BMW Championship - third-round leaderboard
-17 W Clark (US); -12 R McIlroy (NI), P Cantlay (US); -11 C Gotterup (US), G Woodland (US); -10 C Morikawa (US); -9 S J Im (Kor); -8 M McNealy (US), R Hisatsune (Jpn), E Cole (US), JJ Spaun (US)
Selected others: -5 R MacIntyre (Sco); -4 A Rai (Eng), M Fitzpatrick (Eng); -1 J Rose (Eng), A Fitzpatrick (Eng); +2 T Fleetwood (Eng)
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Rory McIlroy shot a five-under 65 to move to joint-second after three rounds of the BMW Championship, but said it will take a "heroic effort" to chase down leader Wyndham Clark.

#leaderboard #cantlay

BMW Championship - second round leaderboard
-12 W Clark (US), -11 G Woodland (US), -10 JJ Spaun (US), -9 S J Im (Kor), C Gotterup (US), -8 P Cantlay (US), M Thorbjornsen (US), -7 C Morikawa (US), R McIlroy (NI), R Henley (US), M McNealy (US)
Selected others: -4 J Rose (Eng), -3 RMacIntyre (Sco), M Fitzpatrick (Eng), -2 A Fitzpatrick (Eng), T Fleetwood (Eng), -1 A Rai (Eng)
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Overnight leader Rory McIlroy said he would be heading to the driving range after falling away from the lead at the BMW Championship in St Louis.

#mcilroy #leaderboard #thorbjornsen

There wasn't a lot of drama along the FedEx Cup bubble during last year's BMW Championship or last week's start to the 2026 FedEx Cup playoffs. But the 2026 BMW Championship leaderboard after Round 2 action on Friday, August 21, is setting up for a potential shake up in the race for the final few spots in next week's Tour Championship.
Strong performances by Gary Woodland, Patrick Cantlay and Michael Thorbjornsen through the opening two rounds at the second FedEx Cup playoff event have positioned them to possibly move inside the top 30 of the FedEx Cup standings after beginning tournament play Thursday on the outside looking in for qualification at East Lake.
Only the top-30 golfers get a spot at the Tour Championship. Last year, only Harry Hall moved from outside the top 30 to qualify for the Tour Championship during the BMW Championship. A Tour Championship berth comes with a two-year PGA Tour exemption. Players in the field this week already locked up spots in 2027 signature events by being inside the top 50.
Here's a breakdown of the FedEx Cup bubble for the 2026 Tour Championship, including who's in danger of missing and live projections for the top-30 as Round 2 continues at the BMW Championship:

#championship #fedex #round #only

In his memoir of life in the tech industry, "Chaos Monkeys," Antonio Garcia Martinez wrote that it's not the rats who first abandon a sinking ship but rather the crew members who know how to swim.
By that measure, Brooks Koepka made like Michael Phelps, presciently jumping overboard early from LIV Golf and stroking his way to safe harbor. Now that the Good Ship Yasir seems doomed for the sea floor — the bullshit that long acted as ballast having shifted to expose the dead weight of washed-up hangers-on — those who remained are left eyeing leaky life rafts.
Just two members of LIV's roster matter, no matter how much its CEO, Scott O'Neil, blathered about the importance of Dean Burmester on the South African stop. They are Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm. The former because every carnival needs a barker, the latter because leagues need credible competitors. While DeChambeau remains welded to LIV, Rahm's tone has been lukewarm and several sources in his orbit are convinced he'll exit soon. He has alternatives, but they're not painless and require accepting conditions that the prideful Spaniard might balk at.
Rahm's obvious first choice for life after LIV would be returning to compete on the PGA Tour. He lives in the U.S., and it's the most lucrative, competitively demanding and commercially relevant circuit. But no one around the Tour thinks Rahm will be offered the terms Koepka accepted, and many believe he'd be asked to pay stiffer financial penalties, accept restricted playing privileges and perhaps even apologize (for what, and to whom, is unclear). How would that sit with a man who went to war with the DP World Tour in Europe over comparatively modest fines?
Koepka chose to leave LIV with time remaining on his contract. Rahm would be leaving by necessity, knowing he won't see all of the cash promised and that the league, if it survives, would do so only because someone wanted to leverage its losses to dodge taxes elsewhere in their investment portfolio. His former peers haven't forgotten that he went to LIV months after the Framework Agreement was announced, willingly becoming leverage for the Saudis, and that he later said (with amusing self-regard) that he felt his leaving would be the catalyst to uniting the game. Rahm thought he could take the bag and return as a hero. No one did more to ensure there'd be no deal between the Tour and the Saudis (with the possible exception of Patrick Cantlay in the boardroom). He chose his side and the guys he left behind were determined to make him live with the decision. Plenty remain so, and are disinclined to roll out the welcome mat too quickly.

