7 surprising players who lose the tournament championship

Justin Thomas woke up Sunday morning in a difficult position.

A Saturday 74 had him tied for 46th in a now 48-man field BMW Championship and dangerously close to falling from top 30 in FedEx Cup standings and missing the tournament championship for the second year in a row.

It felt a lot like last year’s Wyndham when Thomas went one shot before making the Playoffs. But not to him.

“I mean, it’s just weird,” Thomas said Sunday. “Playoffs are fun like this because I felt some things in those last two holes that feel similar to trying to win a golf tournament, just when you know if you don’t make it to the next round, you don’t have a chance. . That’s all I want.

“I realize if I get into Atlanta, I’m beyond a long shot, but in my eyes I have a chance, and that’s all I want. It’s a lot of pressure, but you have to play well at the right time, and that’s what the Playoffs are all about.”

He played well at the right time as he posted a bogey-free 68 to move up seven places on the leaderboard, looking like it would be enough for sneak into the tournament’s championship field On Sunday as the no. 30 in the ranking. When Alex Noren missed a seven-foot slider for the par on the 16th hole to fall out of a tie for 4th, Thomas returned to the field for the season finale.

While Thomas stayed in the top 30, four players (this week’s winner Keegan BradleyAdam Scott, Tommy Fleetwood and Chris Kirk) moved from outside the top 30 to the infield for East Lake this week. There are some surprises in the 30-player field, all of whom receive two-year exemptions from the Tour and entry into three of the four majors. It will even be the shock debut of Shane Lowry at East Lake, who has somehow never made the tournament championship before.

But not everyone was so lucky as four players also dropped out of the top 30. Several big name players didn’t even make it to BMW this week for a chance at East Lake.

Continue reading below for some of the more surprising names who should miss out on the 2024 Tour Championship.

7 surprising players who lose the tournament championship

31 Brian Harman: Harman was one of four players to break out of the top 30 this week after a lone 25th finish in Colorado. He misses East Lake for the first time since 2021.

33 Jason Day: Day was unable to get anything going on the weekend at Castle Pines and finished T33 this week falling eight spots out of 25th.

38 Will Zalatoris: Strong playoff showings (T12 last week and T13 this week) weren’t enough to make up for an up-and-down comeback from an injury-plagued year that saw him miss three straight cuts coming into the Playoffs.

40 Matt Fitzpatrick: Fitzpatrick faced a strange rules situation Sunday at Castle Pines after he was denied the ability to replace his cracked driver during the round. He ended up finishing T28, which wasn’t enough to sustain a poor season in which he recorded just three top-10s going into it. He misses East Lake for the first time since 2021.

44 Cameron Young: Young added to his streak of seven runner-up wins without a win at Valspar earlier this year, but a T61-T43 playoff run saw him slip from 31st to 44th in the standings.

46 Max Homa: Homa seemed to be going through the motions this week. After his T3 at the Masters, he recorded just one other top-10 and finished dead last in Memphis before a final-round 67 salvaged a T43 this week.

No. 49 Nick Dunlap: Dunlap was on a hot streak after winning in Tahoe and competing in Memphis only to make it to Colorado. A Sunday 66 would have taken the rookie to East Lake, but he went the wrong way with a final-round 77.

BMW did not make the field (and is not included in the number): 51 Tom Kim, no. 55, Justin Rose, no. 58, Nick Taylor, no. 59, Jake Knapp, no. 60 Min Woo Lee, no. 66, Jordan Spieth, no. 73, Kurt Kitayama, no. 77, Lucas Glover, no. 81 Nicolai Hojgaard, No. 103 Matt Kuchar, No. 106 Rickie Fowler.

Jack Hirsch

Editor of Golf.com

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A native of Pennsylvania, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also *tries* to remain competitive in the local amateurs. Prior to joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a television station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a multimedia journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.