http:\/\/www.bozemandailychronicle.com offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.\n <\/p>\n
Jordan Spieth reached the PGA Tour postseason<\/a> for the 14th consecutive year, this time with a most curious achievement. He finished the regular season at No. 54 in the FedEx Cup<\/a> despite not finishing in the top 10 in any of his 21 tournaments.<\/p>\n How was that possible?<\/p>\n For starters, top 10 really doesn’t have as much relevance since 2008 when the Ryder Cup (thanks to U.S. captain Paul Azinger) went away from awarding points only to top-10 finishes.<\/p>\n Spieth had four finishes in the top 12, including the Masters and two signature events. Those four top 12s \u2014 the other was a tie for 11th in the Valspar Championship \u2014 accounted for 52% of his FedEx Cup points.<\/p>\n He played in all eight signature events this year, but he received only two exemptions \u2014 Bay Hill (tie for 11th worth 125 points) and the Travelers Championship (tie for 66th worth seven points). Take out those two sponsor exemptions and Spieth would have finished at No. 64 and still qualified for the FedEx Cup playoffs.<\/p>\n And now he has to move into the top 50 after the first playoff event to reach the BMW Championship, which would get him into all the signature events next year.<\/p>\n To be sure, signature events are a big advantage to those who play them \u2014 700 points to the winner compared with 500 at a regular tournament, and points are more than doubled through the 28th position. Beau Hossler didn’t play a single signature event (or a major) and finished at No. 72, missing out on the postseason by 31 points.<\/p>\n No one cashed in like Adam Scott. He asked for only one exemption for the Genesis Invitational at Riviera and finished fourth (325 points). That helped get him in Bay Hill (tie for 11th) and he stayed high enough on the list to get into Doral (tie for fourth). Scott wound up playing six signature events and picked up 895 of his 1,218 points in the FedEx Cup.<\/p>\n He starts out the postseason at No. 29, assured of advancing to the BMW Championship, with an eye toward a return to the Tour Championship, which would get him in all the majors next year.<\/p>\n Spieth, meanwhile, hasn’t made it to the Tour Championship since 2023. Odds are he will need his first top 10 of the year to get there.<\/p>\n Canadian on the rise<\/p>\n With so much attention on youth the last few weeks, don’t overlook Anna Huang. She made it through Ladies European Tour qualifying at age 16, and the Canadian has not missed a beat.<\/p>\n Huang was caught in a duel with Charley Hull on Sunday in the PIF London and held her nerve. Hull four-putted for double bogey on the 17th hole and Huang closed with an eagle to win by two. The 17-year-old now has four LET victories in the last 11 months.<\/p>\n When she won in Morocco in May, Huang became the youngest player with three LET wins, surpassing records previously held by Lydia Ko.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always looked up to Lydia, she\u2019s always been my idol growing up. There\u2019s so much to admire about her game. She\u2019s so calm and composed,\u201d Huang said.<\/p>\n Huang’s fourth victory allowed her to break into the top 50 in the women’s world ranking at No. 43, and she moved to No. 2 behind Casandra Alexander on the tour’s Order of Merit.<\/p>\n ESPN bringing bonus TV coverage to playoff events<\/p>\n Golf will get an additional two hours of coverage on the weekdays at the opening two FedEx Cup playoff events without having to pay extra for it.<\/p>\n For the first time all year, ESPN will provide coverage from the FedEx St. Jude Championship and the BMW Championship next week. Thursday and Friday rounds from the TPC Southwind will air on ESPN’s primary linear channel from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. EDT.<\/p>\n The same will be the case for the BMW Championship at Bellerive in St. Louis, from 10 a.m. to noon for the first and second rounds. In both tournaments, Golf Channel will pick up the weekday coverage for four hours \u2014 starting at 2 p.m. the first week, 3 p.m. for the second week.<\/p>\n The Tour Championship, with only a 30-man field that typically starts around noon, does not have any additional coverage planned on ESPN.<\/p>\n ESPN+, a streaming service, has been the PGA Tour’s provider for its featured groups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bozemandailychronicle.com offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. 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