Indian Americans Sahith Theegala and Akshay Bhatia have made their way to the season-ending Tour Championship, joining fellow golfer Indo-British Aaron Rai. Despite modest finishes at the BMW Championships, their performances secured their spots in the prestigious tournament.
Theegala, who scored a 76 in the fourth round to finish tied 48th, will start the Tour Championship at the 11th seed with a score of 3-under. Bhatia, who carded a 77 for a tied 45th finish, will start at the 26th seed with a score of 2-under. Rai, who finished tied 43rd after carding a 74, will begin the championship at even par.
The Tour Championship, which starts at the East Lake Golf Course on Thursday, is the final event of the three-tournament FedEx Cup playoffs. The winner of the Tour Championship will be crowned the FedEx Cup champion.
The top 70 golfers in the FedEx standings compete in the playoffs, with the field gradually trimmed down to 50 and then 30. The FedEx St. Jude Championship and BMW Championships were the first two events of the playoffs.
Keegan Bradley won the BMW Championship with a final round 72, securing his seventh TOUR title. Si Woo Kim, who finished tied fifth, moved up from 44th to 32nd place on the FedExCup points list, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the Tour Championship.
Other notable Asian golfers also made their mark in the BMW Championship. Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An, both from Korea, finished tied 11th and 13th respectively, securing their spots in the Tour Championship. Im, who will be making his sixth consecutive appearance at East Lake, will start the tournament at 3-under, while An will start at 2-under in his debut appearance.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama will be the highest-ranked Asian golfer at East Lake, starting at 7-under. He finished third on the FedEx Cup points list but withdrew before the second round of the BMW Championship due to injury. He is hoping to recover in time for the first round of the Tour Championship.
The Tour Championship will feature a staggered-scoring format, where the scores are adjusted based on the golfer’s FedExCup ranking. Scottie Scheffler, the top seed, will start with a score of 10-under. The tournament will see several top golfers vying for the coveted FedEx Cup title.
