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OBSERVATIONS
Palmer eyes TOUR Championship
Silver linings for runner-up Ryan Palmer (74)? There were many. He got his 10th career runner-up – “I guess I won the other tournament (for second),” he said – and also got a front-row seat as Rahm, his partner in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, won to achieve a childhood dream of becoming world No. 1. “I was proud to see him win,” Palmer said.
What’s more, Palmer and Mackenzie Hughes (72, T6) qualified for the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Sept. 17-20, as the top two players not otherwise exempt in the Memorial top 10. “I didn’t realize this is one of those qualifying tournaments,” Palmer said. “That’s great to know.”
Perhaps most importantly, he moved from 51st to 24th in the FedExCup, a nice position to be in with four weeks left in the regular season.
“One step closer to Atlanta (and the TOUR Championship),” he said.
Fitzpatrick, Bones partnership a success
With Matthew Fitzpatrick’s regular caddie, Billy Foster, still outside the U.S., Fitzpatrick brought in a reliever for the two-week stretch at Muirfield Village: Jim (Bones) Mackay, Phil Mickelson’s old caddie who now works for NBC Golf as an on-course reporter.
Given Fitzpatrick’s stellar final-round 68 and solo third, you could say it went well.
“I definitely learned a couple things off him,” Fitzpatrick said of Mackay. “And I’ll be picking his brain to see what I can improve on.”
Added Mackay: “He’s longer than I thought he was going to be. He’s good. He’s really good.”
Foster will be back on the bag for Fitzpatrick at next week’s World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Mackay, who works 22 weeks a year for NBC, says he’ll fill in for more players in the future “if someone says their caddie has got a twisted ankle.”
QUOTEBOARD
“I could have completely lost it many times.” – Rahm (75) on conquering his temper
“I much prefer it when it’s tough.” – Fitzpatrick (68, solo third) on the challenging conditions
“I just didn’t quite have it swing-wise.” – Palmer (74) on his final round
WYNDHAM REWARDS
The Wyndham Rewards Top 10 is a season-long competition that offers a $10 million bonus for the 10 golfers who end the regular season at the Wyndham Championship inside the top 10 in FedExCup points. The player atop the standings will earn $2 million, with varying payoffs for the others through $500,000 for the 10th place finisher.
Jon Rahm reenters the Top 10 at No. 8, while the top five players retained their positions. Daniel Berger, who missed the cut at the Memorial, fell out of the Top 10.
Only four weeks remain until the start of the FedExCup Playoffs. Eight of the final Wyndham Rewards Top 10 were in the Top 10 with four weeks left in the regular season last year.
Here’s how the standings look heading into this week’s 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities.
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Source: PGA tour
