‘Big Three’ set for showdown
With the ‘Big Three’ of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day dominating golf at the top level, the latest chapter in their battle for supremacy will unfold at this week’s BMW Championship in Illinois.
World No 1 McIlroy, secondranked Spieth and Day (No 3) are all in the elite field of 70 players at Conway Farms for the third of the PGA Tour’s four FedExCup playoff events as they look to end their respective seasons with additional wins.
Australian Day is the best positioned of the three heading into the opening round, having triumphed three times in his last five events to lead the FexExCup standings over second-placed Spieth. American Rickie Fowler sits third.
‘‘Obviously to get off to a good start here would be great,’’ PGA Championship winner Day, who has a top-five spot secured for next week’s Tour Championship finale regardless of how he fares at Conway Farms, said.
‘‘I’m going to stay top five [in the standings] so being able to stay at No 1 would be good going into Atlanta for the Tour Championship, for the FedExCup,’’ he added, referring to his bid for overall FedExCup honours and the bonus of US$10 million (NZ$15.8m).
Like Day, Masters and US Open champion Spieth is also assured of a top-five spot in the FedExCup standings , no matter how he performs this week. As a result, he plans to play aggressively at Conway Farms.
World No 5 Fowler is oozing confidence after climbing to third in the FedExCup standings with his one-stroke victory nine days ago at the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second of the four playoff events.
‘‘Just get off to a good solid start tomorrow, and there’s no reason why I can’t be in a position to win the golf tournament come Sunday [NZT Monday],’’ he said.
While 70 players qualified for the BMW Championship, only the leading 30 in the FedExCup standings after this week’s event will advance to the Tour Championship finale.
Day, Spieth and Fowler are safely through to Atlanta, but the BMW Championship will be a nail biter for American Jason Bohn (28th) and Scotland’s Russell Knox (29th), plus South African Louis Oosthuizen who sits right on the bubble at 30th.
Also competing at the event is Kiwi No 1 Danny Lee.