By Rahul Banerji
The splendidly-named Bryson DeChambeau won his second FedEx Cup playoffs title in a row with a comfortable two-shot victory over Englishman Justin Rose in the Dell Technologies Championship in Boston on Monday.
It gave him back to back wins after last week’s Northern Trust Championships in New Jersey. It also cemented his lead in the FedEx Cup standings with 2,328 points, ahead of Official World Golf Ranking no. 1 Dustin Johnson.
Final-Round Leaderboard
Bryson DeChambeau (70-68-63-67, 268, -16)
Justin Rose (65-67-70-68, 270, -14)
Cameron Smith (69-66-67-69, 271, -13)
Hideki Matsuyama (71-69-67-65, 272, -12)
C.T. Pan (69-68-69-66, 272, -12)
Tony Finau (69-68-67-68, 272, -12)
Four Asians through
According to match notes from the PGA Tour’s ever-efficient media machine, DeChambeau became the sixth player to win back-to-back Playoffs events, even as four Asian players progressed to the third leg, the BMW Championship, next week.
Matsuyama (28th) and Pan (33rd), tied third at TPC Boston in the $9 million event made the grade along with Byeong Hun An (46th) and Si Woo Kim (53rd).
However, Whee Kim (72nd), Satoshi Kodaira (94th) and Anirban Lahiri (99th) failed to progress as only the top 70 qualified for the third leg.
For the 24-year-old DeChambeau, who made his PGA Tour debut in 2016, it was a fourth Tour victory. He earned 2,000 FedEx Cup points to extend his lead and also picked up 550 points toward the 2019 U.S. Presidents Cup team.
Interestingly, DeChambeau joined Vijay Singh (2008) as the only players to win the Northern Trust and Dell Technologies Championship in the same season and in now likely to make the top 10 in the OWGR.
He also became a third-time winner this season alongside Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson.
Tiger’s tale
As always, the spotlight was on Tiger Woods, who faded away on the final day after promising rounds of 66 and 68 on days two and three. His final round of level par 71 on Monday included a double bogey at the par-3 16th hole for a 24 finish.
Since his return, Woods has finished 11th or better on seven occasions from just nine starts. For one unsure of when he would ever pick up a club again, it has been nothing short of sensational.
Woods hit 10 of 14 fairways in regulation, 15 of 18 greens, and needed 33 putts in the final round.
Among other facts of note, all nine past champions in the field made the cut: Adam Scott (2003), Woods (2006), Mickelson (2007), Charley Hoffman (2010), Webb Simpson (2011), McIlroy (2012 & 2016), Henrik Stenson (2013), Chris Kirk (2014) and Thomas (2017).
Bubba Watson and Thomas recorded two eagles in the final round. Watson, who also eagled the 18th hole in round three, shared the most eagles (3) for the week with Bronson Burgoon.
Unlike tennis golf at international level is becoming tougher and tougher with a bunch next generation players giving the old timers a run for their money.
Given Roger Federer’s somewhat unexpected exit so early at the US Open this time, it seems that the gap between the legends of most individual sports and the rest is narrowing by the year. At the same time, one has to admire the drive of a Tiger Woods, a Phil Mickleson or a Vijay SIngh, who still manage to hold their own against the power-hitters of modern day golf where a 400-yard drive is no longer a surprise or s shock.