Monday Morning Caddy - September 12, 2016

September 12, 2016 Sara Rubin Comments

It was a big weekend on tour with a lot of excitement at the BMW Championship, the final 30 getting locked in for the FedEx Cup Championship and U.S. Ryder Cup Captain, Davis Love III making three of his four captain's picks.  Here's the inside scoop:

DJ Fore The Win!

Dustin Johnson, playing like a man possessed by a sudden drive to win pulled out some big drives for a big win at the BMW Championship this weekend.  His play was so dominant that there were only two other golfers (Paul Casey and Roberto Castro) that were within 11 strokes of him.  Damp conditions made the course more challenging for golfers who didn't see their drives getting any extra roll.  Fortunately for DJ, that wasn't an issue since most of his drives carried 310+ yards.

Paul Casey made an impressive charge with plenty of birdies and even dropping a 25 foot putt for eagle on 15 to pull within one.  However, Casey's charge was no match for the sheer power of Dustin Johnson, who shrugged off several bad hits to close strong.  Johnson's win at the BMW gives him 3 victories on the season, which ties DJ with Jason Day for the most on tour.  Our bet is that DJ's U.S. Open win and a strong finish will help him lock up PGA Player of the Year.

FedEx Cup Final Set

A lot of moving and shaking happened after the BMW, but we have a Top 30 set and the players now have a week of as they get ready to play for that $10 Million check at East Lake Golf Club in Georgia.  Notably, JB Holmes slid into the top 30 and bumped Rickie Fowler out of the final tournament when he drained a short par putt on 18.  Justin Rose also missed the cut and Henrik Stenson took the BMW off and became ineligible to play in the Tour Championship.  Either way, next week's tourney should be a lot of fun to watch.  Here's a full list of the final 30:

1. Dustin Johnson
2. Patrick Reed
3. Adam Scott
4. Jason Day
5. Paul Casey
6. Rory McIlroy
7. Jordan Spieth
8. Russell Knox
9. Emiliano Grillo
10. Jimmy Walker
11. Brandt Snedeker
12. Justin Thomas
13. Phil Mickelson
14. Ryan Moore
15. Kevin Chappell
16. Matt Kuchar
17. Hideki Matsuyama
18. Si Woo Kim
19. Kevin Kisner
20. Gary Woodland
21. Roberto Castro
22. Kevin Na
23. William McGirt
24. Bubba Watson
25. Sean O'Hair
26. Daniel Berger
27. Jason Duffner
28. J.B. Holmes
29. Jhonattan Vegas
30. Charl Schwartzel

Love Makes 3 Ryder Cup Picks

The speculation is at least mostly over.  U.S. Ryder Cup Captain, Davis Love III, made 3 of his 4 captain's picks at Hazeltine this morning.  Matt Kuchar, J.B. Holmes and Rickie Fowler have officially been pegged and Love will make his final pick after play at the Tour Championship on September 25.

Holmes is not a surprising pick as he was only two spots away from qualifying automatically.  He's been on a bit of a hot streak lately with a T33 finish at the Deustche Bank and a T4 at the BMW Championship on Sunday.  Matt Kuchar is also a solid pick.  He was the top-finishing American at the Olympics in Rio, winning a bronze medal.  Kuch also has a great reputation on tour and is well-known to be a solid team player.

While it might seem like Rickie Fowler is an obvious pick, it's not a decision I'm 100% on board with.  His play has been streaky at best over the past few months.  He's actually only had one top 10 finish in the past 7 events and even though he held the 54-hole lead at The Barclays, we shot a 74 on Sunday and finished T7.  Most concerning perhaps is Fowler's record in the previous two Ryder Cups.  Despite plenty of chances, Rickie has never won a match at a Ryder Cup and his official record is 0-3-5 all time.  For now, we'll have to wait to see if Rickie is able to step up.

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