FedEx Cup update - Deutsche Bank summary

Rory McIlroy shot 67 in the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston to win by 1 shot over South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen. 2012 Masters runner-up Oosthuizen was unable to shoot under par on a day where the majority of the field recorded sub-par rounds, and his double bogey on the par 4 5th will come back to haunt him. Louis now has two top 5 finishes in the two playoff events.

"Rors" - McIlory picks up his 3rd PGA Tour victory this season

McIlroy, on the other hand, once again lived up to his world number 1 ranking, when he came out of the blocks with 3 birdies in his first 4 holes. A late hiccup on 17 added a bit of spice to the closing stages, but he handled the 18th well, while Oosthuizen watched his playoff-forcing putt slide by the hole. McIlroy has now won three tournaments on the PGA Tour this year, equalling Tiger Woods at the top.


Speaking of Tiger, he finished the week with four rounds in the 60s. Remarkably, the first time he has achieved this in a professional tournament in three years - since the 2009 BMW Championship. Tiger ended on 18 under par, but will rue his short missed birdie putt on 17 and a misread eagle putt on 18, which potentially could have put him into a playoff with Rory. Still, with this 3rd place finish, Tiger becomes the first player in PGA Tour history to reach $100 million US in career earnings. Next best, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson have about $60 million each.


Dustin Johnson posted his second consecutive top 5 finish, and although he is not in the automatic qualifying spots for the American Ryder Cup team, would have given captain Davis Love III food for thought with his recent run of form. Having said that, DJs distance off the tee would suit the somewhat wide fairways at the Medinah course where the Ryder Cup is taking place.

Now for an update on the FedEx Cup standings. Remember, the field for the upcoming BMW Championship is set at 70 (there is no halfway cut in this event) but the field will be chopped down to 30 for the season ending Tour Championship.

Ready to pounce: Tiger lies in 3rd leading into the BMW Championship

The current top 10 are as follows:

Rory McIlroy        4,799
Nick Watney         3,468
Tiger Woods         3,417
Brandt Snedeker   3,194
Louis Oosthuizen   2,909
Dustin Johnson      2,622
Jason Dufner         2,373
Zach Johnson        2,279
Phil Mickelson       2,170
Bubba Watson       2,080

Notables who were knocked out of the FexEx Cup include: Aussies Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day; Americans Sean O'Hair, Charles Howell III and David Toms, rookie winner this year Ted Potter Jr, and South Korea's KJ Choi.

Those players who will need a good outing at the BMW Championship to climb into the top 30 include (current position in brackets): 2008 FedEx Cup winner Vijay Singh (49), 2011 Masters winner Charl Schwartzel (68), European Ryder Cup participant Ian Poulter (48), and young American Bud Cauley (33)

The par 4 18th hole at Crooked Stick Golf Club

Adam Scott's 7th place finish at TPC Boston has him climbing 9 places to 25th entering the BMW Championship. Sergio Garcia, who skipped the Deutsche Bank in order to rest before the Ryder Cup, luckily only drops 5 places to 15th spot, and even with a bad performance at the BMW should remain inside the top 30. US Open victor Webb Simpson jumped a single spot to 19th while British Open champion Ernie Els keeps his position in 18th.



If you did not know beforehand, after the conclusion of the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Indiana, the points are "reset" for the Tour Championship, giving all 30 players a mathematical chance of winning the FedEx Cup. I will leave it up to you to work out all the possibilities as there are too many! Basically, the system guarantees that if anyone in the top 5 on the FedEx Cup wins the Tour Championship, they will win the FedEx Cup and the $10 million prize. Rory McIlroy is so far ahead currently that he is virtually guaranteed a top 5 seeding for the season finale.

Quite soon, the American Ryder Cup team will be announced, and I will give a run down of the team when it is released.