Collin Morikawa, Max Homa in Position to Advance in FedEx Cup Playoff
Former Cal golfer Collin Morikawa is within reach of the lead entering the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tenn., while he and fellow Cal alum Max Homa are in good position to advance to the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoff.
The third former Golden Bears golfer in the St. Jude event, James Hahn, will have trouble making it to the next stage of the FedEx Cup playoff unless something strange occurs Sunday, but Morikawa and Homa would have to fall apart not to make it, as we will point out later in this report.
Morikawa fired a 4-under-par 66 in the third round Saturday to put him at 8-under for the tournament. That leaves him five strokes behind leader J.J. Spaun, who is at 13-under, one stroke ahead of second-place Sepp Straka.
Morikawa started the day as though he might challenge for the lead, collecting birdies on four of the first six holes of the third round.
However, he bogeyed the ninth hole and parred every hole on the back nine except for a birdie on No. 13 that got him down to 8-under. Morikawa is tied for 17th so he would have to pass 16 golfers to earn his first PGA Tour victory of this season.
Morikawa tee shot on No. 4
Homa carded a 1-under-par 69, and is at 6-under for the event.
He had a fairly even round with pars on 15 of the 18 holes. He birdied No. 3 and No. 11 to get to 7-under for the event, but a bogey on the 15th hole to out him at 6-under.
Hahn struggled a bit on Saturday, recording a 2-over-par 72 that dropped him back in the standings at 4-under for the tournament.
Hahn had four birdies in the third round, but a triple-bogey 6 on the 14th hole hurt his round and will make it almost impossible to qualify for next week's BMW Championship.
The St. Jude is the first of three tournaments in the FedEx Cup playoffs. The BMW Championships in Wilmington, Delaware, is next week, followed by the Tour Championship at Atlanta, which will determine the FedEx Cup champion.
The top 125 players in the FedEx Cup points standings qualified for this weekend's FedEx St. Jude Championship. The top 70 on the points list after the final round in the St. Jude event will advance to the second leg at the BMW Championship. The top 30 in the points standings after the BMW Championships advance to the no-cut Tour Championship, which is scheduled for Aug. 25-28.
The winner of the FedEx Cup pockets $18 million.
Hahn entered the week 117th in the FedEx Cup standings, so he barely qualified for the St. Jude event. Heading into Sunday's final round in Memphis, he is projected to be 104th in the FedEx Cup standings, so he is unlikely to finish this event as one of the top 70 in the Cup standings to qualify for next week's tournament.
Meanwhile, both Morikawa, who was 23rd in the Cup standings before this weekend, and Homa, who was 13th, are in good position to advance to the BMW Classic. Morikawa is projected to be 25th in the Cup standings with one round of this event remaining, while Homa is projected to be 15th.
Morikawa finished tied for 26th in last year's FedEx Cup standings, and Homa placed 35th while Hahn wound up 108th. Another former Cal golfer, Brandon Hagy, finished 84th last year, but did not qualify for the St. Jude event this year.
.
Cover photo of Collin Morikawa by Michael Madrid, USA TODAY Sports
.
Follow Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport