Tour Championship 2014: Daily Leaderboard Analysis, Highlights and More
For most folks, the chance to get away and play some golf is a reward in and of itself. But on Thursday, 29 men began playing golf with the ultimate goal in mind: Getting one step closer to winning $10 million.
Such are the stakes at the 2014 Tour Championship, as players look to accumulate points to win the FedEx Cup and take home the grand prize.
Below, we'll review the tournament's action, taking a look at the leaderboard, highlights and a recap of each day's action.
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Leaderboard
Sunday Recap
Billy Horschel capped off his impressive week with a two-under 68 on Sunday—his fourth sub-70 round at East Lake—to win the 2014 Tour Championship with a final tally of 11 under par.
After beginning his day with three consecutive pars, he delivered a beautiful approach from 162 yards out on the par-four fourth hole, recording his first birdie of the day. Here's a look at his brilliant effort to get his round started on the right track:
He followed up that effort with another birdie at the fifth, and four pars later, Horschel made the turn with a two-under 35.
His lone stumble on the day came at the 10th, when he struggled around the green en route to a bogey. He would take advantage of the par-five 15th, recording his third birdie of the day and finishing the back side with an even-par 35.
Horschel's three-shot victory earned him quite a paycheck to end the season, via BBC Sport:
Jim Furyk and Rory McIlroy finished tied for second place at eight under par.
Furyk made a great run during the final day of action; however, some late-round stumbles thwarted his attempt at a victory. He began the day beautifully, racking up three birdies on the front nine to shoot a three-under 32.
After making the turn, Furyk bogeyed the difficult par-four 10th but made up for it with a birdie at the par-five 15th. Only needing one more birdie over the final three holes to draw even atop the leaderboard, Furyk faltered, bogeying his final two holes of the day.
Justin Ray of the Golf Channel noted how many close calls Furyk has had since his last victory:
As for McIlroy, the world No. 1 began his day in great position at nine under par. Unfortunately, he just couldn't put it together.
While McIlroy began his round with a birdie at the fourth hole, he followed it up with a disastrous double bogey at the sixth followed by three consecutive bogeys on the ninth, 10th and 11th to completely doom his chances.
He did rally nicely near the end of his round, recording birdies on three of the final four holes, including this gorgeous approach from 137 yards out on the par-four 17th:
But that was only good enough for second.
With so many young American players shooting some impressive numbers right now, and the Ryder Cup on the horizon, McIlroy spoke of a few players he's glad he won't see across the pond, via Stephanie Wei of Sports Illustrated:
Of the Americans set to take part in this year's edition of the Ryder Cup, only Furyk and Rickie Fowler finished in the top 10 at the Tour Championship. Beginning on September 23, we'll see if this group is capable of keeping up with a very talented European squad.
Saturday Recap
While many players are still in contention, it seems like the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup will be decided Sunday in a one-on-one battle between Rory McIlroy and Billy Horschel.
The two men are tied at nine strokes under par, setting up an exciting final pairing on Sunday. PGA Tour notes the rarity of this situation:
Based on the current standings, either player can win the entire FedEx Cup with a win in this tournament. Obviously, this is certain to create plenty of drama down the stretch in the fourth round.
It seemed like Horschel was ready to pull away after shooting a 32 on the front nine. He even held a three-stroke lead after his first mistake on No. 10:
However, a bogey on No. 13 and a few other missed shots helped keep the score close.
This was enough for others to remain in the race, as noted by Iain Carter of BBC Sport:
Jim Furyk seemingly came out of nowhere, posting a 67 to get to seven-under for the tournament. As Golf Central notes, it has been a long time since he won at this level:
Mark Lamport-Stokes of Reuters also noted a few other top performers from Saturday:
Justin Rose was especially impressive with his 66, utilizing a variety of shots to keep his score low. This was arguably his best of the day:
Still, the biggest charge came from McIlroy, who caught up to Horschel thanks to one big hole. The superstar was aggressive on the par-five 15th hole and really wanted to nail it, as Nick Kayal of 97.5 The Fanatic described:
He was able to finish the hole with an eagle thanks to a long putt, putting him at nine-under for the tournament:
Both McIlroy and Horschel ended with a par on the last three holes and set up an exciting round for Sunday. The two players will go head-to-head with a chance to win $10 million from a FedEx Cup title.
