Dell Technologies Championship Recap: DeChambeau Wins Back to Back

The PGA Tour has set up the FedEx Cup playoffs to allow for, even encourage, some shocking developments and wild swings. After two events, however, these playoff have been rather devoid of either. And it's all one man's fault.

Bryson DeChambeau has been sucking the life out of the playoffs by winning not only the first event last week but now also the second, the Dell Technologies Championship, on Monday at TPC Boston.

There were some anxious moments at both the Northern Trust and the Dell, but DeChambeau had comfortable leads on the back nine on Sunday in both of them. This time, he had a four-stroke margin before defeating late-charging Justin Rose by two strokes.

And while there will be drama at the BMW Championship beginning Thursday to see which 30 golfers advance to the Tour Championship, we already know who the top seed at East Lake will be. That's what happens when you become the second golfer to win the first two playoff events in the 12-year history of the FedEx Cup championship. Vijay Singh also did it, in 2008, and he went on to win the overall title.

DeChambeau will move to No. 7 in the world and almost surely will be named to the Ryder Cup team on Tuesday, along with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. He also bumped Jason Day outside the top-10 in the OWGR and Jordan Spieth to the edge of it. Those are some big-time guys he's overtaken, not to mention supplanting Rory McIlroy for seventh.

As great as DeChambeau's performance was, there were a lot of developments to detail at TPC Boston, and elsewhere in golf, so let's get right to it.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Tiger Woods
It would be reasonable to think that Woods was gassed as he played the last five holes in 3-over to fall into a tie for 24th. He now has to tee it up in less than 72 hours at the BMW, and his Tour Championship hopes are in the balance. Woods began the week 25th in the point standings and, thankfully for him, didn't drop. In the past three years, four guys fell out of the top-30 at the BMW. So Woods appears to be safe, Probably. But in some ways, this week could be the toughest of Woods' comeback.

Phil Mickelson
He probably was going to be on the Ryder Cup team regardless, but you have to think that at T15 in the first playoff event and now a T12 at the Dell will cinch it for Mickelson. He needed a testy downhill five-foot breaker for par on Saturday just to make the cut. Then he shot 4-under 67 on Sunday and a lights-out 63 on Monday. At ninth in the point standings, Mickelson is also a lock for the Tour Championship, which he had missed three of the past four years. As we look to next year's fantasy options, it would be easy to overprice Mickelson. He did win a tournament in 2018, but it was his first in years, and he's about to enter his age-49 season. Proceed with caution.

Cameron Smith
When watching young players who appear headed for greatness, it could be like watching a tennis match. You could get whiplash. Smith tied for fifth in both the Masters and in the WGC-Match Play in the spring, but soon after missed five straight cuts, including at The Players and the U.S. Open. In fact, the T5 at Augusta was his last top-five until last week in the playoff opener, when he tied for third. And now Smith was solo third at the Dell. Such swings are to be expected from young guys and, at 25, the Aussie is still a young guy. But if this is any indication, those swings will minimize as Smith changes course toward a steady if not great career.

Abraham Ancer
We saw glimpses of Ancer's burgeoning talent earlier this season, notably when he tied for fourth at the Quicken Loans National a few months after tying for eighth in Houston. He is Mexico's top golfer and therefore gained entry into the WGC-Mexico, at which he tied for 52nd. Not terrible. But on Monday, as he began the final round with the lead, you could tell he wasn't quite ready for such a big moment. He was decent, mind you, but made some mistakes in big moments, including on 18. Ancer bogeyed the last to fall into a tie for seventh. We'll see him next week at Aronimink and, undoubtedly, in the future.

Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama tied for fourth at the 2018-opening Tournament of Champions, and he didn't return to the top-10 until Monday, when he again tied for fourth. Wow. It's been a difficult, injury-plagued year for the Japanese star, who had fallen to 19th in the world entering the week. But late in the season, he began to make his way back, with five top-20s in nine events preceding the Dell. It might be asking a lot for a return to the top-five in the world, but not the top-10. Matsuyama also moved into the top-30 of the point standings but will need another good week to protect that No. 28 position at the BMW.

