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FedEx Cup Standings 2021: Points, Playoff Standings After BMW Championship
August 30, 2021
Patrick Cantlay outlasted Bryson DeChambeau in a marathon sudden-death playoff at the BMW Championship on Sunday, finally emerging after six additional holes to claim the top spot in the FedEx Cup standings.
Both golfers used the playoff to boost their postseason odds as Cantlay's win takes him from fourth place to first, and DeChambeau moves from ninth to third. That has the race for the FedEx Cup as tight as ever, with only next week's Tour Championship remaining.
PGA TOUR @PGATOURA playoff for the ages.<a href="https://twitter.com/patrick_cantlay?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Patrick_Cantlay</a> is victorious on the 6th playoff hole <a href="https://twitter.com/BMWchamps?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BMWChamps</a>.<br><br>(presented by <a href="https://twitter.com/SuperStrokeGolf?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SuperStrokeGolf</a>) <a href="https://t.co/J6vthYBuWG">pic.twitter.com/J6vthYBuWG</a>
Here's a look at how the standings changed over the last four days:
Updated FedEx Cup Standings
Projected points in parenthesis
1. Patrick Cantlay (4,301)
2. Tony Finau (3,564)
3. Bryson DeChambeau (3,189)
4. Jon Rahm (3,063)
5. Cameron Smith (2,821)
6. Justin Thomas (2,371)
7. Harris English (2,248)
8. Abraham Ancer (2,241)
9. Jordan Spieth (2,232)
10. Sam Burns (2,214)
Full standings available via PGA Tour
Spotrac @spotrac2021 BMW Championship Payouts<br><br>1. Cantlay, $1.71M<br>2. DeChambeau, $1.026M<br>3. Im, $646k<br>4. McIlroy, $456k<br>5. van Rooyen, $380k<br>T6. Johnson/Garcia, $330k<br>8. Burns, $294k<br>T9. Rahm/Noren/Ancer, $256k<br><br>Patrick Cantlay raises his year earnings to $7.74M, sliding past Rahm for #1.
Pre-BMW Championship Standings
1. Tony Finau, 3,348 Points
2. Jon Rahm, 2,763 Points
3. Cameron Smith, 2,739 Points
4. Patrick Cantlay, 2,302 Points
5. Justin Thomas, 2,218 Points
6. Collin Morikawa, 2,171 Points
7. Jordan Spieth, 2,150 Points
8. Harris English, 2,118 Points
9. Bryson DeChambeau, 1,989 Points
10. Abraham Ancer, 1,941 Points
It easily could've been DeChambeau finishing Sunday atop the FedEx Cup standings—and it probably should've been.
The volatile PGA star had three putts to win lip out or miss the cup by millimeters, keeping Cantlay alive at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland. The two most crucial misses came on the second and third playoff holes.
During the second playoff—as the two took to the 18th hole for the third time that day—DeChambeau's putt just rolled past cup for birdie. After yelling at his putter in disgust, he settled for par while Cantlay matched him. His next opportunity to win brought even more heartbreak. As the two shifted back to the par-three No. 17, DeChambeau's perfect tee shot was spoiled by a putt that hit the lip of the cup and slid out. Once again, both golfers saved par to keep the playoff alive.
That wasn't even DeChambeau's worst mistake.
As the fourth playoff hole returned to No. 18, a clearly frustrated DeChambeau launched his tee shot into the water hazard along the fairway. A perfect approach shot off the drop put him feet away from the pin, and this time, it was Cantlay whose missed birdie opportunity kept his opponent alive.
PGA TOUR @PGATOURUnbelievable!<a href="https://twitter.com/b_dechambeau?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@B_DeChambeau</a> found the water off the tee of the fourth playoff hole and still made par to play on <a href="https://twitter.com/BMWchamps?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BMWChamps</a>. <a href="https://t.co/x5r6JaA6Bj">pic.twitter.com/x5r6JaA6Bj</a>
In the end, it was Cantlay sinking a 17-foot putt for the win as DeChambeau missed from about eight feet out. Both players finished 27-under par for the weekend in a stunning display.
Now they'll look to carry over that performance to East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia, next weekend for the Tour Championship. Only the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings will make the field, and the playoff format will give a gigantic head start to those at the top of the leaderboard.
Will Gray @WillGrayGCEast Lake starts as follows:<br><br>-10 Cantlay<br>-8 Finau<br>-7 Bryson<br>-6 Rahm<br>-5 Smith<br>-4 JT, English, Ancer, Spieth, Burns<br>-3 Morikawa, Im, Hovland, Oosthuizen, DJ<br>-2 Rory, Xander, Kokrak, Na, Koepka<br>-1 Conners, Hideki, Cink, Niemann, Scheffler<br>E Berger, EVR, Garcia, Horschel, Reed
Cantlay will start at 10-under par, Tony Finau at eight-under par and DeChambeau at seven-under par. The BMW Champ will certainly take that. In three career events at East Lake, he's finished even-par, one-over and nine-over. He's shot better than 69 just twice in 12 rounds and has never finished in the top 10.
“I’ll be trying to reset and play the golf tournament like any other golf tournament, just trying to put a bunch of rounds in the 60s on the board. It's a really good golf course. It's usually in fantastic shape,” Cantlay said. “I haven't played that well there in the past, that's true, but it's a golf course I like. I like the visuals out there, and I'm looking forward to having a better result this year.”
DeChambeau has been significantly better at East Lake with finishes of one-over, four-under and one-under in three appearances, but he's never finished better than 12th place at the Tour Championship.
Reigning FedEx Cup champion Dustin Johnson will start at three-under next week. He has three top-ten finishes at East Lake and one victory (2020).
If the FedEx Cup finale can muster anything close to the drama that the BMW Championship did, golf fans will be in for another wild ride. With personalities like Cantlay, DeChambeau, Finau, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas all in contention to take home the top prize, that shouldn't be much of a challenge.