BMW Championship 2014: Daily Leaderboard Analysis, Highlights and More

The world's best golfers will have two more chances to make a late surge for the FedEx Cup, starting with the 2014 BMW Championship taking place at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado.

Chris Kirk was the story of the week on the PGA Tour after his resounding victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship, but it became immediately apparent that he'll have to fight to keep his points lead through the weekend. More than a few worthy golfers are within striking distance and making moves in Colorado.

The Ryder Cup is looming for many of the best European and American golfers, but none of them are shying away from a chance at a $10 million prize up for grabs for the FedEx Cup champion. The winner this weekend gets 2,500 points, which would put many golfers in the driver's seat entering the Tour Championship. 

Take a look at updated results from each day at the BMW Championship.

Day 4 Recap

Billy Horschel held onto the lead that he entered Sunday's final round with, closing out the weekend with a round of 69 to finish 14 strokes under par and win the BMW Championship.

PGA Tour summed up Horschel's victory, which moves him into second place in the FedEx Cup standings with just one tournament to play:

Here's a look at the final leaderboard:

Pos.	Golfer	To Par	R4 Score
1	Billy Horschel	-14	69
2	Bubba Watson	-12	66
3	Morgan Hoffmann	-11	63
T4	Jim Furyk	-9	66
T4	Rickie Fowler	-9	68
T4	Sergio Garcia	-9	67
T4	Ryan Palmer	-8	71
T8	Adam Scott	-8	66
T8	Rory McIlroy	-8	66
T8	Jordan Spieth	-7	67
11	Graham DeLaet	-6	68

Horschel actually ended up posting his worst round of the four in Cherry Hills, but it didn't much matter. After building his three-stroke lead on Saturday and birdieing two of his first three holes, he was in good shape.

It was certainly a sweet moment for Horschel to be able to hold onto the lead that he had built. Last weekend at the Deutsche Bank Championship, Horschel was in a similar position but failed to close and finished in second.

He opened up about last week's struggles after the victory, per Golf Channel's Jason Sobel:

He needed just about all of the success he mustered up on Sunday, with Bubba Watson furiously chasing behind him. Watson posted his third straight round of 66, with four front-nine birdies to jockey for the lead on Sunday.

Watson proved unable to catch Horschel in the end, but his splendid bunker shot is worth watching:

Morgan Hoffmann also stuck around Horschel's score. He followed up his 62 from Saturday with a 63 on Sunday, arguably one of the best finishes to a weekend of the entire season. But it wasn't enough to seriously contend late.

Despite coming up short, Hoffmann's eagle on No. 8 had him sniffing the lead and served as one of the day's biggest highlights:

Rory McIlroy closed out his weekend strong with a round of 66, which allowed him to sneak into the top 10. However, he did have one ugly hole that he took to Twitter to joke about:

You could tell just by the level of play from the top contenders how much was on the line on Sunday. With this tournament in the books, the last chance golfers have to accumulate enough points to win the FedEx Cup is the upcoming Tour Championship.

Horschel's win gives him 2,500 points and obviously makes him one of the top contenders, but he's not alone. After Chris Kirk's win last weekend and Rory McIlroy's season-long dominance, there are a few guys he'll have to hold off before getting his hands on that $10 million.

Day 3 Recap

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Most golfers atop the BMW Championship leaderboard lit the course on fire with insane scores across the board on Saturday, but none of them came near Billy Horschel.

Horschel posted one of the best rounds of the weekend and of these FedEx Cup playoffs with a round of 63, going seven under par for the day and moving into a three-stroke lead.

Take a look at the leaderboard through Round 3:

Pos.	Golfer	To Par	R3 Score
1	Billy Horschel	-13	63
2	Ryan Palmer	-10	67
T3	Martin Kaymer	-8	64
T3	Bubba Watson	-8	66
5	Rickie Fowler	-7	66
6	Sergio Garcia	-6	72
T7	Jim Furyk	-5	67
T7	Jordan Spieth	-5	68
T7	Graham DeLaet	-5	69
T10	J.B. Holmes	-4	67
T10	Morgan Hoffmann	-4	62

The American was consistent throughout the 18 holes on Saturday, going bogey-free on the day. He opened with a birdie before notching six straight pars, and ripped off five birdies on the back nine.

