Pendrith, Conners in contention heading into final round at BMW Championship
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Canadians Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith and Adam Hadwin are all looking to advance to next week's season-ending Tour Championship as the FedEx Cup Playoffs rolls on with the BMW Championship from Castle Pines Golf Club in Colorado.
The BMW Championship features a 50-player field, which will be cut down to the top-30 in the FedEx Cup standings following the tournament. That field will then compete at the Tour Championship with $25 million on the line for the first-place finisher.
The Canadians are also looking to catch the eye of Mike Weir, who is serving as the Team International captain for the upcoming Presidents Cup, running from Royal Montreal Golf Club at the end of September. The 12-player team will feature six automatic qualifiers via the Official World Golf Ranking standings after the completion of the BMW Championship and six captain picks, announced following the Tour Championship. The Presidents Cup sees golfers from the rest of the world, excluding Europe, taking on a team from the United States.
Pendrith, 33, finishes Saturday in a tie for seventh place at 6-under, but could have finished higher up the leaderboard if not for a difficult stretch on the back-nine. After playing his first nine holes at 2-under par, Pendrith carded four bogeys on the 10th, 11th, 13th, and 16th holes to drop him back to 2-over on the day. He rebounded with a birdie on the par-5 17th, but the Richmond Hill, Ont. native has left himself with some work to do on Sunday after firing a 1-over 73 on moving day. Projected to finish 23rd on the FedEx Cup rankings at the end of the event, he should be one of the 30 players heading to East Lake for the Tour Championship next week barring a meltdown in the final round.
Conners, 32, sits just one stroke back of Pendrith at 5-under after Saturday's round. Conners got off to a sluggish start with three bogeys and just one birdie on the front-nine, and sat at 3-over through 14 holes. The Listowel, Ont. native finished strong however, carding birdies on the par-4 15th and the par-5 17th to keep himself in contention heading into Sunday's final round, while keeping his hopes for East Lake alive. Currently projected for the 34th spot on the FedEx Cup rankings after Sunday, Conners will need to carry the form he found late Saturday into Sunday to play at the Tour Championship next week.
Hadwin, 36, is tied for 41st after shooting a 3-over 75 in the third round at Castle Pines. After a bogey and double-bogey saw him drop back to 3-over for the tournament through his first three holes, Hadwin quickly rebounded with two birdies before the end of the front-nine. But after dropping shots on the par-4 12th and 15th, Hadwin doesn't appear likely to make it to next week. Coming into the weekend ranked 42nd in the FedEx Cup standings, Hadwin is projected to drop back four spots to 46th, well outside the top 30 that will tee off at East Lake next Thursday.
Take a hole-by-hole look at the three Canadian in the field fared on moving day at the BMW Championship.
Current Leader: Keegan Bradley (-12) FULL LEADERBOARD
Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.)
Corey Conners
Total Score: 5-under
Round Score: 73 (+1)
Ranking: T9
FedEx Cup Ranking: 33rd (Will have chance to advance to Tour Championship with a solo 28th finish or better)
Official World Golf Ranking: 7th (Top six position following BMW Championship earns automatic spot in Presidents Cup)
Hole 1 (Par 5): 5
Hole 2 (Par 4): 4
Hole 3 (Par 4): 4
Hole 4 (Par 3): 4
Hole 5 (Par 4): 3
Hole 6 (Par 4): 5
Hole 7 (Par 3): 3
Hole 8 (Par 5): 5
Hole 9 (Par 4): 5
Front Nine (Par 36): 38
Hole 10 (Par 4): 4
Hole 11 (Par 3): 3
Hole 12 (Par 4): 4
Hole 13 (Par 4): 5
Hole 14 (Par 5): 5
Hole 15 (Par 4): 3
Hole 16 (Par 3): 3
Hole 17 (Par 5): 4
Hole 18 (Par 4): 4
Total (Par 72): 73
Adam Hadwin (Moose Jaw, Sask.)
Adam Hadwin
Total Score: +3
Round Score: 75 (+3)
Ranking: T41
FedEx Cup Ranking: 42nd (Will have chance to advance to Tour Championship with a two-way tie for 18th or better)
Official World Golf Ranking: 12th (Top six position following BMW Championship earns automatic spot in Presidents Cup)
Hole 1 (Par 5): 6
Hole 2 (Par 4): 4
Hole 3 (Par 4): 6
Hole 4 (Par 3): 2
Hole 5 (Par 4): 4
Hole 6 (Par 4): 4
Hole 7 (Par 3): 3
Hole 8 (Par 5): 4
Hole 9 (Par 4): 4
Front Nine (Par 36): 37
Hole 10 (Par 4): 4
Hole 11 (Par 3): 3
Hole 12 (Par 4): 5
Hole 13 (Par 4): 4
Hole 14 (Par 5): 5
Hole 15 (Par 4): 5
Hole 16 (Par 3): 3
Hole 17 (Par 5): 5
Hole 18 (Par 4): 4
Total (Par 72): 75
Taylor Pendrith (Richmond Hill, Ont.)
Taylor Pendrith
Total Score: 6-under
Round Score: 73 (+1)
Ranking: T7
FedEx Cup Ranking: 27th
Official World Golf Ranking: 13th (Top six position following BMW Championship earns automatic spot in Presidents Cup)
Hole 1 (Par 5): 4
Hole 2 (Par 4): 4
Hole 3 (Par 4): 4
Hole 4 (Par 3): 4
Hole 5 (Par 4): 3
Hole 6 (Par 4): 4
Hole 7 (Par 3): 3
Hole 8 (Par 5): 4
Hole 9 (Par 4): 4
Front Nine (Par 36): 34
Hole 10 (Par 4): 5
Hole 11 (Par 3): 4
Hole 12 (Par 4): 4
Hole 13 (Par 4): 5
Hole 14 (Par 5): 5
Hole 15 (Par 4): 4
Hole 16 (Par 3): 4
Hole 17 (Par 5): 4
Hole 18 (Par 4): 4
Total (Par 72): 73