World number five Viktor Hovland sealed a merited win in the BMW Championship, second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs series, with the lowest final round in FedEx Cup Playoffs history at the Olympia Fields Country Club near Chicago on Sunday.
Hovland, the world number 5, sank 10 birdies against a lone bogey in a career-best 61 to make sure of his second win of the season and fifth PGA Tour title overall, which also gave him a starting advantage in the hunt for FedEx Cup glory, which comes with a $18 million winner’s cheque.
“To win at a place like this and amongst the best players in the world, and to do it that way, making seven birdies the last nine holes … that was pretty cool,” said the 25-year-old Norwegian after setting the course record which was also the lowest round in the playoffs’ history.
“After making the turn, stuffed it on 10, hit it close on 11, stuffed it on 12, and that's when I kind of felt like I hit the groove a little bit. Obviously I wanted to win, but when I made the putt on 15 for birdie, I felt like, okay, we've got a chance now.
“Then when I made a birdie on 17, I was feeling really good and the birdie on 18 as well, I felt like I could win it outright.”
Finishing behind Hovland were world no. 1 Scottie Scheffler and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick in tied second on 15 under par 265, and reigning FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy who took sole fourth place on 12 under 268.
Scheffler will tee off at the Tour Championship on Thursday at 10-under in the staggered-start event based on FedEx Cup placings finalised at the BMW. It is the second year in a row that Scheffler will enjoy a two-shot head start after he finished tied second on Sunday, which saw him pass previous leader points leader Jon Rahm.
Six automatic qualifiers for the US Ryder Cup team were also finalised at Olympia Fields including Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele.
Hovland’s victory moved him up to second on the points list and the genial Norwegian will begin at 8-under, followed by McIlroy (7-under), who came in solo fourth in Olympia Fields. Rahm starts the final event of the 2022-23 season on 6-under.
Further down the order, a record three golfers from Korea made it to the FedEx Cup playoffs finale at the East Lake Club in Atlanta, the PGA Tour said.
Sungjae Im enjoyed his second successive top-10 finish in the playoffs series on Sunday as Hovland charged to victory.
Im, who holds the honour of posting Asia’s best finish in the FedEx Cup following a runner-up outing last season, fired a closing 4-under 66 for sole seventh place on 10-under, seven strokes behind Hovland.
Following his tied sixth at Memphis last week, the 25-year-old Im advanced into his fifth straight Tour Championship and also went from 28th to 17th on the FedEx Cup points list. He will be joined at Atlanta by Joohyung ‘Tom’ Kim, who will make his debut in the season finale following a T10 finish, and Si Woo Kim, who settled for T31 to qualify for his second appearance.
Tom, at 21 will be the youngest player in the playoffs and took 16th place on the FedEx Cup standings while Si Woo dropped to 20th. K.J. Choi and Y.E. Yang featured in the Tour Championship in 2011 while Im and K.H. Lee qualified last season, making it a season to remember for Korean golfers.
It is also the second year running that three Asian golfers have made it all the way to the Playoffs Finale as Matsuyama, who withdrew from the second round of the BMW with a back injury, qualified with Im and Lee last season.
“I have a lot of good memories of East Lake because I finished second there last year, so I'm looking forward to the week,” said two-time PGA Tour winner Im.
No Asian golfer has won the FedEx Cup since its inauguration in 2007 although Im had a sniff at East Lake 12 months ago after battling McIlroy and Scheffler down the back nine. He will ride on some new-found momentum to Atlanta as Sunday’s 66, highlighted by five birdies against a lone bogey, was his 12th consecutive round in the 60s since tying for 14th place at the Wyndham Championship.
“My driver accuracy was really good this week and my iron shots were good as well,” said Im, whose ninth top-10 of the season took his earnings to over $6.4 million. “My putting was a little disappointing though as I missed a few medium and short range putts. I think I could have made a few more birdies.”
Tom Kim will relish a first visit to historic East Lake following weekend rounds of 66 and 63 which punched his ticket to Atlanta. It was his eighth top-10 of the season, which includes a win at the Shriners Children’s Open last October. Byeong Hun An finished the tournament in 46th position as his bid to qualify for the TOUR Championship came to an end with a final round 76.
Top 30 and starting strokes at Tour Championship
1.Scottie Scheffler (-1), 2. Viktor Hovland (-8), 3. Rory McIlroy (-7), 4. Jon Rahm (-6), 5. Lucas Glover (-5), 6. Max Homa (-4), 7. Patrick Cantlay (-4), 8. Brian Harman (-4), 9. Wyndham Clark (-4), 10. Matt Fitzpatrick (-4), 11. Tommy Fleetwood (-3), 12. Russel Henley (-3), 13. Keegan Bradley (-3), 14. Rickie Fowler (-3), 15. Xander Schauffele (-3), 16. Tom Kim (-2), 17. Sungjae Im (-2), 18. Tony Finau (-2), 19. Corey Conners (-2), 20. Si Woo Kim (-2), 21. Taylor Moore (-1), 22. Nick Taylor (-1), 23. Adam Schenk (-1), 24. Collin Morikawa (-1), 25. Jason Day (-1), 26. Sam Burns (Even), 27. Emiliano Grillo (Even), 28. Tyrrell Hatton (Even), 29. Jordan Speith (Evan), 30. Sepp Straka (Even).
Of the 30, five will make their debut at the Atlanta event including Wyndham Clark, Tom Kim, Taylor Moore, Nick Taylor, and Adam Schenk.