Furyk, Rose, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and others still have a chance to catch the leaders, but this tournament appears to be a two-man fight. Hopefully, the final day can live up to the hype.
Friday Recap
Billy Horschel is nothing if not consistent.
For the second day in a row, Horschel shot a four-under 66, his 10th straight round in the 60s. That was enough to hold off the red-hot Rory McIlroy, who shot a five-under 65 and finds himself two strokes behind the leader, Horschel, after Friday's play.
After the day's action, Horschel spoke about his confidence heading into the weekend, via the PGA Tour on Twitter:
It was McIlroy, however, who had arguably the day's most memorable highlights. There was this beautiful approach at No. 7:
And then there was one of the wackier moments of the day, as his tee shot on No. 14 landed in the pocket—yes, you read that correctly, the pocket—of one of the spectators. You have to see it to believe it, folks:
Of course, as Justin Ray of the Golf Channel tweeted, we probably shouldn't be surprised McIlroy surged on Friday:
Ho hum, just another Round 2 for McIlroy this season.
Chris Kirk—who was tied with Horschel coming into the day at four under—shot a solid two-under 68 but watched both McIlroy and Jason Day (his second straight three-under 67) surge to tie him for second place.
Another player who was quite consistent (but is regretting that fact) was poor Geoff Ogilvy, who shot his second seven-over 77 in a row. It was a tough couple of days for Mr. Ogilvy.
It could yet be a tough weekend for Horschel. With 13 players shooting below par thus far—and remember, these are the top players on Tour this year, so any of them could have an epic round at any moment—his triumph in this tournament is far from secure.
It should be a heck of a finish, folks.
Thursday Recap
Chris Kirk and Billy Horschel each raced out to an early lead at the Tour Championship, as each shot a four-under 66. That lead doesn't feel particularly secure, of course—19 of the 29 participating players shot par or better on Thursday.
On the other hand, as Jason Sobel of the Golf Channel noted, each player has plenty of motivation to stay in the lead:
Their strong start to the tournament shouldn't be a huge surprise, as Kirk came into the event atop the FedEx Cup Points standings, while Horschel was No. 2, followed by Bubba Watson, Rory McIlroy and Hunter Mahan. Horschel in particular has been red hot, shooting nine straight rounds in the 60s, as Bill Zimmerman of Golfweek highlights.
While Horschel's consistency has been remarkable, he also offered moments of individual brilliance. Check out this effort from No. 13:
But plenty of big names are hot on his trail, including McIlroy, who struggled through a one-under 69.
"It was a grind, it feels like every day the last couple of weeks has been a grind," he told The Irish Times. "Just getting up and trying to give 100 per cent out on the golf course. It seemed like any time I made a step forward, I seemed to get knocked back on the next hole. I kept the round together well on the back nine."
Kirk and Horschel also have four excellent players breathing down their necks at three-under, as Watson, Patrick Reed, Jason Day and Jim Furyk are hot on their trail. Watson looked to be in some trouble on No. 13 with a double bogey, but three straight birdies undid that slip-up.
With so many players shooting better than par, it wasn't easy to distinguish from the many solid performances on the day. One player who certainly did, however, was Rickie Fowler on No. 6:
Now that's how you make a highlight, folks.
On Thursday, the leaderboard generally remained pretty bunched, as these talented golfers mostly played the course well. That made the poor performances really stick out, however, none as much as Geoff Ogilvy's brutal seven-over 77. Suffice to say, that 10 million dollars doesn't appear to be in his future.
But it is in the future of many of these players, as Thursday was the first course for what should be a heck of a meal for golf enthusiasts this weekend. With so many elite players in contention for this title, we should have quite the memorable three days of golf.
Kirk and Horschel have been red hot. They'll need to stay that way if they want to hold off the talented field nipping at their heels.
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