Rafa Cabrera Bello
Cabrera Bello will find out Tuesday whether he's on the European Ryder Cup team. He made a spirited run the past month or so, including a tie for seventh at the Dell. He actually had a share of the lead on the back nine before three late bogeys killed his chances. If Cabrera Bello doesn't get a captain's pick, we could see a real letdown from him this week at the BMW. On the other hand, if the Spaniard is picked, he could exhale. Might be a good week to avoid Cabrera Bello either way.

Zach Johnson
Johnson ran off six straight top-20s from the U.S. Open to the PGA Championship, making a spirited push to make perhaps his final Ryder Cup team. But the 42-year-old stalled with a tie for 40th at the Northern Trust and, this past week, a crushing missed cut at TPC Boston. He of course still could be selected by captain Jim Furyk on Tuesday, but that seems unlikely. For next year, we know that Johnson is capable of short bursts of greatness, but he's outside the top-50 in the world, and season-long greatness seems a thing of the past for him.

Keith Mitchell
The big-hitting rookie delivered at the last possible minute to keep his season alive. Mitchell began the week 78th in the point standings, but he shot 66-67-69 on the final three days to tie for 20th and move inside the top-70 at No. 66. This course was well-suited for the aggressive 26-year-old, but that won't be the case next week, so we expect Mitchell's season to end without a flourish. But it was a great first season for him. Keep an eye on Mitchell toward the future.

Kevin Kisner and Xander Schauffele
At the beginning of the season, you'd have thought these two had a pretty darn good shot at qualifying for the Tour Championship. But Kisner, at 39th in points, and Schauffele, at 41st, have big-time work to do next week. Kisner notched a top-25 at the Dell, but he'll need to do a lot better next week.

Kevin Chappell, Charley Hoffman, Russell Henley, Matt Kuchar, Russell Knox, Jimmy Walker
Young players come on the scene every year, pushing veterans back down the pecking order. But it still seems surprising that these six guys could not remain in the top-70. For goodness sakes, we're not talking top-30 here. For Kuchar, it probably ends his bid to be on the Ryder Cup team for a final time. As for Hoffman, he had been one of two golfers (along with Mickelson) to reach the third playoff event every year of the now 12-year-old playoffs. On one hand, it's surprising that two guys in the top-40 in the world could not crack the top-70 on the points list, but both Kuchar and Hoffman are on the other side of age 40, a time when these types of things can happen all of a sudden. Chappell, Henley and Knox are all young enough to bounce back, but there's no way to couch their seasons: They brutally underperformed.

Hunter Mahan
Rarely has such an elite golfer – Mahan was once No. 3 in the world – been so humbled. Entering the week at No. 526 in the world, the 36-year-old Mahan teed it up in the Web.com Tour playoffs in an effort to regain his PGA Tour card. With a tie for second at the DAP Championship, he has done it. Mahan was able to make 21 starts this season based on his Past Champions status, but he'll be a full-fledged cardholder next season. Mahan has six career wins, lastly in 2014. Another guy to keep an eye on is Denny McCarthy. A PGA rookie this season, McCarthy notched top-10s in the first two Web playoff events, so he's earned enough cash to keep his card for next season. He was one of the best putters on Tour in 2017-18.

Matt Wallace
What to make of Wallace, who won the Made in Denmark tournament on Sunday for his third win of 2018? Three wins constitute a great career for most professional golfers, so three in one year, even on the European Tour – and lesser Euro events, at that – is quite a feat. But in Wallace's 21 starts in 2018, he had only one other top-10 and missed eight cuts. Talk about all-or-nothing. The Englishman is only 28, and he could be heading into his best years. He is close to cracking the top-50 in the world (53rd), so we could be seeing a lot more of Wallace in PGA Tour events next season and beyond. He likely made his push a little late to make the Ryder Cup team, but we'll find out for sure on Tuesday.