Tuesday.”

That appeared to be his destiny until Brian Harman double-bogeyed the 18th hole, to fall to 31st and boost Thomas to 30th.

Jason Day, meanwhile, came out on the wrong side of the tournament within the tournament, failing to advance to the Tour Championship. Day began the final round of the BMW Championship in position to finish in the top 30 in FedEx Cup points, in 25th place.

At the end of his round his season was over.

Day was cruising, four-under in his round through 13 holes when his bid derailed on the next two holes. At the par-5 14th, he hit his second shot from the right rough to a place unknown, requiring another ball and another attempt from the same place, a two-stroke swing to the negative. Once he reached the green, he three-putted from 12 feet for a triple-bogey 8.

At the par-4 15th, he needed another penalty stroke to complete the hole, resulting in a double-bogey 6.

He closed with consecutive birdies, posting a 71, that dropped him to 33rd in points.

Max Homa, 19th in the world ranking, was another victim. He began the round 43rd in points, and despite closing with a five-under 67 fell to 46th.

Tommy Fleetwood, meanwhile, started 31st in points, shot a three-under 69 to jump to 23rd, and Chris Kirk, also posting a 69, moved from 32nd to 27th to play their way into the Tour Championship.

Keegan Bradley entered the week 50th in points, sneaking in last week after the FedEx St Jude Championship. He shot 12-under-par total for the week to win the BMW Championship by a shot over Sam Burns, Ludvig Aberg and Adam Scott. Bradley will enter the Tour Championship fourth in points, behind Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama. Scott is the lone Australian to make it through to the PGA Tour finale.

TOP 30 IN FEDEX CUP POINTS

1: Scottie Scheffler (1st entering the week)
2: Xander Schauffele (2)
3: Hideki Matsuyama (3)
4: Keegan Bradley (50)
5: Ludvig Aberg (7)
6: Rory McIlroy (5)
7: Collin Morikawa (4)
8: Wyndham Clark (6)
9: Sam Burns (18)
10: Patrick Cantlay (9)
11: Sungjae Im (10)
12: Sahith Theegala (8)
13: Shane Lowry (11)
14: Adam Scott (41)
15: Tony Finau (14)
16: Byeong Hun An (15)
17: Viktor Hovland (16)
18: Russell Henley (17)
19: Akshay Bhatia (13)
20: Robert MacIntyre (12)
21: Billy Horschel (19)
22: Tommy Fleetwood (31)
23: Sepp Straka (24)
24: Matthieu Pavon (20)
25: Taylor Pendrith (27)
26: Chris Kirk (32)
27: Tom Hoge (28)
28: Aaron Rai (21)
29: Christiaan Bezuidenhout (23)
30: Justin Thomas (22)