Thomas holds on to win BMW Championship

MEDINA H, Ill .— Justin Thomas had more stress than he needed Sunday before regaining control with four birdies on the back nine at Medinah to win the BMW Championship and claim the No. 1 seed going into the FedEx Cup finale.

Thomas closed with a 4-under 68 for a threeshot victory over Patrick Cantlay, who shot 65 and will be the No. 2 seed.

Thomas started with a six-shot lead and still led by that margin through seven holes. Three holes later, Cantlay narrowed the lead to two shots with eight to play. Thomas answered with three birdies on the next five holes, and Cantlay couldn't keep up.

The top 30 advance to the Tour Championship. Masters champion Tiger Woods will not be among them to defend his title at East Lake.

Mickelson nearly misses tee time after lightning hits hotel

Phil Mickelson had a wild Sunday, and that was before he showed up less than 40 minutes before his tee time at the BMW Championship.

Mickelson said on Twitter that lightning struck the hotel where he was staying, leading to an evacuation. One problem: He was staying on the top floor, his clubs were in his room and his tee time at Medinah was approaching.

“Kind of a funny deal,” Mickelson said after ending his season with a 71 to fail to reach the Tour Championship. “The building got struck by lightning right above me and blew out a brick chimney and caught fire a little bit. There were 10 fire trucks. I got in my car and left and couldn't get back. The roads were closed and the hotel was closed.”

Mickelson didn't sound as though he were overly concerned, saying it would have meant heading home to San Diego that much sooner.

“But things cleared up pretty quickly,” he said. “I was able to get back in and get my stuff.”

Elsewhere

European Tour: Thomas Pieters of Belgium shot a 3-under 69 Sunday to become the first golfer to win the Czech Masters for the second time, beating Adri Arnaus of Spain by one stroke in Vysoky Ujezd, Czech Republic. Pieters finished on 19-under 269 for his fourth European Tour victory, and his first since the 2016 Made In Denmark tournament.

PGA Tour Champions: Doug Barron became the 13th Monday qualifier to win a PGA Tour Champions event, holing two 15-foot birdie putts after a rain delay to beat Fred Couples by two strokes Sunday in the Dick's Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, New York. Making his second senior start after turning 50 last month, Barron closed with a 6-under 66 at at En Joie Golf Club to finish the wire-to-wire victory at 17-under 199.