This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
Jason Day birdied his first hole on Thursday, and his second, and his fourth, and his sixth, and thanks for coming, drive home safely. After flirting with an opening-round 59, there was little doubt Day would go on to win the BMW Championship on Sunday. He did, easily, and ascended to the fitting position of the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world.
It was clear that the one-week break on the PGA Tour schedule was all that Day needed to be reinvigorated and resume his late-summer assault on par. He shot 61-63 to tie the Tour record for 36 holes, then spun twin 69s on the weekend to cruise to a six-stroke win over rookie Daniel Berger, one of four golfers to crack the top 30 and gain entry into this week's season-ending Tour Championship.
Day will be the overwhelming favorite to win at East Lake in Atlanta. But we'll see how he responds after all the energy he expended reaching his lifelong goal of being No. 1. It was not as easy as it seemed on TV.
"I felt a lot of pressure over the last few days," Day told reporters at Conway Farms on Sunday. "Yesterday and today had to be the toughest rounds of golf I had to play in my entire life. Tomorrow I am going to become the number one player in the world. It has been an amazing ride."
Whether Day can regroup in time to contend at East Lake, we'll see. It's an
Jason Day birdied his first hole on Thursday, and his second, and his fourth, and his sixth, and thanks for coming, drive home safely. After flirting with an opening-round 59, there was little doubt Day would go on to win the BMW Championship on Sunday. He did, easily, and ascended to the fitting position of the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world.
It was clear that the one-week break on the PGA Tour schedule was all that Day needed to be reinvigorated and resume his late-summer assault on par. He shot 61-63 to tie the Tour record for 36 holes, then spun twin 69s on the weekend to cruise to a six-stroke win over rookie Daniel Berger, one of four golfers to crack the top 30 and gain entry into this week's season-ending Tour Championship.
Day will be the overwhelming favorite to win at East Lake in Atlanta. But we'll see how he responds after all the energy he expended reaching his lifelong goal of being No. 1. It was not as easy as it seemed on TV.
"I felt a lot of pressure over the last few days," Day told reporters at Conway Farms on Sunday. "Yesterday and today had to be the toughest rounds of golf I had to play in my entire life. Tomorrow I am going to become the number one player in the world. It has been an amazing ride."
Whether Day can regroup in time to contend at East Lake, we'll see. It's an interesting scenario. He'd like to win the tournament, of course, but he doesn't have to to win the FedEx Cup and the $10 million bonus.
The top five in the point standings -- Day, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson and Bubba Watson -- all control their destiny in that if one wins the tournament, he wins the Cup. Stenson did just that in 2013. The other four have also played well at East Lake, with top-10 showings for all of them. Day tied for fourth last year, when Fowler tied for eighth. Spieth was runner-up two years ago. Watson tied for fifth in 2012.
Berger, whose father is former professional tennis player Jay Berger, is one of four golfers to leap-frog into the top 30 at the BMW -- an especially high number after only two made the jump each of the previous three years. Scott Piercy (solo third), Kevin Na (T10) and Harris English (T19) are the others. Besides the cash grab that is the Tour Championship, qualifying also exempts those four golfers into the four majors next year. So it was an especially painful week for the four who dropped out of the top 30: Ben Martin, Daniel Summerhays, Jason Bohn and Russell Knox.
Martin and Knox should have more chances to get to the Tour Championship, but this may have been the best shot for Summerhays and Bohn.
MONDAY TAKEAWAY
Rory McIlroy
Lost amid Day's four-day coronation, McIlroy played his best tournament in months, albeit while losing his No. 1 ranking. He tied for fourth with, among others, Fowler. That allowed him to climb six spots to No. 11 in points. That's not good enough to control his own fate, but it does give him a good shot at winning his first Cup with a tournament win. And remember, he tied for second at East Lake last year.
Jordan Spieth
Spieth certainly played better than the two missed cuts in the first two playoff events, but he still finished nine strokes behind Day in a tie for 13th. He followed a 65-66 with a 72-70, and still appears to be feeling the effects of his action-packed summer.
Zach Johnson
Johnson closed with a 64 to zoom 24 spots up the leaderboard and, more importantly, to sixth in the point standings. While he doesn't control his own fate, being sixth is the next best thing. Trouble is, outside of tying for second at East Lake way back in 2007, Johnson hasn't really contended for the title.
Daniel Berger
Berger was not among the favorites for Rookie of the Year before the BMW, but he likely joined Justin Thomas and Tony Finau in the conversation. He heads to East Lake as the No. 9 seed, and the only rookie still standing.
Scott Piercy
Piercy will make his second start in the Tour Championship, having tied for 15th in 2012. Don't look for him to repeat his top-5 showing from the BMW, but at this point it's all gravy for Piercy and his owners.
Kevin Na
Na really is deserving of a berth in the Tour Championship. He spent most of the season inside the top 30, but dropped out with a T60 at the Deutsche Bank Championship. He tied for 10th at the BMW to land as the 27th seed. In three previous trips to East Lake, he's never contended.
Harris English
For English, cracking the top 30 was especially sweet. The past two years, he entered the BMW in position to advance, but poor showings agonizingly left his 31st in 2013 and 32nd last year.
Billy Horschel
The least likely of FedEx Cup champions saw his title defense end at Conway Farms. The tied for 32nd on the week to finish 66th in points. This was the real Horschel - with only two top-10s all season - and not the aberration who was lights-out at just the right time last year.
Phil Mickelson
Mickelson, who won at East Lake in 2009, failed to qualify for the second straight year. T50 at The Barclays, T65 at the Deutsche Bank -- props for making the cuts. But T32 at the BMW complete a very mediocre playoffs, and wondering whether the 45-year-old will ever make it back to the Tour Championship.
