As FedEx Cup begins, Ryder qualifying ends
Darren Clarke got an extra week to start mulling over his three captain's picks for Europe in the Ryder Cup because the top nine already are set. Matthew Fitzpatrick finished fifth in the Czech Masters and locked up no worse than the final spot.
Davis Love III has a little more time, and he likely will need it.
Brandt Snedeker's tie for third in the Wyndham Championship moved him up three spots to No. 6, and it would take a peculiar set of circumstances to bump him out of the top eight. The Barclays this week at Bethpage Black is the final qualifying event.
The top five already have clinched a spot on the American team — Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Jimmy Walker and Brooks Koepka. Snedeker is followed by Zach Johnson, who leads Patrick Reed at No. 8 by $157,602.
The Barclays has an $8.5 million purse, so players still can make up ground.
Even so, the start of the FedEx Cup playoffs effectively serves as a Ryder Cup qualifier for 14 players.
The winner of the Barclays gets $1.53 million. Every $1,000 counts as a Ryder Cup point, so that's 1,530 points. And that means Charley Hoffman at No. 22 is the lowest player in the standings with a mathematical chance at qualifying.
Kevin Kisner and Justin Thomas, who won tournaments last fall that did not count, are among those who can't qualify.
Reed, meanwhile, is the equivalent of $30,655 ahead of J.B. Holmes, who missed the cut last week at the Wyndham Championship. Right behind Holmes are Bubba Watson, Olympic bronze medalist Matt Kuchar and Rickie Fowler.
Fowler flew from the Olympics in Rio to North Carolina to try to boost his Ryder Cup points. He tied for 22nd and now is just over $365,000 behind Reed, meaning Fowler would have to finish no worse than a two-way tie for fourth to have a mathematical chance (and that assumes Reed misses the cut).
Love won't have to make his three picks until after the third playoff event at the BMW Championship, and his fourth pick will be made immediately after the Tour Championship. So there's still time for him, and for the players.
That could make it easy for Love — or more complicated.
FedEx Cup finale
The final three hours of the Tour Championship will feature more of Johnny Miller and less of the TV commercials.
Actually, there will be no commercials at all.
The PGA Tour has reached an enhanced sponsorship deal with Southern Company and Coca-Cola, which will allow for the final three hours of the broadcast on NBC to be commercial-free, which would include the entire back nine.
The new sponsorship deals are through 2020. The Tour Championship, the final event of the FedEx Cup, is Sept. 2225.
Divots
Jordan Spieth has the longest active streak — four years — of starting the FedEx Cup playoffs in the top 10. That includes his rookie year in 2013 when he started the year without a card . ... Paul Simson won his eighth title at Pinehurst last week with his one-shot victory in the Senior North & South Amateur. He won the North & South twice, and the senior version six times . ... Justin Rose will make his first appearance on home soil since winning the Olympic gold medal on Oct. 13-16 at the British Masters . ... Stat of the week: The six Olympic golf medals went to six nations — Britain, Sweden, United States, South Korea, New Zealand and China . ... Final word: “You can drink out of the claret jug. And I guess the Olympic gold would be a nice coaster for the glass of wine.” — Justin Rose.