#first

Patrick Cantlay became the fifth player to withdraw from this week's Wyndham Championship since the field was announced at the traditional PGA Tour Friday deadline.
Cantlay tied for eighth Sunday at the Rocket Classic, his fourth top 10 and ninth top 25 of the 2026 season. He's currently 41st in the FedEx Cup Playoffs standings, which puts him through to not only the first postseason event next week, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, but also Week 2's BMW Championship.
If PGA Tour players WD before a tournament starts, they're not required to provide a reason.
Other Wyndham withdrawals since the field was announced:
Saturday, Aug. 1: Kristoffer Reitan (WD), Kristoffer Ventura (IN); Brendon Todd (WD), Matt Kuchar (IN)

#championship #week #field #announced

Another day at the Rocket Classic, and there's another course record — and another new leader.
Rasmus Hojgaard got the putter cooking early in the third round Saturday and jumped to the top of the leaderboard, before the final group even teed off at Detroit Golf Club.
Hojgaard, 25, from Denmark, tied the course record of 61, matched Friday by Peter Malnati and Saturday by Cameron Young. Jake Knapp set the course record with a 61 in 2025, when the course was a par-72. It's now a par-70.
Hojgaard is looking for his first PGA Tour win. He's won five times on the DP World Tour, most recently in 2024.
Hojgaard was at 12 under par after three rounds, two shots ahead of 36-hole leaders Young, Patrick Cantlay and Patrick Fishburn, who had yet to tee off before Hojgaard finished his round. Also teeing off this afternoon is Rasmus' twin brother, Nicolai Hojgaard, who was at 8 under through two rounds.

#hojgaard #saturday #patrick #round

Hundreds of fans stood silent at the third hole of Detroit Golf Club as the sun baked down on the morning's most-watched golfer.
Cameron Young stepped into the box, shuffled his legs four times and raised his driver into his trademark pause before bombing a ball down the fairway.
"It just sounds different coming from him," a spectator said.
After comparatively struggling through his first round, going 1-under on Thursday, Young dominated the second round of the 2026 Rocket Classic on Friday, July 31, at Detroit Golf Club.
He went 9-under for the day, tying the course record of 61 (the second golfer in as many days to do so), and finished at 10-under in a tie for first at the end of the morning session with Patrick Cantlay, who shot a 4-under in the second round.

#second #young

Rory McIlroy hasn't played competitive golf since the U.S. Open last month, but he enters Round 2 of the 2026 Scottish Open tied for the lead. The two-time defending Masters champion won the event in 2023 and has never finished outside the top 5 in three prior trips.
Aided by an eagle to open his back nine (he started on the 10th), McIlroy shot a 5-under 65 in the first round, bringing him even with Patrick Cantlay, Rasmus Højgaard, Tom Kim and Bernd Wiesberger, the 40-year-old Austrian who left LIV Golf for the DP World Tour. Another LIV defector, Brooks Koepka, comes into today's round a stroke behind the leaders, alongside Min Woo Lee, Kurt Kitayama and more.
Scotland's own Robert MacIntyre and Calum Hill are in the running early, as are Wyndham Clark, Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick. Scottie Scheffler and Chris Gotterup are in the mix as well, though they come into the second round closer to the projected cut line. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, two of the group of active LIV Golfers in the British Open tune-up, will need to rebound today if they are to make the cut.
Watch Scottish Open live on Sling
Keep up with the latest scores on the official PGA Tour leaderboard.

