The BMW Championship concluded Sunday afternoon at Olympia Fields in Chicago for the middle leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs.
The tension and adrenaline continued to rise as the race for the FedEx Cup comes to an end next week.
With 50 players in the BMW Championship field, the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings after play on Sunday, move on to next week in Atlanta for the Tour Championship.
Ultimately, it was Viktor Hovland who emerged victorious at 17-under par, including a final back-nine 28 that included eight 3s on his scorecard.
“Definitely has to be the best round I’ve ever played,” Hovland said after his final round. “Given the circumstances, the playoff event at this golf course and finish the way that I did the last nine holes, it was pretty special.”
Hovland won by two shots over Scottie Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Here are four takeaways from the BMW Championship
Viktor Hovland breaks course record, wins at BMW Championship
Viktor Hovland entered the week at the No. 7 spot in the FedEx Cup standings looking to improve on that ranking heading into the Tour Championship.
Hovland made sure that happened, recording lower scores as the week progressed. After going 69-68-65 through three rounds, he turned on a different gear as he fired a final round 9-under 61 to win at -17.
That gave Hovland the course record at Olympia Fields and his career-low round on the PGA Tour since his debut in 2019. His 9-under 61 was also the lowest score in FedEx Cup Playoff history.
With the win, Hovland received 2,000 FedEx Cup points that vaults him up five spots to No. 2 in the standings heading into the Tour Championship.
In Sunday’s final round, Hovland led the field with 4.74 strokes gained: tee to green and 7.69 strokes gained: total and also led the field on Sunday in driving accuracy, hitting 12-of-14 fairways.
Hovland also hit 16-of-18 greens in regulation, which tied for second as he also ranked second in the field on Sunday with 2.95 strokes gained putting.
As a result, this is Hovland’s first career multi-win season, fifth career PGA Tour win and second in the last seven starts, dating back to the Memorial in May.
Related: World Golf Rankings: A look at the top 10 players after the PGA Tour’s FedEx St. Jude Championship
Scottie Scheffler finishes T2, finally takes lead in standings
They say it is a season-long race for the FedEx Cup and Scottie Scheffler definitely lived up to that motto this season. There were times when Scheffler was less than 10 points away from surpassing Jon Rahm for the top spot but could not quite reach that point.
Then came the Tour Championship and Scheffler was 148 points behind Rahm in the standings, which all changed this week.
- Scheffler’s four rounds: 66-69-64-66 (T2)
- Rahm’s four rounds: 68-74-71-67 (T31)
Because FedEx Cup points were quadrupled, that meant there were more fluctuations and finishing second equaled 1,200 points, compared to 300 points during the season. As a result of his runner-up finish, Scheffler was able to claim the top spot heading into the Tour Championship.
Rahm received just 106 points for finishing at the No.31 spot with others.
On Sunday at the BMW Championship, Scheffler recorded four birdies through his first 10 holes before a bogey on the par-4 11th. After birdies on the par-4 12th and the par-3 13th, Scheffler was unable to continue his stretch, recording 1-over par through his final five holes.
The part of his game where he struggled the most was around the putting surface. He was 42nd in strokes gained: around the green and 37th in strokes gained: putting. If is able to sink putts, the outcome is probably different.
However, he was still at the top in strokes gained: off the tee, tee to green and approach the green throughout all four rounds as he gets for the Tour Championship next week.
Related: Rory McIlroy makes insane birdie at the 2023 BMW Championship
Rory McIlroy falls short of the win, holds No. 3 spot.
Rory McIlroy continued to show his consistency late into the season, like Scheffler before the Open Championship.
McIlroy recorded his ninth straight top 10 with a fourth-place finish at the BMW Championship. He had some opportunities to take over, especially on the back nine with makeable putts, but was unable to as he finished at 9-over par for the week.
One example was that McIlroy had a four-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th but missed it and settled for birdie.
However, McIlroy was still able to rise one spot in the standings as his final round 4-under 66 helped him hold his No. 3 position as he looks to repeat as the FedEx Cup Champion following his win last year.
Over the last couple of weeks, McIlroy has improved his putting, ranking inside the top 25 in strokes gained: putting after last week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship and this week’s BMW Championship. That will continue to be the thing to watch for McIlroy (and Scheffler) next week.
Related: Where Rory McIlroy ranks among the best players in the world right now
Tour Championship: Who played their way in and out?
The top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings from this week’s BMW Championship will move on to the Tour Championship in the finale of the 2022-23 PGA Tour season at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Players, especially hovering around the top 30, are doing their best to either hold their position or get into position for next week.
There were players who were able to play their way into Atlanta and others who will see their season end one week short of the Tour Championship.
One player who played their way into next week’s Tour Championship was Matt Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick entered the BMW Championship at No. 40 in the FedEx Cup standings and needed another good round to ensure his place at East Lake next week. Entering the final round, Fitzpatrick shared the final round lead with Scheffler as he tied his career 54-hole score on the PGA Tour with 199, the same score through three rounds at the RBC Heritage last April, which he would go on to win.
The Englishman birdied three of his first six holes before a bogey on the par-4 ninth. On the back nine, Fitzpatrick was able to respond immediately with a birdie on the 10th. Despite a bogey on the par-4 14th, he recorded birdies on the ensuing two holes.
On the final hole, his approach shot came within two feet of going into the cup but settled for a runner-up finish at the BMW Championship.
In the standings, Fitzpatrick moved up 30 spots to No. 10.
As a result of Fitzpatric playing his way into the Tour Championship, that meant someone entering the week inside the top 30 was going to be ending their season at the BMW Championship and one week early.
That player was Chris Kirk, who entered the week at 29 and after a third round 5-over 75 and a 1-over 71 in the final round, Kirk moved outside the top 30 to No. 32.
Kirk bogeyed three of his final six holes, including two of his final three on the par-3 16th and the par-4 18th. Ultimately, it was not enough as Kirk was trying to return to his hometown of Atlanta and his alma mater, the University of Georgia.
Overall, Kirk had a season to remember as he won The Honda Classic in February for his first PGA Tour victory in eight years. He also added four top 10s and eight top 25s to his 2022-23 season.
Related: Golfers with the most PGA Tour wins of all-time
Tour Championship field and starting strokes
The benefits of finishing high in the FedEx Cup standings means the number of strokes a player starts with before the first round of the Tour Championship on Thursday.
Here’s a look at the starting strokes for Sunday as World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler begins the Tour Championship in the top spot for the second straight year.
| Field | Starting strokes |
| 1. Scottie Scheffler | -10 |
| 2. Viktor Hovland | -8 |
| 3. Rory McIlroy | -7 |
| 4. Jon Rahm | -6 |
| 5. Lucas Glover | -5 |
| 6. Max Homa | -4 |
| Patrick Cantlay | -4 |
| Brian Harman | -4 |
| Wyndham Clark | -4 |
| Matt Fitzpatrick | -4 |
| 11. Tommy Fleetwood | -3 |
| Russell Henley | -3 |
| Keegan Bradley | -3 |
| Ricky Fowler | -3 |
| Xander Schauffele | -3 |
| 16. Tom Kim | -2 |
| Sungjae Im | -2 |
| Tony Finau | -2 |
| Corey Conners | -2 |
| Si Woo Kim | -2 |
| 21. Taylor Moore | -1 |
| Nick Taylor | -1 |
| Adam Schenk | -1 |
| Collin Morikawa | -1 |
| Jason Day | -1 |
| 26. Sam Burns | E |
| Emiliano Grillo | E |
| Tyrrell Hatton | E |
| Jordan Spieth | E |
| Sepp Straka | E |