CASTLE ROCK, Colorado (AP) — The BMW Championship is the last stop before the top six players receive an automatic berth in next month’s Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal.

It turns out the first FedEx Cup Playoff event also had a strong effect.

Jordan Spieth may have had little chance of making the U.S. team, but last week he made it. He was 26 strokes behind the leader, failed to advance and said he would have surgery on his left wrist. His season is over.

It was also a big blow for Canadian Mackenzie Hughes, who dropped out of the top 50. National team captain Mike Weir wants a strong Canadian presence, but none of them are in the top six and four other Canadians are ahead of Hughes.

Weir will receive six captain’s picks after the Tour Championship. Hughes will also not be at East Lake. This comes two years after Hughes, known for his putting, was oddly left out of the international team for the Games at Quail Hollow, where he is a member.

The Americans are likely to see significant changes compared to their last team competition at the Ryder Cup.

Three players have already effectively been eliminated – Spieth, Rickie Fowler (did not qualify for the postseason) and Brooks Koepka (ineligible because he plays golf for LIV).

The leading five – Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark and Patrick Cantlay – were with Marco Simone. Sahith Theegala is sixth ahead of Tony Finau.

Max Homa, who went 4-0 at Quail Hollow in his Presidents Cup debut, finished last in the 70-man field last week. He hasn’t competed since his chance at the Masters on Sunday (his only top-10 finish was at Wells Fargo, where he finished 13 shots behind). Homa is ninth in the standings.

Close behind is Brian Harman, who has achieved a top-10 finish in his last 13 starts.

The wild card is once again Justin Thomas. He is ranked 16th in the rankings and could use a peak performance this week. Thomas has faced a lot of criticism for being selected for the Ryder Cup team without having qualified for the postseason.

U.S. captain Jim Furyk could have some interesting options, such as 20-year-old Nick Dunlap or 22-year-old Akshay Bhatia, depending on what performances he sees at Castle Pines and then at East Lake.

The international team, which has lost nine straight, seems to have some stability. The top five players were at Quail Hollow and Byeong Hun An played in the 2019 games. Four other players from the 2022 team have done well enough to be considered.

Solheim Cup advance

The Women’s British Open in St. Andrews is the final qualifying tournament for the Solheim Cup, where seven players will compete for the last two automatic places for the US team.

Lauren Coughlin, who won the Women’s Scottish Open, and Allisen Corpuz, who finished 15th in Scotland, secured their spots. Meghan Khang and Andrea Lee occupy the final two spots among seven automatic qualifiers.

Rose Zhang is ranked 8th, but also leads the two places in the women’s world rankings that are awarded to players who have not yet qualified for the championship.

Stacy Lewis receives three captain’s tips, one of them probably goes to Lexi Thompsonwho has shown new form since announcing her withdrawal from a busy schedule.

Europe takes two players from its European Solheim Cup rankings, the six leading players from the women’s world rankings and Suzann Pettersen is nominated as captain four times.

The games will take place from September 13 to 15 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia.

Keegan holds on

Keegan Bradley thought he was safe when he began the postseason ranked 39th, but that was a little misleading. There were 93 points between Bradley and 38th, and only 105 points between Jake Knapp at 50th.

Bradley left the TPC Southwind projected to be outside the top 50 and was barely holding on until he moved inside as Tom Kim finished with bogey-double-bogey-double-bogey.

He has said his goal is to reach the Tour Championship. But the Ryder Cup captain did well to make the BMW Championship. The top 50 will advance to all eight signature events next year, allowing Bradley to be close to players who are likely to make his team for Bethpage Black.

In addition, he does not have to embarrass the tournament directors by asking for exceptions.

Winner eliminated

Winning a PGA Tour event that offers full FedEx Cup points is worth a trip to the Masters and PGA Championship, a start at Kapalua for The Sentry and a two-year exemption. But it doesn’t guarantee a top 50 finish at the FedEx Cup and participation in the eight $20 million signature events the following year.

Nick Taylor (Phoenix Open), Jake Knapp (Mexico Open), Peter Malnati (Valspar Championship), Davis Riley (Colonial) and Jhonattan Vegas (3M Open) did not reach the BMW Championship.

Don’t expect Vegas to have any sleepless nights over this. He was No. 139 in the FedEx Cup and was in danger of losing his card when he won in Minnesota.

Saunders retires

Trying to play golf at the highest level is difficult enough. Sam Saunders has accomplished this despite being known as the grandson of Arnold Palmer for his entire career.

Saunders strove for his own identity while respecting his heritage with remarkable poise.

But the 37-year-old is ready to move on. Saunders missed the cut at the Korn Ferry Tour last week and posted on Instagram that it was his last professional round. He did not qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour postseason after making only four cuts this year.

“I started this career over 15 years ago and today was my last professional round,” Saunders wrote. “I didn’t want to post anything or make a big deal out of it, but I want to thank so many people and acknowledge what a pleasure it was.”

“It was never easy for me and I never achieved my goals as a player, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

He has not revealed what he plans to do, but it would not be a surprise if he plays a key role in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Bay Hill.

Divots

Adam Scott and Jason Day are the only BMW Championship players to have played in the International at Castle Pines. Neither was a full member of the PGA Tour at the time. Scott had just turned 20 and was making his sixth start as a professional. … Lauren Coughlin has earned $1,876,282 this year. Her LPGA career earnings from the four previous full seasons were $867,197. … Hideki Matsuyama has finished in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup every year since his first full season on the PGA Tour. His 11 consecutive wins are the longest active streak. … Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion Lottie Woad has won the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the leading female player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for 2024. As the first McCormack Medalist from England, Woad will receive an exemption to play in next year’s U.S. Women’s Open and Women’s British Open. … Willie Smith took home a third of the total prize money – $50 – when he won the first Western Open in 1899. The winner of this week’s BMW Championship – the successor to the Western Open – will receive $4 million.

Statistics of the week

Scottie Scheffler finished in the top 10 in 15 of his last 16 tournaments. The exception was the US Open.

Last word

“My name is above many others who have played for these important points and no-cut events.” – Maverick McNealy, who finished 53rd in the FedEx Cup. His only standout event was a sponsor exemption for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

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