Rory McIlroy hasn't played competitive golf since the U.S. Open last month, but he enters Round 2 of the 2026 Scottish Open tied for the lead. The two-time defending Masters champion won the event in 2023 and has never finished outside the top 5 in three prior trips.
Aided by an eagle to open his back nine (he started on the 10th), McIlroy shot a 5-under 65 in the first round, bringing him even with Patrick Cantlay, Rasmus Højgaard, Tom Kim and Bernd Wiesberger, the 40-year-old Austrian who left LIV Golf for the DP World Tour. Another LIV defector, Brooks Koepka, comes into today's round a stroke behind the leaders, alongside Min Woo Lee, Kurt Kitayama and more.
Scotland's own Robert MacIntyre and Calum Hill are in the running early, as are Wyndham Clark, Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick. Scottie Scheffler and Chris Gotterup are in the mix as well, though they come into the second round closer to the projected cut line. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, two of the group of active LIV Golfers in the British Open tune-up, will need to rebound today if they are to make the cut.
Watch Scottish Open live on Sling
Keep up with the latest scores on the official PGA Tour leaderboard.

The Genesis Scottish Open heads to Day 2 at North Berwick. Rory McIlroy fired a 5-under 65 and sits in a five-way tie for the lead with Patrick Cantlay, Tom Kim, Rasmus Hojgaard and Bernd Wiesberger.
One shot behind them is a group that includes Brooks Koepka and Min Woo Lee, while big names like world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland and defending champion Chris Gotterup all finished the day in red numbers and remain well within striking distance after 18 holes.
For all the Friday, second-round live updates, leaderboard updates, highlights, scores and more, first, be sure to set your alarm and then second, keep refreshing this page.
See the second-round tee times and pairings and keep tabs on the 2026 Genesis Scottish Open leaderboard throughout the day Friday. Here's the top of the board before the start of the second round:
Pos.

NORTH BERWICK, Scotland (AP) — Rory McIlroy began getting into the mood for the final major of the year by taking advantage of the par 5s at The Renaissance Club for a 5-under 65, giving him a four-way share of the lead among the early starters Thursday in the Genesis Scottish Open.
Patrick Cantlay made a little noise in an otherwise quiet year for the American with five birdies in 10 holes and then a collection of tough par saves at the end that felt just as valuable. He also was at 65, along with Tom Kim and Bernd Wiesberger.
Brooks Koepka was among those one shot behind.
Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, was among those playing in the afternoon on a glorious summer day along the Firth of Forth.
McIlroy holed an 18-foot eagle putt on the par-5 first hole — he started his round on No. 10 — to go along with a pair of birdies on the other two par 5s at The Renaissance Club. That made his round and his scorecard feel a little better.

Scottie Scheffler led for most of the day on Saturday at the Traveler’s Championship, but was overtaken by Viktor Hovland on the final hole when he missed a putt to card his second bogey of the back nine. The world no. 1 sits in solo second after shooting 3-under 67 at TPC River Highlands.
Hovland shot 6-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Scheffler on the 18th hole and goes into championship Sunday in the top spot, a place he’s worked hard to get back.
Patrick Cantlay jumped into the mix during the third round and finished T-3 with Akshay Bhatia. The duo sits five strokes back from Hovland entering the final round.
Golf Channel coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET. Here's a look at tee times and pairings for the final round in Cromwell, Connecticut.
Time

The PGA Tour has revealed its planned changes to its competitive model, schedule and playoffs, changes that will be more substantial than any in the Tour's half-century-long history.
Most notably, the Tour will now have two different competitive tracks for players, the Championship and Challenger series. The Tour's season will also end in a new playoff format, distinctive from the current Tour Championship. These changes will begin with the 2028 season.
"At its core, this work was driven by a simple objective: To build the best version of the PGA Tour, something that could endure and outlive us all," PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said in announcing the new framework. "So where did we land? One tour, two compelling series of events, played at the most worthy courses for the highest stakes, culminating in a true postseason that crowns the best golfer in the world."
The new format was developed by the tour's Future Competition Committee, a nine-member organization chaired by Tiger Woods that includes five players — Patrick Cantlay, Maverick McNealy, Keith Mitchell, Adam Scott, Camilo Villegas and Woods, as well as executives Joe Gorder, John Henry and Theo Epstein. The Future Competition Committee, formed in August 2025, sought to improve the consistency and quality of fields across the regular season, create a clear system for promotion/relegation, and develop a more competitive experience, with meritocracy as a central goal.
The new format will include two different series of events, running concurrently. The PGA Tour Championship will feature the tour's best players, competing in 23 to 24 events, with 36-hole cuts and purses of $20 million per event. Each Championship series event will include roughly 120 players, although players will not be required to play a specific number of events.