It does not give up Tiger Woods, who has perhaps never played so many tournaments in a row in his life, at least since he became the symbol of golf in the world. The former number one wants to earn points in the FedexCup standings, which is why he's taking the field again this week. In fact, near Boston, in Norton, Massachusetts, the second of the 4 playoffs that close the long US tour is being played, with a feast of money: 9 million for each tournament plus a bonus of over 30 million dollars for the annual ranking; ten million just for the first one. The contest is the Dell Technologies Championship and is played Friday through Monday, one day later than usual. Only the first hundred players in the Fedex standings will be eligible to compete, but in reality there will be 98 due to the absence of Francesco Molinari and Rickie Fowler.
A first screening took place last week, which eliminated 25 players. At the next appointment there will be 70 participants and for the grand final only 30. Of the latter, only the first five players in the standings will have the mathematical certainty of winning the annual bonus for the first classified by winning the tournament.
That's why Tiger, despite having struggled through the cut last week, persists. At the moment he is twenty-fifth and will try in every way not to leave the top 30. Indeed, given his determination, he will do his best to enter the magic five. Those who have already guaranteed a place in the sun are Bryson DeChambeau, who scored last week and, thanks to this victory, first in the annual standings.
In fact, the last 4 tournaments bring a lot of points, capable of overturning even the most obvious predictions. The 25-year-old born in Modesto, California, is a very distinctive player, with a unique swing and all irons of equal length. His style, not pretty to look at, seems to work. In this race he will have to compete, at least on Friday and Saturday, with his direct rivals Dustin Johnson (second) and Justin Thomas (third). Tiger plays instead with Masrc Leishman (24) and Chez Reavie (26).
It is one to watch the trio formed by Tony Finau (4); Brooks Koepka (5); Justin Rose (6). Not to be underestimated either Jordan Spieth (33), Xander Schauffele (34), Brandt Snedeker (35). To the delight of their fans, Rory McIlroy (28) and Henrik Stenson (55), probable pillars of the next Ryder Cup, also return to the game (for Stenson the call is not obvious). Skip the meeting instead Francesco Molinari, that didn't even pass the cut last week. Thanks to his tally of victories over the year, however, Molinari boasts an excellent position in the standings, where he is still thirteenth, so he should have no problems qualifying for the last stage.
In Europe from today we play instead in Denmark, where Edoardo Molinari is the only Italian on the field. This is the last match valid for the Ryder Cup. For the qualifiers in the team, the games are already done, however, the four wild cards of captain Thomas Bjorn are missing, who will communicate them at the end of the event.
Of the eight who are admitted by right, only one will be present Thorbjorn Olesen, who together with Bjorn could not desert the national Open. Six compete on the PGA Tour for the FedEx Cup (Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Alex Noren), while, as we have already said, rests Francesco Molinari, leader of the "European points".
In the good caliber field, the English Eddie Pepperell and Matthew Fitzpatrick, just off the qualifying list, will try to convince Bjorn to bet on them for the match in Paris (September 28-30). The German Martin Kaymer, the other Englishmen Matt Wallace and Danny Willett, the Koreans Soomin Lee and Jeunghun Wang, the Belgian Thomas Pieters, the Australian Scott Hend and the South African Haydn Porteous, to name a few, will also try to carve out a leading role. The prize pool is 1,5 million euros, with 250 thousand euros as the first coin.
