Marc Leishman wins BMW Championship

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 18 September 2017

Australia’s Marc Leishman produced four superb rounds to win the BMW Championship and give himself a clear chance of claiming the FedEx Cup for 2017.

Marc Leishman led the BMW Championship after a brilliant opening round of 62 and he never relinquished his advantage at the top of the board. The Australian finished five clear of Rickie Fowler and Justin Rose at Conway Farms.

Justin Rose got closest to Leishman when he moved to within two of the Australian on the back nine on Sunday. But Leishman responded brilliantly to the pressure. He birdied the 15th and 16th holes to pull clear once again and he was able to cruise home for the win.

Justin Rose swing sequence:

Leishman’s 23-under-par total broke the 72-hole tournament record that had been set by Tiger Woods at Cog Hill back in 2007.

Justin Rose ended the week tied for second with Rickie Fowler. Australia’s Jason Day finished alone in fourth.

3 Talking points from the BMW Championship

1 – This was a big win for 33-year-old Leishman. It was his second PGA Tour title of the season, following the Arnold Palmer Invitational. It has lifted him to 15th on the Official World Ranking and, crucially, it moved him to fourth place on the FedEx Cup points list. That means, going into the season-ending Tour Championship Leishman has a clear chance to win the FedEx Cup and the $10 million first prize. If he wins at East Lake, he is FedEx Cup champion.

2 – The top-five on the standings going into East Lake all have a chance to win the FedEx Cup if they win the Tour Championship and the battle to secure the fifth seeding was intense to the death at Conway Farms. Rickie Fowler needed to birdie the par-5 last to get there – His second went through the green and he was unable to get up-and-down. In the end it as Spain’s Jon Rahm who took the spot. He birdied four of his last five holes to do it.

3 – The other battle at Conway Farms was to earn a place in the top-30 on the FedEx Cup standings as only the top-30 will play at East Lake. Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay played their way in and Sergio Garcia scraped through after drama on the home hole that saw him play a shot from the rocks in the stream. Phil Mickelson wasn’t so lucky, he needed an eagle on the last to make it to East Lake but, although his long pitch-and-run effort hit the hole, it didn’t drop and he narrowly missed out.

BMW Championship Conway Farms GC, Lake Forest, Illinois Sep 14-17 Purse: $8,750,000 Par: 71

1 Marc Leishman (Aus) 62 64 68 67 261 T2 Justin Rose (Eng) 67 68 66 65 266 T2 Rickie Fowler (USA) 65 64 70 67 266 4 Jason Day (Aus) 64 65 70 69 268 T5 Matt Kuchar (USA) 67 68 67 67 269 T5 Jon Rahm (Esp) 69 68 65 67 269 T7 Tony Finau (USA) 65 72 70 64 271 T7 Jordan Spieth (USA) 65 70 71 65 271 T9 Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 67 71 68 66 272 T9 Webb Simpson (USA) 66 73 65 68 272 T9 Patrick Cantlay (USA) 67 65 70 70 272

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

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Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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