It's On to Atlanta For Collin Morikawa After Tie For 4th at BMW

With an eagle on the 17th hole, Collin Morikawa found himself alone in third place, just one stroke out of the lead at the BMW Championship on Sunday at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis.

It wasn’t to be for the 29-year-old Cal graduate, who bogeyed No. 18 and wound up with a still-impressive share of fourth place at the second leg of the three-week FedEx Cup playoffs

Morikawa, who now resides in seventh place in the FedEx Cup standings, will be among the top 30 who advance to next week’s season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

Those 30 will battle for the $10 million first prize from the $40 million overall purse.

Morikawa, who put together his best-ever performance at the BMW event, never was in jeopardy of failing to advance to the Tour Championship. He began the week at No. 9 in the FedEx Cup standings and was all but mathematically assured of qualifying for Atlanta.

But for a player who never had finished higher than a tie for 25th at the BMW — and once shared 63rd place — competing at the top of the leaderboard provides some momentum headed into next week.

Morikawa has a strong history at the Tour Championship, with three top-10 placings in six tries, including a runner-up finish in 2024.

He was positioned to challenge for his seventh victory on the PGA Tour when his birdie on the 17th brought him within one stroke of Wyndham Clark and Rory McIlroy, tied for he lead at 14 under.

Clark had given back all of a six-stroke lead he took into Sunday, but he recovered to birdie the final three holes — his first three of the day — to regain control. His even-par final round gave him the win by a three-stroke margin at minus-17.

McIlroy fell off after a bogey on No. 17, and when Morikawa did he same on the 18th his chances of chasing down Clark were over. In the meantime, Patrick Cantlay birdied the final three holes to pass both and slide into sole possession of second place at 14 under.

McIlroy wound up in third place at minus-13 after a 69, and Morikawa shared fourth with Chris Gotterup and Gary Woodland, all at 12 under.

Morikawa, assembled rounds 68, 65, 67 and 68, took home a check for $856,667. Clark's victory was worth $3.6 million.

World No. 1 Scotie Scheffler, who carded a 2-over 72 in he opening round, climbed to a tie for 12th place at minus-7.

Follow Jeff Faraudo on Twitter, Facebook and Bluesky

Add us as a preferred source on Google