Cal Sports Report

Collin Morikawa, Max Homa in Position to Advance in FedEx Cup

Former Cal golfers in contention after two rounds of BMW Championship PGA event
Jake Curtis|
Collin Morikawa, Max Homa in Position to Advance in FedEx Cup
Collin Morikawa, Max Homa in Position to Advance in FedEx Cup

Former Cal golfers Collin Morikawa and Max Homa did not have great rounds in the BMW Classic on Friday, but their second-round scores were certainly good enough to put them in position to advance to the final leg of the FedEx Cup playoff next week.

Morikawa shot a 1-over-par 72 on the Wilmington (Delaware) Country Club South Course on Friday leaving him at 3-under for the tournament, five strokes behind leader Adam Scott. Scott is at 8-under and holds a one-stroke lead over the foursome of Jordan Spieth (4-under for the day), Scottie Scheffler (4-under), Cameron Young (3-under) and Corey Connors (4-under), but Scott's lead would have been greater had he not had a double-bogey 6 on the 17th hole.

Homa put a nice finishing touch on his round by chipping in from off the green for a birdie on the 18th hole, giving him a second-round score of 2-under 69, and leaving him at 1-under for the tournament, seven shots in back of Scott.

However, both Morkiawa and Homa look like they will advance to next week's Tournament Championship in Atlanta, which is the last of the three legs of the FedEx Cup playoff.  The top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings after the BMW Championship will move on to the Tour Championship and have a chance a the $18 million that goes to the winner of the FedEx Cup playoff.

Midway through the BMW Championship Homa is projected to be in 19th place in the Cup standings and Morikawa is slotted into the No. 21 slot.  Barring major letdowns the next two days, both should get to next week.

But just getting there is not the only mission.  The leader in the FedEx Cup standings after this weekend will start the Tour Championship at 10 under par.  No. 2 in the standings will begin at 9-under, No. 3 at 7-under, No. 4 at 6-under and No. 5 at 5-under. Players sixth through 10th in the standings will start at 4-under, Nos. 11 through 15 at 3-under, Nos. 16 through 20 at 2-under, Nos. 21 through 25 at 1-under, and Nos. 26 through 30 at even par.

If the Cup standings after Friday's round hold, Homa would start at 2-under and Morikawa at 1-under. So obviously they'd like to move up the Cup standings with strong play Saturday and Sunday in Delaware.

Morikawa was at even par for his round through 15 holes, but a bogey on 16 pushed him back. But he is still very much in the running to capture his first PGA Tour title of the season.

Homa started fast. He was at 3-under for the day and 2-under for the event after chipping in for birdie on the 10th hole.

.

But he struggled for much of the back nine, getting bogeys on the 11th and 15th holes before saving his round with a nice chip-in birdie from the fringe of the 18th green.

It was the fourth time in this event that Homa has chipped in from off the green.

..

Cover photo of Max Homa hitting out of the sand is by Benjamin Chambers, Delaware News Journal,  USA TODAY NETWORK.

.

Follow Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport

Published
Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

Home/Other Sports