NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Considering all the East Lake-related questions asked during his Wednesday news conference, Jordan Spieth felt compelled to issue a reminder:
“I’m actually inside the number right now,” he said. “You might forget.”
Spieth enters the week 27th on the FedExCup standings, having never missed the Tour Championship in his PGA Tour career, since his rookie year in 2013.
He’s one of four of the game’s biggest stars who find themselves on the bubble this week at the BMW Championship. Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler and Spieth occupy Nos. 24-27 on the points list, respectively, meaning they could be shut out of the Tour’s season finale. A solid week will take care of everything, but a disappointing performance from any one of them could mean an early end to the season and an extra week of Ryder Cup prep.
While they’re all in the same predicament, they’ve taken very different paths to Aronimink.
Spieth, the 2015 FedExCup champion, is potentially a week away from his first winless season since 2014, his second year on Tour. He has struggled at different times on the greens and with his swing. He nonetheless gave himself chances at major victories Nos. 4 and 5, firing a final-round 64 at the Masters and taking the 54-hole lead at the Open Championship.
“I had an opportunity to win two of the majors on Sunday, which is cool,” he said, recapping his year. “That’s kind of my goal at the beginning of every year: win a couple majors, try to have a chance on Sunday. The ball didn’t fall my way this year as it had previous years, but putting myself in position at the biggest stage is exciting going forward.
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“I’ve got, you know, three events in this season left ideally, and they’re all extremely exciting events that have an opportunity to cap off or at least continue this good work I’ve been putting together.”
Fowler slipped to 26th in points when he missed the first two FedExCup events to heal an oblique injury. Yet again, this was supposed to be the 29-year-old’s breakout campaign. He capped last year with a final-round 61 to win the Hero World Challenge and entered this season determined to win his first major and unafraid to talk about it. He of course remains without a major – he was runner-up at the Masters – and he’s a week away from another winless season. Fowler explained Tuesday that he wanted to come back at the BMW to avoid a lengthy competitive layoff between the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup. But he’s not quite done with the playoffs either.
“You know, it’s one of the reasons I wanted to try and get back early enough to where we can secure a spot for East Lake,” he said. “We have some work to do this week and I think, ultimately, I’d like to not just get into East Lake but put myself in a good position to have a chance there.”
The last time the FedExCup was awarded the week before a Ryder Cup, it was McIlroy who walked away with that trophy and the Tour Championship. Last year, he fought through a rib injury for the first three postseason events and finished 44th in the standings, leaving him unable to defend both his titles. He looked like he was on his way to reasserting himself as one of the game’s heavyweights with his victory at Bay Hill back in March. He looked like he was about to solidify his place among the game’s all-time greats when he played his way into the final pairing Sunday at the Masters. But he never pushed Patrick Reed, fading to T-5 with a closing 74. He’s played plenty of good golf since, finishing runner-up at The Open, but this still feels like another underwhelming year relative to expectations.
“Consistency-wise it’s been pretty good, I guess,” McIlroy said. “The only disappointing thing, and I was alluding to it last week, I haven’t played well enough when it really mattered. I’ve given myself chances and put myself in positions to win golf tournaments, final groups and what have you. I just haven’t – I had the one win at Bay Hill, but I’ve given myself chances and I haven’t capitalized. I haven’t been as efficient as I’d like to be in terms of chances to win and actually closing the deal.”
And then, of course, there’s Tiger. The idea that he would even be in this position seemed absurd to fans, analysts and Woods himself just a year ago. The 14-time major winner was closer to being done – entirely – than competing for a spot in the Tour Championship. Yet here we are, with Woods heading to Paris later this month not as a vice captain, but as a player. The only two-time FedExCup winner had been absent from the postseason since 2013, and now finds himself on the brink of a return to East Lake. Two weeks ago, Woods seemed mostly secure that he was headed to Atlanta, but he’s still got work to do this week at Aronimink, where he may opt to play with his third different putter in as many weeks.
“After I finished sixth at the Open Championship, I think that got me, you know, towards where I had a chance to get into the Tour Championship, and I wouldn’t have to do much,” he said at The Northern Trust. “I don’t have to do a whole lot to get into the Tour Championship, but I still have to do enough.”
All four players now face the prospect of failing to finish the Tour season on their own terms. But a win from any of them, this week or next, would rewrite each star’s entire year.
“You know, couple of good weeks coming up and it can definitely change the perspective of the season,” McIlroy agreed. “Two thousand sixteen was a prime example. I felt like, again, I played well. I had won the Irish Open, which was a big deal for me. But I had chances to win tournaments and I didn’t and then to win in Boston and then win at East Lake, it turns a sort of average season into a great season.”