Spectacularly enough, Horschel's round of 63 wasn't the best score on the course Saturday. Morgan Hoffmann posted a round of 62 to move into a tie for 10th place at eight strokes under par. 

Even more dazzling about Hoffmann's round was that he didn't have to make many long putts, as PGA Tour's Mike McAllister noted:

While Horschel and Hoffmann surged on Saturday, the third round of golf tournaments is known as "moving day" for a reason and that left others falling back. Among them was Sergio Garcia, who fired a 64 on Friday but regressed with a 72 on Saturday to fall five strokes off the lead.

Previously in position to make a weekend run, Rory McIlroy struggled as well on Saturday. He posted a round of 72, including an ugly triple-bogey on No. 12:

Other than Garcia, though, all of the golfers that finished in the top 10 posted under-par rounds on Saturday—many of them quite impressive. Martin Kaymer hit a 64 to move into a tie for third, while Ryan Palmer stuck around in second place with a round of 67 to stay three strokes behind Horschel.

Here's one of Kaymer's length putts on the day, this one coming on No. 14:

Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler have had more well-known 2014 seasons, but still brought their best golf on Saturday. Each posted a round of 66, and Watson's long drives had Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman mesmerized:

With three rounds of the tournament in the books, time is running out for those atop the leaderboard to make their moves. With only so many golfers within striking distance of the lead Horschel has built, it will come down to the execution of just a few.

There are 2,500 points in the FedEx Cup standings on the line, and the winner will have a great chance to take the overall lead entering the Tour Championship. To say that the pressure is on would be an understatement, with $10 million on the line.

Day 2 Recap

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

One day can make plenty of difference on the PGA Tour, and Friday was a perfect example. Some of the tournament's top golfers continue jockeying for position in the FedEx Cup standings, and others are playing some inspiring golf in preparation for this year's Ryder Cup.

Regardless, we've already seen some compelling performances at Cherry Hills Country Club through 36 holes of action. Here's a look at the BMW Championship's leaderboard through two rounds:

Pos.	Golfer	To Par	R2 Score
1	Sergio Garcia	-8	64
2	Ryan Palmer	-7	64
T3	Rory McIlroy	-6	67
T3	Billy Horschel	-6	66
T5	Graham DeLaet	-4	68
T5	Bubba Watson	-4	66
T5	Hideki Matsuyama	-4	67
T8	Rickie Fowler	-3	66
T8	Henrik Stenson	-3	69
T8	Jordan Spieth	-3	70
T8	Adam Scott	-3	66

Sergio Garcia surged to the top of the leaderboard on Day 2, firing a six-under 64 to get to eight under for the tournament.

While Garcia was only two under through the front nine on Friday, his big highlight of the day came on the par-four seventh. Take a look at this brilliant approach from 126-yards out that found the cup for an eagle:

Garcia played some flawless golf on the back side. He combined four birdies with five pars to net a four-under 32, completing his stellar round and earning him a spot atop the standings. Unfortunately for Garcia, the Golf Channel's Justin Ray noted the golfer's inability to convert 36-hole leads into wins:

With the course yielding some low numbers on Friday, Garcia wasn't nearly the only one to take advantage. No stranger to seeing the top of the leaderboard early in tournaments, Ryan Palmer went low on Friday, matching Garcia's 64.

Here's one very eerie happening from the Round 2 action. Palmer holed out for eagle on the very same hole as Garcia:

That eagles propelled Palmer to a three-under 31 on the front nine, and he followed that up with a back nine that included one bogey, four birdies and four pars for a three-under 33. Palmer is in great shape heading into the weekend, and we'll see if he can take advantage this time around.

As for world No. 1 Rory McIlroy, he matched his Round 1 score of three-under 67 on Friday yet fell to a tie for third in the standings due to the surge from Garcia and Palmer. Golf Central kept track of McIlroy's numbers:

McIlroy started slow, shooting an even-par front nine, but he really turned it on late in the round. After five consecutive pars to start the back nine, he birdied hole Nos. 15, 16 and 17 en route to a three-under 33 and a total of six under for the tournament.

The world No. 1 had a hot putter on Friday. Here's a look the roll he put on a 34-footer for birdie on the par-four 16th:

It was an unfortunate day for Phil Mickelson. He began the tournament with a 70 on Thursday, but Lefty fell apart on Friday, shooting a six-over 76 to drop him to a tie for 63rd. Mickelson began the day with a birdie on the first hole, but four bogeys and a triple bogey on the par-three 12th doomed his round.

