7 stunning gamers to overlook the Tour Championship

Justin Thomas wakened Sunday morning in a troublesome place.

A Saturday 74 had left him forty sixth in a now-48-man discipline on the BMW Championship and dangerously near falling out of the prime 30 within the FedEx Cup standings and lacking the Tour Championship for the second straight yr.

It felt lots like final yr’s Wyndham when Thomas got here up one shot in need of making the Playoffs. However to not him.

“I imply, it’s simply bizarre,” Thomas mentioned Sunday. “The Playoffs are enjoyable like that as a result of I felt some issues on these final couple holes that really feel just like making an attempt to win a golf match, simply when you recognize when you don’t advance to the following stage, you don’t have an opportunity. That’s all I would like.

“I perceive that if I do get into Atlanta I’m going to be past an extended shot, however in my eyes I’ve an opportunity, and that’s all I would like. It’s loads of stress, however you’ve obtained to play properly on the proper time, and that’s what the Playoffs are about.”

He performed properly on the proper time as he posted a bogey-free 68 to maneuver up seven spots on the leaderboard, it seemed like it could be simply sufficient to sneak into the Tour Championship discipline Sunday because the No. 30 man within the standings. When Alex Noren missed a seven-foot slider for par on the sixteenth gap to fall out of a tie for 4th, Thomas moved again into the sector for the season finale.

Whereas Thomas stayed within the prime 30, 4 gamers (this week’s winner Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott, Tommy Fleetwood and Chris Kirk) moved from exterior the highest 30 to inside the sector for East Lake this week. There are some surprises within the 30-man discipline who all obtain two-year exemptions on Tour and entry into three of the 4 majors. There’s even set to be the surprising East Lake debut of Shane Lowry, who by some means had by no means made the Tour Championship earlier than.

However not everybody was as lucky as 4 gamers additionally moved out of the highest 30. A number of big-name gamers didn’t even make it to the BMW this week to have an opportunity at East Lake.

Preserve studying under for a few of the most stunning names to overlook out on the 2024 Tour Championship.

7 stunning gamers to overlook the Tour Championship

No. 31 Brian Harman: Harman was one of many 4 gamers to fall out of the highest 30 this week after a solo twenty fifth end in Colorado. He misses East Lake for the primary time since 2021.

No. 33 Jason Day: Day was unable to make something occur on the weekend at Fort Pines and completed T33 this week to fall eight spots from twenty fifth.

No. 38 Will Zalatoris: Strong performances within the playoffs (T12 final week and T13 this week) weren’t sufficient to make up for an up-and-down return from damage yr which noticed him miss three cuts in a row coming into the Playoffs.

No. 40 Matt Fitzpatrick: Fitzpatrick handled a weird guidelines scenario on Sunday at Fort Pines as he was denied the flexibility to interchange his cracked driver in the course of the spherical. He ended up ending T28, which wasn’t sufficient to maintain a down season, through which he recorded simply three top-10s, going. He misses East Lake for the primary time since 2021.

No. 44 Cameron Younger: Younger added to his report complete of seven runner-ups and not using a win on the Valspar earlier this yr, however a T61-T43 run within the playoffs noticed him slide from thirty first to forty fourth within the standings.

No. 46 Max Homa: Homa appeared to be going by way of the motions this week. After his T3 on the Masters, he solely recorded one different top-10 and completed lifeless final in Memphis earlier than a final-round 67 salvaged a T43 this week.

No. 49 Nick Dunlap: Dunlap was on a scorching run after successful in Tahoe and contending in Memphis simply to make it to Colorado. A Sunday 66 would have gotten the rookie to East Lake, however he went the unsuitable approach with a final-round 77.

Didn’t make BMW discipline (and never included in rely): No. 51 Tom Kim, No. 55 Justin Rose, No. 58 Nick Taylor, No. 59 Jake Knapp, No. 60 Min Woo Lee, No. 66 Jordan Spieth, No. 73 Kurt Kitayama, No. 77 Lucas Glover, No. 81 Nicolai Hojgaard, No. 103 Matt Kuchar, No. 106 Rickie Fowler

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State College, incomes levels in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his highschool golf crew and just lately returned to this system to function head coach. Jack additionally nonetheless *tries* to stay aggressive in native amateurs. Earlier than becoming a member of GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but additionally producing, anchoring and even presenting the climate. He might be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.