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The last man in the field is the top name on the leaderboard heading into the final round of the 2024 BMW Championship. Squeaking through the St. Jude Championship and entering the week 50th in the FedEx Cup standings, Keegan Bradley stands at 12 under and one clear of Adam Scott with 18 holes to play.
Holding the first-round lead for the eighth time in his PGA Tour career, Bradley's name fell one spot on the leaderboard Friday when Scott scorched Castle Pines in a course-record setting fashion. Starting the third round three adrift, Bradley experienced an up-and-down day that ultimately ended on an upward swing.
An opening birdie pulled him within one of the Australian before bogeys on No. 2 and 4 saw him drop as many as three behind Ludvig Åberg, who sizzled in the group ahead. A trifecta of circles across No. 5-7 were enough to push Bradley's name back to the top as a game of musical chairs unfolded among those on the first page of the leaderboard.
The music kept playing from there as Bradley's scorecard added square after square and allowed Scott to regain the lead. It would change hands again and transfer to Åberg before Bradley bounced back with birdies on No. 14 and 15. Two more came on No. 16 and 17 to surge past his playing partner and put the finishing touches on a third-round 70 and a back nine that featured one par, four birdies and four bogeys.
Should Bradley convert his 54-hole lead into his second BMW Championship title and seventh PGA Tour victory, it would propel him to fourth in the FedEx Cup standings and onto the outskirts of the automatic qualifiers for the U.S. Presidents Cup team, which wraps up this week. It would also represent the first time in Bradley's career where he'd go onto win after holding the first-round lead.
He'll have plenty to contend with in order to so, however. Altitude, wind, nerves, not to mention a clustered chasing pack that includes not only Scott, Åberg and Alex Noren, but also Xander Schauffele, who can climb to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup with a win, and Colorado native Wyndham Clark at 7 under.
The leader
1. Keegan Bradley (-12)
After going through his first 36 holes with just one bogey, Bradley filled up the scorecard on Saturday. Eight birdies were accompanied by six bogeys, and just four pars added to the theme of a bizarre Moving Day at Castle Pines. While the Tour Championship is on his mind, Bradley must be thinking about the Presidents Cup, where he will already be in attendance as an assistant captain but would much rather be there as a playing member.
Other contenders
2. Adam Scott (-11)
T3. Ludvig Åberg, Alex Noren (-10)
T5. Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark (-7)
T7. Si Woo Kim, Taylor Pendrith (-6)
T9. Sepp Straka, Nick Dunlap, Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy, Russell Henley, Tom Hoge, Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im, Corey Conners (-5)
Åberg has been anything but steady through three rounds. Before four straight pars to end his third round — which included a 3-foot birdie miss — the young Swede was without a streak of three pars in a row. The firepower is ample and more than capable of chasing down the leaders as he boasts 19 birdies and a pair of eagles; however, the mistakes have piled up in the form of seven bogeys and three double bogeys. If a clean card materializes on Sunday, Åberg could become the first player since Trevor Immelman in 2006 to win his his BMW Championship debut.
FedEx Cup bubble
| Position | Name | Official | Projected |
|---|---|---|---|
T37 | Aaron Rai | 21 | 26 |
44 | Matthieu Pavon | 20 | 27 |
T18 | Brian Harman | 29 | 28 |
T9 | Tommy Fleetwood | 31 | 29 |
43 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | 23 | 30 |
T45 | Justin Thomas | 22 | 31 |
T37 | Jason Day | 25 | 32 |
T7 | Si Woo Kim | 44 | 33 |
T9 | Corey Conners | 33 | 34 |
T41 | Davis Thompson | 26 | 35 |
Schauffele's surge
The world No. 2 entered the final six holes of his second round at 6 under for the tournament and played them in 4 over with his only two pars coming on par 5s. Schauffele more than made amends on Saturday. Dropping to even par after a bogey on No. 6 and 13 off the lead, Schauffele surged through the final two thirds of Castle Pines with seven birdies to polish off his third round. With Scottie Scheffler struggling this week, Schauffele has a chance to climb to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup should he pull a victory out of his hat on Sunday.
"I just feel this thing rising in me that I don't want to forcefully push down, but you can kind of tell when you're being tested out here," Schauffele said. "When you're playing really good golf, things go your way, and it's easy to brush off bad things. When you're trying to sort of force it a little bit and things aren't going your way, then it gets frustrating, and then when you start playing good golf and hitting good shots and you hit it in the water and you hit a flagstick, you've got to dig deep sometimes."
Robert MacIntyre withdraws
For the second straight day, a two-time winner this season withdrew his name from the competition. Playing alongside Tony Finau, Robert MacIntyre was unable to complete his third round and exited the tournament due to a lower back injury. Unlike Hideki Matsuyama, who will only drop one spot at the most, MacIntyre is projected to move from No. 12 to No. 21 in the FedEx Cup, meaning he will start the Tour Championship nine off the pace at 1 under.
2024 BMW Championship updated odds and picks
- Keegan Bradley: 13/5
- Adam Scott: 3-1
- Ludvig Aberg: 3-1
- Alex Noren: 6-1
- Xander Schauffele: 9-1
- Wyndham Clark: 18-1
If Sunday is anywhere near as weird as Saturday, then it may be prudent to go looking down the board for some bigger numbers. The leaders looked dicey and Åberg has struggled relative to expectations while in contention during recent Sundays. Ultimately, I believe Schauffele snags this, but the price on Clark also provides some interest.
