Theegala, Bhatia and Rai Advance to BMW Championship as Scheffler Wins by Eight Shots
MEMPHIS — Sahith Theegala, Akshay Bhatia and Aaron Rai advanced to the BMW Championship, the second event of the FedEx Cup playoffs, as Scottie Scheffler cruised to an eight-shot victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Scheffler closed with a 4-under 66 at TPC Southwind to finish at 17-under 263 and claim his 21st PGA Tour title. It was his second victory of the season after winning The American Express in January.
Bhatia, Rai and Theegala all finished outside the top 60 in Memphis, but their season-long FedEx Cup standings were enough to keep them inside the top 50 and send them through to the next playoff event.
Bhatia is 15th in the standings, Rai is 37th and Theegala is 46th. Their positions also secure spots in all of the PGA Tour’s $20 million Signature Events next season.
Bhatia shot a final-round 76 to finish 68th, while Rai closed with a 78 to place 63rd. Theegala carded a 71 and finished 67th.
Sudarshan Yellamaraju, an Indo-Canadian rookie, saw his playoff run end despite a promising start to the tournament. He was inside the top 10 after two rounds but slipped to a tie for 47th following a final-round 71.
Yellamaraju finished 58th in the FedEx Cup standings, with only the top 50 advancing to the BMW Championship.
Scheffler, meanwhile, continued an outstanding season in which he has recorded two victories, five runner-up finishes and five additional top-four results in 18 starts.
His victory was built on a second-round 61 that gave him a commanding advantage. Although his lead briefly narrowed to one shot after a bunker shot hit a sprinkler and rolled into the water, Scheffler responded with consecutive birdies to regain control.
The eight-shot margin made Scheffler only the fifth player in the past four decades to record multiple PGA Tour victories by eight or more strokes, joining Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy.
South Korea’s Si Woo Kim finished second at 9-under after a closing 68, while Sam Burns and Alex Noren tied for third at 8-under.
Scheffler also strengthened his lead in the FedEx Cup standings. His victory increased his advantage to 1,447 points, guaranteeing that he will enter the season-ending Tour Championship as the top-ranked player. (Source: IANS)
