This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
Sometimes, we overanalyze what we see in sports. Okay, oftentimes. Sometimes, it's very simple.
"Can't do anything about a 61" is how Matt Fitzpatrick succinctly summed things up after Viktor Hovland shot an eye-popping round of 9-under-par to set an Olympia Fields course record and steamroll his way to victory on Sunday at the BMW Championship.
Fitzpatrick and fellow runner-up Scottie Scheffler, who were not too shabby with twin 66s out of the final group, bore witness to Hovland surging past them in a back-nine performance unmatched in recent memory. The 25-year-old Norwegian shot a 7-under 28 with eight 3s and a single 4 on the scorecard to win by two.
"I don't have to think too long, definitely has to be the best round I ever played," Hovland told Amanda Renner of CBS. "Given the circumstances, the playoff event at this golf course, finishing the way I did the last nine holes was pretty special."
Hovland couldn't have picked a better time for the biggest win of his burgeoning career. He soared into second place in the FedExCup Standings heading into the season-ending TOUR Championship at East Lake. Scheffler assumed the top spot with Jon Rahm falling back to fourth after a subpar tie for 31st in this 50-man field. Rory McIlroy will start third next week after a ninth straight top-10 -- a solo fourth.
But the story is Hovland. He won for the second time this season, both in big-boy tournaments, the other coming at the Memorial in June. If he could somehow win the TOUR Championship -- and he will start in prime position at 8-under in the PGA Tour's Starting Strokes Format, behind only Scheffler at 10-under -- he could steal the Player of the Year honors.
Hovland has not missed a cut in 22 starts this season. He has 17 top-25s and eight top-10s. He finished third at THE PLAYERS, seventh at the Masters and co-runner-up at the PGA Championship with top-20s at the two major Opens. He actually hasn't missed a cut in more than a year, since the 2022 Scottish Open 13 months ago.
As we all know, Hovland has always been a ball-striking force. But this year, the difference has been from 100 yards and in. In the matter of one offseason, he learned how to scramble, improving his short game "massively," as he told Renner.
Not only is he in prime position to win the FedEx Cup, he also gives the European team -- along with McIlroy and Rahm -- a frightening top three at next month's Ryder Cup.
"Look, he's had some great wins already this year," said McIlroy, who played alongside Hovland on Sunday. "Had a great chance at the PGA Championship. Didn't quite get it done, but yeah, he's a world-class player and looking forward to him being on my team for the Ryder Cup in a few weeks' time."
With McIlroy, Rahm and Hovland -- and who knows anymore if that's the right order -- the U.S. team will have its hands full.
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Scottie Scheffler
After a round like Hovland shot, there is no shame in second place. But Scheffler was leading for much of Sunday. His putting cost him again at the end. He missed a 15-footer for birdie on 14, a 13-footer for birdie on 15 and a 7-footer for birdie on 16. And then, worst of all, putting for birdie on 17, he three-jacked from 21 feet to bogey.
Max Homa
Homa, whose course-record 62 on Friday stood for all of two days, tied for fifth, giving him a fourth straight strong finish. He was 12th at the Scottish Open, 10th at the Open Championship and sixth last week at the FedEx St. Jude. Zach Johnson no longer has to worry about one of his automatic qualifiers.
Brian Harman
Likewise, Harman is fine. In only his second start since winning the Open Championship, he was in form with a tie for fifth.
Sungjae Im
After a lost summer, Im has righted the ship. His solo seventh gave him top-10s in both playoff events so far, and followed a tie for 14th at the Wyndham. He began the week in 28th position, in danger of falling back, but he zoomed up to 17th.
Denny McCarthy
McCarthy shot 65 on Saturday to get into top-30 position. But all he could muster on Sunday was even-par 70 and, even though he tied for 10th on the week, his best season on Tour is over. He has been discussed on the periphery of Ryder Cup captain's picks, but his selection frankly would be a stunner.
Justin Rose
Rose began the week just outside the top-30 at No. 32. After a 65 on Friday, he was well positioned, and continued to be heading into Sunday. But he faded badly with a 3-over 73 to tie for 22nd and actually fall back to 34th in the point standings. Still, he's had a great season and will be on Team Europe in the Ryder Cup.
Adam Schenk
Schenk's breakthrough season will conclude at East Lake, and there might not be more of a stunner among the 30 players who are in the field. He didn't have a great BMW, tying for 34th, but you can't take anything away from him for a so-so week in an elite field. Schenk will be one of five first-timers in the TOUR Championship, along with Wyndham Clark, Tom Kim, Taylor Moore and Nick Taylor. Reaching the TOUR Championship comes with its own set of perks, one of them being automatic entry into three of the four majors next year -- the Masters and both Opens.
Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama's disappointing season ended in disappointing fashion, as he withdrew after the first round with a back injury. He needed a miraculous closing six-hole stretch last week at the FedEx St. Jude just to get into the BMW. Matsuyama's trouble has always been putting, but he wasn't terrible (for him) this season, ranking 125th entering the week. But he also ranked 66th in greens in regulation, and that is a killer when you're not a great putter. He has fallen outside the top 30 in the world rankings, too.
FEDEXCUP PLAYOFFS
Only one player moved into the top 30 this week, and that was Fitzpatrick, who zoomed from 40th place to 10th. He knocked out Chris Kirk, who was the first-round leader but agonizingly bogeyed 18 on Sunday to wind up in 32nd place.
There were a couple of other very close calls.
Jordan Spieth
It seemed implausible that Spieth could actually miss the TOUR Championship. But he began the week in 27th place -- certainly in the danger zone. He looked secure until incredibly bogeying the final two holes Sunday. Yet, he survived on the cut line in 30th place. Spieth surely will be a Ryder Cup captain's pick in a week but he has not often had his A Game in his winless 2022-23 PGA Tour season.
Tyrrell Hatton
Hatton began the week 26th in the standings, then finished bogey-bogey and had to sweat out the final couple hours to see if he'd get to East Lake. He did. It would've been a terrible ending to what in many ways has been a great season for the Englishman.
Sepp Straka
Straka fell from 24th place outside the top 30 in the standings late on Sunday, but he got the break of a lifetime when Sahith Theegala bogeyed 18 to allow Straka back in. Straka wound up T37. It would've a disastrous end to a great season, one that will likely include a spot on the European Ryder Cup team.
RYDER CUP
Half of Captain Johnson's job is done. Well, actually it was done for him. The two-year qualifying period is over and the six automatic qualifiers are set. And there was a big change at the last possible moment. Xander Schauffele played the final three rounds in 65-67-68 to finish in a tie for eighth. That was enough to move into the sixth and final automatic berth -- and bump Brooks Koepka to seventh.
The six players so far for next month's international competition in Rome are Scheffler, Clark, Harman, Patrick Cantlay, Homa and Schauffele.
After the TOUR Championship -- probably the Monday after -- Johnson will name his six captain's picks. They will come from a group of Koepka, Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Keegan Bradley, Cameron Young, Tony Finau and Lucas Glover. Koepka and Fowler are probably locks, as is Spieth, though he and all others have not fully shown they belong on the team.
Burns kept his name in the running with a T15 at the BMW that will send him to East Lake after starting the week on the bubble at No. 30. Glover came back to earth after his two straight wins with poor putting in a T22. Morikawa and Fowler tied for 25th, Bradley tied for 29th and Finau tied for 37th. They all will play next week.
Young may have the worst case of them all, though vice captain Fred Couples declared on his radio show a few weeks back that he was on the team. We shall see. Young tied for 15th at Olympia Fields but that didn't get him into the top-30 and his season is over.
