Tiger Woods’ season ends, misses out on Tour Championship

Tiger Woods’ season that was once filled with promise is over.

Woods failed to qualify for the Tour Championship after finishing 38th at the BMW Championship, which was won by Justin Thomas on Sunday.

The 43-year-old Woods was a long shot to crack the top 30 going into the final round of the BMW Championship, and he closed with a 72. East Lake last year marked his first victory in five years, capping his return from four back surgeries. The special achievement was replaced some six months later by his Masters victory this spring.

There was hope Woods would build off that stunning Masters win, but it never happened.

“It’s disappointing,” Woods said. “Last year culminated in a pretty special moment for me and would have been nice to go back there.”

Meanwhile, Thomas put himself in position to win the FedEx Cup.

Staked to a six-shot lead, Thomas spent more time Sunday worrying about what could go wrong than ending 12 months without winning.

And right when it started to go wrong, Thomas delivered his biggest shots in the BMW Championship.

In a span of three holes around the turn at Medinah, his six-shot lead shrunk to two. Thomas answered with two clutch wedge shots, two big putts and sailed to a 4-under 68 to secure a three-shot victory over Patrick Cantlay, who gave him a battle to the end with a 65.

“Patrick played unbelievably, put a lot of heat on me,” Thomas said. “In the end, it could have been good for me. It kept me focused, kept my head down. … I was really nervous going into today. I remembered that it’s really hard to win a golf tournament, and I’m glad that I was able to do so.”

The timing was ideal.

His first victory since the World Golf Championship at Firestone last year moved him to the top of the FedEx Cup standings going into the Tour Championship, where he will start the tournament at 10-under with a two-shot lead under the new scoring format as the final 30 players chase a $15 million first prize.

“I can certainly say I never slept on a Wednesday lead,” Thomas said.

Cantlay, who made four straight birdies around the turn, secured the No. 2 position and will start at 8-under. Brooks Koepka will be 7-under, a staggered start all the way down to even par for the final five players.

That includes Lucas Glover, who went bogey-double bogey until finishing with a two-putt par from 40 feet to secure his first trip to the Tour Championship in 10 years.

Hideki Matsuyama took the 36-hole lead with a 63 until falling back with a 73. He responded with another 63 to finish alone in third, making him one of three players who moved into the top 30 to reach East Lake. The other was Jason Kokrak, but only after J.T. Poston made bogey on his final hole.

The final day to earn the eight automatic spots on the Presidents Cup changed nothing for either team.

Bryson DeChambeau held onto the final spot for the Americans when Tony Finau, who needed to finish alone in third, closed with a 69 and finished fourth. Jason Day failed to work his way into an automatic spot for the International side.

There wasn’t supposed to be much drama in the tournament, either, not with Thomas coming off a 61 to build a six-shot lead. Only seven players dating to 1928 had ever lost a six-shot lead on the PGA Tour. Thomas didn’t want to be the next.

— With AP

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