Weekly Read Fore! Things: Staggering Numbers Behind Viktor Hovland's FedEx Run
More Weekly Read: Zach Johnson's Big Decision | The New Tour Fall Schedule | The PGA Tour Gambling Predicament | Fore! Things: Hovland's Staggering Numbers
1. Viktor Hovland captured the Tour Championship with another blistering week after winning the BMW Championship. The victory was the sixth of his PGA Tour career and third this year.
2. Hovland shot 19 under par after shooting 17 under at Olympia Fields for a combined 36 under par over the previous 144 holes.
3. For the third time, Xander Schauffele shot the lowest 72-hole score at the Tour Championship. In 2017, it got him a victory as Justin Thomas won the FedEx Cup. But with the format change to only one winner and a strokes-staggered start, Schauffele has only pride to show for his 2020 low score (when the FedEx title was won by Dustin Johnson) and this year, when he matched the low total of Hovland.
4. Jon Rahm won four times this year, including the Masters. He tied for second at the British Open. He’s the likely PGA Tour player of the year, with Hovland and Scottie Scheffler also in contention. But with a final-round 74, he finished tied for 18th in the FedEx Cup standings after starting the week fourth and being among the leaders all year going back to his win at the Sentry in January.
Fore! More Things
1. The U.S. Ryder Cup team will be completed on Tuesday when Zach Johnson makes his six at-large picks. The European six automatic qualifiers will be determined at the end of this week’s Omega European Masters in Switzerland. Captain Luke Donald will make his at-large picks on Sept. 4.
2. The Ryder Cup is more than four weeks way but there is still some meaningful golf to be played prior. After this week’s event in Switzerland, the DP World Tour has the Irish Open and the BMW PGA Championship, the tour’s flagship event. Max Homa will defend his title next week at the Fortinet Championship, the only PGA Tour event prior to the Ryder Cup.
3. Both Ryder Cup teams are scheduled for pre-event week visits to scout the Marco Simone course in Italy. Johnson expects a majority of his team to make the trip, likely the weekend of Sept. 8. The trip should last a few days.
4. There are 32 days until the first session of the Ryder Cup in Italy. The start to the 2024 PGA Tour season at the Sentry begins in 129 days. And the first round of the Masters is 221 days away.