With such pristine course conditions, we can expect to see some more low numbers in Colorado on Saturday. Round 3 on the PGA Tour is widely heralded as "moving day" due to plenty of players shooting far below par. Expect the moniker to live up to its billing on Day 3 of the BMW Championship.

Day 1 Recap

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Gary Woodland, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy each finished three strokes under par to tie for the lead after Thursday's opening round that was called early due to inclement weather with two groups yet to finish their rounds. 

Behind the trio of leaders lies a packed group of nine sitting just one stroke behind, some of whom can help or hurt their scores with the culmination of Round 1 on Friday morning, courtesy of PGATour.com:

Pos.	Golfer	To Par	Round 1
T1	Gary Woodland	-3	67
T1	Jordan Spieth	-3	67
T1	Rory McIlroy	-3	67
T4	Billy Horschel	-2	68
T4	Russell Henley	-2	68
T4	Martin Kaymer	-2	68
T4	Chesson Hadley	-2	68
T4	Kevin Chappell	-2	68
T4	Matt Every	-2	68
T4	Graham DeLaet	-2	68
T4	Sergio Garcia	-2	68
T4	Henrik Stenson*	-2	(17)
T13	Justin Rose	-1	69
T13	Hideki Matsuyama	-1	69

According to Golf Channel's Randall Mell, the players—Henrik Stenson, Camilo Villegas, Jerry Kelly and a few others—who didn't finish up before Thursday's horn will wrap up on Friday:

As you can tell by a quick look above, there were plenty of strong scores on Thursday but not really enough for one golfer to stick his neck out in front. Things remained tight at the top of the leaderboard from the start of play on Thursday morning until the final scores went in the books.

The closest someone came to pulling away was McIlroy. After starting out two under, McIlroy came around the front nine to rattle off three straight birdies for a two-stroke lead. 

His early success proved how dangerous golfers can be on the early holes at Cherry Hills, as PGA Tour's Sean Martin observed:

But the Northern Irishman's game struggled late. His only two bogeys of the round came late, dropping him from a two-stroke lead into a tie for the lead after Day 1 was called with Spieth and Woodland.

It was an up-and-down day for McIlroy by his standards, but he still dazzled with a few impressive shots, like this one on No. 5:

McIlroy wowed spectators by driving the green on the first hole, and he explained his long-ball success to CBSSports.com' Kyle Porter:

"

I did hit a 3-wood today 370. So, that was pretty good. But the ball is going forever. It really is. Obviously, the altitude, and then it heated up for us on back nine, as well. So, it's going a good, for me, because of my high ball flight, it's going to good 15 percent further than it usually does.

"

Two more golfers with plenty of eyes on them were Hunter Mahan and Kirk, winners of the first two FedEx Cup playoff events who joined McIlroy in the top three entering the weekend. But unlike the four-time major winner, Mahan and Kirk couldn't keep up their strong play.

Kirk hung in there, but he was a shell of the golfer we saw last weekend with four bogeys on the day and a one-over-par score. PGA Tour noted his up-and-down start:

Mahan struggled especially on Thursday, which may concern any USA golf fans who are preparing themselves for this month's Ryder Cup. He shot five over on the day, finishing five spots away from last place among the 69 golfers in Colorado.

Jason Sobel of Golf Channel indicated Thursday's rounds across the board don't bode well for Team USA's Ryder Cup chances:

As for other golfers who have been surging as of late, many of them continued their roll on Thursday. Billy Horschel and Russell Henley both finished two strokes under par, after big performances last weekend put them in position for a dark-horse FedEx Cup run.

Ryan Palmer also finished one under on the day, largely thanks to this massive drive on the par-four No. 1 that led to an eagle:

By the end of Thursday afternoon, it was simply impossible to keep track of all of the golfers who were within a shot of the lead. More and more names added themselves to the list of co-leaders as the round drew to a close.     

Many of the notables couldn't breed the same success, however. Phil Mickelson couldn't get much going and stayed at even par, while Rickie Fowler (one under) and Bubba Watson (even par) were both unable to stay in the red.

This time of year, it's all about which golfer's game is clicking the best and firing on all cylinders. That's only proven by the fact that many of the names atop the leaderboard are the same as we saw last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

After one day, though, those names haven't done anything to distance themselves and Day 2 will begin with the lead shared between many.