Keegan Bradley has entered the chat. Last week's bubble boy -- Bradley made the BMW Championship in the 50th (and final) position in the FedEx Cup standings -- is this week's leader after the newly named Ryder Cup captain shot a 6-under 66 to take a one-shot lead over Hideki Matsuyama at Castle Pines Golf Club.
He got in on the number after Tom Kim had a bad finish at the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind, and Bradley called it "one of the toughest afternoons of my PGA Tour career."
He explained further.
"Yeah, the top 50 is one of our most important numbers for us as players to be playing in these big tournaments and FedEx Cup points," he said. "I want to be out there with the guys and the Ryder Cup team. I want to be playing with them, on the range with them, in the locker room, in the tournament. It was really important for me to be in this top 50."
Now, not only is he in the top 50, he's in the top five. The first round lead has taken him off the bubble and into contention for the big money on the line next week at East Lake. Whether he can maintain that position remains to be seen, but it's as good a start as he could have hoped for.
1. Keegan Bradley (-6)
How did Bradley go about shooting the 66? Well, he was excellent off the tee and let his money clubs -- the irons -- take over.
"This course, you have to put the ball in the fairway. If you put the ball in the fairway, you're going to have a lot of scoring clubs," he said. "You've got to really have a good grasp on your numbers with the altitude. We did a good job of that today. You've just got to hit as many fairways as you can."
Bradley hit all but two of them on Thursday, which allowed him to hit all but two greens in regulation. He finished third in the field in strokes gained on approach. If that continues, he will contend, which is not something he's done much of this year.
Bradley has just two top 10s worldwide this year and only one since January. Additionally, his best finish ever is 8th in the FedEx Cup standings.
2. Hideki Matsuyama (-5)
T3. Sungjae Im, Alex Noren, Adam Scott, Corey Conners (-4)
T7. Si Woo Kim, Xander Schauffele, Nick Dunlap (-3)
Matsuyama is putting well for the second week in a row, but it's Dunlap who intrigues me here. He's been on the bubble for two straight weeks, narrowly getting into the FedEx St. Jude Championship and then barely getting into this week with a near win last week. He's starting to look like somebody who's peaking at the exact right time, and he actually scared the lead a bit before making a late double bogey on Thursday.
All the talent in the world, and he's playing with the freedom a 20-year-old should be playing with at this time of the year.
Scheffler shot a 1-under 71 on Thursday, but looked as if he tweaked his back a bit late in the round. He said afterward, though, that everything was fine, nothing to see here.
"Really, I woke up just a little sore this morning," said Scheffler. "I had trouble kind of loosening it up. I mean, that was hard ... with it being a little bit tight, it was hard for me to get through it, and I was laboring most of the day to get through the ball. On 17, I was trying to hit a high draw, and that's a shot where I've really got to use a big turn, big motion. Really just felt it a little bit. But other than that, all good."
If you just look at the final number -- an even par 72 -- it doesn't really tell the entire story. Because Wyndham Clark's back nine today was insane.
Look at this scorecard!
| Player | Before Round 1 | After Round 1 |
|---|---|---|
Scottie Scheffler | 1 | 1 |
Xander Schauffele | 2 | 2 |
Hideki Matsuyama | 3 | 3 |
Keegan Bradley | 50 | 4 |
Collin Morikawa | 4 | 5 |
Rory McIlroy | 5 | 6 |
Wyndham Clark | 6 | 7 |
Sungjae Im | 10 | 8 |
Ludvig Aberg | 7 | 9 |
Patrick Cantlay | 9 | 10 |
The big mover on Thursday was Bradley. Dunlap went from No. 48 all the way to the top 10, but he is now back down to 38 and not currently inside the top 30 needed to make next week's Tour Championship.
There is going to be a lot of volatility throughout the week, though, as you can see from Dunlap's wild hole-by-hole movement in the first round. Following this hole, he moved down to No. 39 before three straight pars moved him to No. 38. Whew!
Bradley is interesting if only because somebody has done what he's trying to do before. In 2014, Billy Horschel had not won all year but then he won the BMW Championship and Tour Championship in consecutive weeks to take the FedEx Cup. It's interesting to envision Bradley doing the same. I don't think it will actually happen, though, so give me Schauffele at 4-1 or Matsuyama at 11/2.
The horn has blown, and the PGA Tour is officially in a weather delay right now at the BMW Championship. It does not look like it will last very long.
After a three-hour delay, golfers are back on the course and finishing Round 1 at the BMW Championship.
After a slow-ish start, Rory is on a tear on the back nine. He was even through 11 but then birdied No. 12 and eagled No. 14 to get to 3 under, within two shots of Keegan Bradley's lead and just one back of second place.
Keegan was the last man in last week in the 50th spot, and now he leads at 5 under through 17 holes. His projected rank is now all the way to 4th (!) in the FedEx Cup standings. If he wins, he has a real chance to stay there.
Si Woo was out early, and he's currently 4 under through 16 holes. Kim has a one-shot lead on Sungjae Im and Alex Noren, who are still on the front nine. It would be fairly surprising if Kim's lead held throughout the rest of the day.
