Jason Day Wins the 2015 BMW Championship, Becomes World Number One

It may have been pretty clear from the start, but Jason Day dominated the entire field this week for an easy victory at the BMW Championship at Conway Farms Golf Club. He finished off with a score of 22-under thanks to a pair of 69's over the weekend, a six shot lead over rookie Daniel Berger.  With it, he maintains his top spot on the FedEx Cup Rankings and also ousts Rory McIlroy to become the World Number One golfer on the World Golf Rankings, the youngest Australian to do so in history.

This is Day's second playoff win this year, and fifth PGA win of the year (including a major)! His streak kicked off near the end of July with his win at the Canadian Open. As of now, he's won four of his last six tournaments he's played in, a feat which has only been done by the likes of Tiger Woods, Nick Price, Vijay Singh, and a few more.

I've been saying this for years, but for most of Jason's career he's had great finishes but barely any wins. You could always count on him to have a great finish, especially in majors where we calculated that he had a 50% chance of finishing in the top 10 of any major he played. His win at the Farmers Insurance Open in February was his first in four year, and only his second of his PGA career. Many have called him the best player to not win a major or the best player who hasn't won a lot of tournaments, but he silenced them all these last couple of months. And considering his past and how golf has helped him get through it, there's no one more deserving of this success.

Like we said in our previous post, it's going to be hard to decide who the player of the year is. Is it Jordan Spieth, who won two majors, and nearly could have had them all? Or is it Jason Day, who's last couple of months has been career defining, full of broken records? Both are equally deserving, but who will it be?

Lastly, our picks finished pretty well too:

1) Louis Oosthuizen: T19 at 10-under
2) Rory McIlroy: T4 at 14-under
3) Justin Rose: T13 at 11-under

Funny enough, it was Rory who just a year ago was having a winning streak like Jason Day.

Next week is the final tournament of the playoffs and the season, the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. Up for grabs is the FedEx Cup and over $10 million. Only the top 30 as of this week are invited, making it one of the most action-packed tournaments of the year. Be sure to check out our picks for it.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Jason Day: World Number One

Jason Day Holds Steady Going Into Weekend at BMW Championship

Two rounds have been played at the BMW Championship at Conway Farms Golf Club, although with the current scoreline, you'd think four have been played...

That's right, the current leading score is an 18-under, which is held by none other than Jason Day. The Australian shot an impressive 61/63 on his opening rounds and was actually on 59 watch most of the time. With that, he tied the PGA Tour record for lowest 36-hole score. In fact, due to the weather delay, Day had to finish his opening round yesterday morning. On his final hole, he had a 44-yard pitch shot, which he needed to hole to shoot that 59. It would have been the first 59 shot since Jim Furyk's 59 two years ago at this event.

Day's second round yesterday included seven birdies, an eagle, and a bogey; good enough to earn him a five shot lead over Daniel Berger and Brenden Todd. At this rate, Day's on track to win his second playoff event of the year. If he does (or finishes a solo second), he'll surpass Rory McIlroy as World Number One on the WGC rankings and may even beat out Jordan Spieth for PGA Tour Player of the Year (keep in mind that Spieth won two majors this year).

Weather conditions at Conway Farms were not the best and did result in the suspension of the opening round as we said. They didn't seem to affect the players too much though, as low scores were shot all around. Traditionally, players seem to always score low at Conway Farms (see Furyk's 59 in 2013) and the score average this year seems to be around the high 60's .

In other news, a unique streak is on the line for Hunter Mahan this week. He is the only player to play in every Tour Championship event (since it's inception in 2007). Mahan sits at T29 as of now and is projected to finish at 52nd on the FedEx Cup Rankings. He likely won't make it into the Tour Championship this year (keep in mind that only the Top 30 make it), unless he can do something big.

Finally, here's how our picks are doing:

1) Louis Oosthuizen: T34 at 5-under
2) Rory McIlroy: T9 at 9-under
3) Justin Rose: T12 at 8-under


Pretty good results so far!

The third round is set to start later today. Be sure to check it out!


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Jason Day is playing some of the best golf of his career at the moment

Matt Every Defends at the 2015 Arnold Palmer Invitational

In just his second win on tour, his other being last year's rendition of the tournament, Matt Every has won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill again, successfully defending the title from the likes of Henrik Stenson, Matt Jones, and Morgan Hoffman. He won with a final score of 19-under (-19) with 66 on today's round, good enough for a one shot lead over Stenson. This win gets Every into the Masters in a couple of weeks, as well as putting into the Top 40 for the World Golf Rankings.

