Deutsche Bank Provides More than Simpson’s Second Win
It seemed unlikely even after Webb Simpson holed that birdie putt on the 18th. After all, Chez Reavie still held a one stroke lead standing at the 18th tee. Surely he would do no worse than make par. But something funny happened on the way to Webb Simpson netting his second win of the season.
After Reavie’s tee shot resulted in a bit of an unfriendly lie (first cut of rough, slightly downhill and below his feet), he decided to lay up leaving a shot of 117 yards to the final pin. Reavie missed his third shot on the par-5 18th…badly. He flew the green and even had to take relief from a structure in order to attempt his fourth which wasn’t all that bad, and neither was his putt to save par. It just faded off to the right missing the cup by no more than a half an inch.
Playoff…and Simpson, who not only holed that putt on 18, he did the same on the first playoff hole to force a second and on that second playoff hole to wrap up the championship.
But that wasn’t the only story emanating from TPC Boston.
While Simpson now sits atop the FedEx Cup standings heading into the BMW Championship at Cog Hill, there was the matter of getting the field of 70 settled for Chicago.
Playing In
With only to top 70 advancing to make the trip to Chicago, there was a fair amount of movement within the FEC rankings. There were eight players that played their way into the top 70 with good performances this week. THe biggest mover was Reavie moving from 87th to 9th. But he’s not alone in making big moves.
The next biggest move was made by Ernie Els. In fact, he was 99th as this week started. After shooting an 8-under-par 276 (T16), Els vaulted up to 68th in the FEC standings. He still has work for him at Cog Hill…lots of work.
The others making the FEC cut were as follows:
Chris Stroud (75th to 70)
Geoff Ogilvy (91st to 69)
Johnson Wagner (88th to 67)
Andres Romero (72nd to 59)
Chad Campbell (73rd to 58)
Blake Adams (81st to 57)
Only Reavie appears safe to make it to the Coca-Cola TOUR Championship. But weirder things have happened.
Heading Home
Had to do it…
And with eight paying their way in, eight had to play their way out.
The biggest loser would fall onto the shoulders of Kevin Na. Na appeared to be sitting in pretty good position. He was 57th in points, but Na failed to make the cut…and advance on in the playoffs. Too make matters worse, he fell to 71st only 10 points out of the last spot.
The others failing to advance are:
Kevin Streelman (58th to 72)
Robert Garrigus (67th to 74)
Pat Perez (63rd to 75)
Harrison Frazar (64th to 77)
Charlie Wi (65th to 78)
Anthony Kim (66th to 79)
Kris Blanks (68th to 80)
Of all of these players, only Garrigus and Perez made the cut. I suppose there is mounting pressure among the competitors.
“Sitting” Pretty?
So with the top 30 advancing to Atlanta, we have to identify those in the top 5 and who is at #30 in the FEC standings, right.
Resting uncomfortably at 3o is Kyle Stanley. You may not think that a guy with only 3 top 10’s should be in that position, but he is. But Stanley has had himself a darn good 2011. He’s made the cut in 19 of 25 events, holds 7 top 25’s, and has won over $1.3 million thus far. One of those top 10’s was at the Deutsche Bank. All three of his top 10’s have come since July. Needless to say, Stanley has been playing better as of late.
The top 5 now sits like this:
1. Webb Simpson
2. Dustin Johnson
3. Matt Kuchar
4. Luke Donald (also leads the Race to Dubai on the Euro Tour)
5. Brandt Snedeker
We all know how important it will be to be in that top 5 heading to East Lake. Your fate is in your hands…