WiretoWire: Glover goes back-to-back
LUCAS GLOVER WINS FEDEXCUP PLAYOFFS OPENER, SECOND TITLE IN TWO WEEKS
Lucas Glover was the talk of the golf world after an emotional victory at last week’s Wyndham Championship, earning a FedExCup Playoffs spot in dramatic fashion after overcoming a years-long battle with the putting yips. So, why stop there? Glover went back-to-back with a playoff victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first leg of the three-event FedExCup Playoffs. The 43-year-old matched Patrick Cantlay’s 15-under total at TPC Southwind and won with a two-putt par on the first extra hole after Cantlay’s tee shot found a watery grave left of the fairway at the par-4 18th, and he couldn’t save par. Glover shook off his own water ball Sunday – his tee shot on the par-3 14th – salvaging bogey with a 30-footer. He then played bogey-free to the house to earn his playoff spot. Suddenly, Glover moves to fourth on the FedExCup standings (he accrues 2,000 points with the win, as quadruple points are on offer) and assumes a spot as a genuine contender for the season-long crown. The three names ahead of him in the standings: Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. It’s esteemed company for Glover, now a six-time TOUR winner, and some might see it as a surprise. But for those who have long regarded him as one of the game’s premier ball-strikers, it’s no surprise that when his putting came around, the hardware would soon follow. “If you would have told me this three months ago, I’d tell you you’re crazy,” Glover said. “But at the same time, if you asked me legitimately, did I think I was capable, I’d say yes … It’s just one of those sad ways athletes are wired. We always believe in ourselves.” The golf world now believes in him, too.
WINDY CITY WELCOMES BMW
The FedExCup Playoffs head north for the second leg of the postseason. Olympia Fields’ North Course, located outside of Chicago, plays host to the BMW Championship, which features the top 50 players in the FedExCup standings. Jon Rahm held his lead in the FedExCup standings after the first Playoffs event, but he’s only 148 points ahead of Scottie Scheffler. Defending FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy travels to Chicago off a T3 finish at TPC Southwind, which included a final-round 65. Lucas Glover is fresh off a playoff victory over Patrick Cantlay at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, his second title in as many weeks. Glover continues his meteoric rise in the FedExCup standings; he entered the prior week’s Wyndham Championship outside the top 100 on the FedExCup, then won to punch his ticket to the Playoffs. Cantlay will look for his third consecutive BMW Championship victory, after successfully defending his title last year at Wilmington (Delaware) Country Club. Presidents Cup teammates Cam Davis and Hideki Matsuyama played their way into the BMW Championship field after moving inside the top 50 in Memphis. Olympia Fields is no stranger to big events: The Willie Park Jr. design has held two U.S. Opens (1928, 2003), a pair of PGA Championships (1925, 1961), the U.S. Senior Open (1997), the U.S. Amateur (2015), the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (2017) and the 2020 BMW Championship. FedExCup points are again quadrupled, with 2,000 points on offer for the winner before Starting Strokes are used at the TOUR Championship
MIC CHECK
“Hey, three bucks a load. That’s not bad,” — Lucas Glover comments on doing his own laundry in a hotel laundry room in Memphis during FedEx St. Jude
BY THE NUMBERS
11 – The first featured hole at TPC Southwind for the PGA TOUR Scramble on Roblox that debuts each Monday of Playoffs week. Fans can experience the FedExCup Playoffs virtually through PGA TOUR Scramble on Roblox.
10,000 – The number of simulations run in the algorithm forPGA TOUR’s new Win Probabilities function. The algorithm takes into account stats like Driving Accuracy, Greens in Regulation and more, combining those numbers with hole statistics and TOUR averages and then then runs 10,000 simulations for each hole for every player during every round for every previous tournament to determine pre-tournament probabilities.
1 – Where Alejandro Tosti needed to finish at the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna to secure his PGA TOUR card for next season, which he accomplished with a final-round 62 in Omaha, Nebraska, to ensure the victory by a three-stroke margin.
4 – PGA TOUR Champions wins this season for Stephen Ames, who secured his fourth title at the Boeing Classic, seven strokes clear of Steven Alker. Ames trails just Steve Stricker (five) in Champions Tour victories this season.
SOURCE: [PGATour.com]