The leaderboard was looking slightly different with just a few holes to play. Stenson, who was in the final group, was at 19-under until a bogey on the 15th. Every, on the other hand, was putting for birdie on the 18th hole. He holed a downhill 18-foot putt that was barely on the green, which ended up just being enough. Stenson needed a birdie on his last hole to force a playoff, but was unable to. This is a huge contrast to Every's win last year, where he bogeyed the 18th hole after missing a four foot putt and had to hope no one would catch up to him.

The Florida native is just the fourth winner of the AP Invitational since 2008. Since then, Tiger's won four times, Every twice, and Martin Laird and Ernie Els once. This tournament also marks the ninth tournament in a row in which the 54-hole leader has failed to win the tournament.

In other news, two players each made an albatross this week, Daniel Berger and Zack Johnson. Berger's came during yesterday's round, where he holed out on the 6th hole (par 5) to mark the first albatross in the history of the AP Invitational. Just a day later, Johnson would hole out from about 200-yards away on the 16th hole. Johnson was 8-under on his round at that point, but finished off with a 66. Incidentally, 1979 marks the last time an albatross was carded at Bay Hill.

Finally, here is how our picks finished off:

1) Billy Horschel: T43 at 5-under (-5)
2) Henrik Stenson: 2 at 18-under (-18)

Like I said, it's only a matter of time before Stenson wins again. Horschel finished okay also.

And that's the end of another tournament as well as the end of the Florida Swing. Be sure to join us next week for the Valero Texas Open.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Matt Every after holing the putt that would win him the tournament on the 18th hole 

(Michael Cohen/Getty Images))

Padraig Harrington Wins The 2015 Honda Classic

We said earlier last week that a win at the Honda Classic at PGA National wasn't going to be easy and boy it sure wasn't...

After several weather delays, postponed tee times, a Monday finish, and two holes of sudden death, a winner has finally emerged; Irishman Padraig Harrington. Both him and PGA Tour newcomer Daniel Berger were tied at 6 under after 72 holes and had to replay the 18th and 17th; the former saw Berger place his tee shot in the water and a solid par from Harrington. The two finish with a one shot lead over Paul Casey, Russell Knox, and Ian Poulter, who was the 54 hole leader, but shot a 74 on Monday which included several balls landing in the water. The cut was set at +4.

For Padraig, this win was huge. This is the 43-year old's first PGA tour win since his win of the 2008 PGA Tour Championship; almost 2,400 days! To put things in perspective, Padraig's last three wins were the 2007, 2008 British Open and the 2008 PGA Championship. 2008 was the pinnacle of the Irishman's career and after winning back to back majors and the same major in consecutive years, we all expected him to keep on winning.

Unfortunately this didn't happen. A few swing changes and a case of the yips saw his game fall dramatically, as well as his earnings. At his lowest, he was ranked 353rd on the World Golf Rankings (late 2014) and things weren't looking good for him. But with some perseverance and hard work, he managed to pull of the win this week, which changes everything for him now. He doesn't have to rely on sponsor exemptions for a few years, gets to play in this year's Masters, and is currently ranked 82nd on the rankings now.

With some similar perseverance, Daniel Berger was en-route to making a some history. The 2014 Web.com Tour graduate started his final round nine shots behind the leader, but shot an excellent 64 to get himself into the playoff. If he won the playoff, it would have been one of the biggest comebacks in PGA Tour history. This is Berger's 4th top-10 finish this season; very impressive!

Probably just as big a story was that of Ian Poulter's meltdown during his final round. Poulter lead by three shots going into his final round. On a few holes, he shanked a few balls into the water, which resulted in a bogey, two double bogeys, and a very bad triple (which was on the verge of a +4 if it wasn't for a good putt by Ian). However, two late birdies were not enough to put him in the playoff, as he ended up one shot short of it, shooting a 74 on the day.

Finally, here is how our picks finished the tournament:

1) Rory McIlroy: CUT
2) Dustin Johnson: CUT
3) Graeme McDowell: CUT

Wow, a very bad week for my picks all of which who had pretty bad rounds in tough weather conditions. That's too bad, better luck next week!

And that wraps up a hectic week! The Honda Classic is a tournament that will never be dull; there will always be several story-lines and some exciting golf, as we saw this week. Stay tuned for coverage of the WGC Cadillac Championship from Doral, Florida.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Padraig Harrington Wins the 2015 Honda Classic