If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
For the second time in the same week, Billy Horschel has put himself in position to win a PGA Tour FedExCup Playoff event.
He came up short on Monday at the Deutsche Bank Championship near Boston, where he bogeyed the relatively easy 18th hole and squandered an opportunity to win or force a playoff with Chris Kirk.
But if the second-place finish on Labor Day was a big blow, Horschel isn’t showing it this week at the BMW Championship at Cherry Hills Country Club.
“It was just a bad swing at the wrong time” on Monday, Horschel said after shooting a 7-under-par 63 on Saturday and grabbing a three-stroke lead at Cherry Hills. “I’ve got some really thick skin, so nothing really bothers me too much. I’m a better player than I showed with that golf shot. But you can’t dwell on things like that. It wasn’t a big deal.”
Apparently not.
Horschel, who competed in the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship in Aurora in 2008 when he was one of the top-ranked amateurs in the world, has gone 68-66-63 at Cherry Hills for a 13-under-par 197 total for three days. After his bogey-free 7-under-par round Saturday, he’ll have a bit of a cushion heading into the final day.
“I thought I played good (66) and he beat me by a few,” noted Saturday playing partner Bubba Watson. “He’s a great ball-striker and when he gets his putter going, he can really score. And that’s what he did today.”
Ryan Palmer has carded scores of 64-67 the last two days, but he’s three behind going into the final 18 of the penultimate FedExCup Playoff event.
Two 2014 major champions, Watson (Masters) and Martin Kaymer (left, U.S. Open), are five back of Horschel after three rounds, with Kaymer losing ground despite his 64 Saturday. Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia, two other members of golf’s elite echelon, are next best, with Fowler at 203 and Garcia at 204.
Even though the greens were relatively soft in the wake of Thursday evening’s rainstorm, a 63 to take the lead wasn’t too shabby.
“Obviously, today was a great round,” said Horschel, a 27-year-old Floridian who has won once on the PGA Tour. “This is a real challenging golf course. Even though it’s playing a little softer than Thursday’s round, you’ve got to be smart out there. You can easily make bogeys if you get out of position. So that was probably one of the top three, top five rounds all year (for me).”
Horschel birdied four of the last five holes, capping things off with a 32-foot birdie on the tough 18th.
Palmer likewise drained a long birdie on 18 — from 30 feet in his case — to stay a little more within striking distance of Horschel.
“Take your hats off to Billy for shooting 7 under today; that was awesome,” said Palmer, who’s won three times on Tour, though not since 2010. “I’m just proud of the way I fought and hung in there today. I’m not used to playing with Rory (McIlroy) and Sergio in the final group with that kind of crowd.”
Asked if he was flying under the radar Saturday, Palmer said, “Obviously you heard a lot of ‘Rorys’ and ‘Sergios’, but I had my few ‘Ryans’ and ‘Palmers’. I had my 10, 15 people yelling for me.”
But NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller went so far as to call Palmer “the most improved player on Tour.”
As for Horschel, coming off the Deutsche Bank runner-up, he figured he’d be in the mix at the BMW Championship.
“I’m a momentum player,” he said. “I knew coming into this week I was going to play well.”
Morgan Hoffmann’s competitive course-record 62 and Horschel’s 63 were the best scores of the bunch on Saturday, but the majority of the field (35 players) broke par. But not among them were two crowd favorites who were paired in the final group with Palmer on Saturday. World No. 1 McIlroy and Garcia (left, with Palmer) matched 72s, leaving Garcia seven behind and McIlroy nine.
McIlroy, winner of the British Open and PGA Championship this summer, fell back with a triple-bogey on the par-3 12th hole. For just the sixth time in his PGA Tour career, McIlroy four-putted a hole. But this might have been the worst of the bunch, as the first of the four putts was from 4 feet. Not surprisingly, he subsequently swatted the ball to a watery grave.
“The 12th hole really derailed me,” he said, noting that it wasn’t until his third putt that he lost concentration. “Obviously, to go from being right there in the tournament (then) dropping three shots in one hole wasn’t what I wanted.”
For BMW Championship scores, CLICK HERE.
For Sunday’s final-round pairings, CLICK HERE.
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BMW Championship: The Essentials
What — BMW Championship PGA Tour FedExCup Playoff Event.
Where — Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village.
Schedule
Sept. 7: Sunday tee times from 9:35-11:15 a.m. off the first and 10th tees.
Gates Open — 8 a.m.
TV Coverage — Sept. 7: 10 a.m.-noon, Golf Channel and noon-4 p.m., KUSA (9).
Free Admission for Juniors — Kids 16 and under will be admitted free to the BMW Championship when accompanied by an adult ticket or credential holder.
Military Admission Policy — All active-duty, retired, reserve and veterans will receive free admission for one day of the tournament. Each military member must verify his or her military status on the website (CLICK HERE) and print off a free ticket voucher in advance of the tournament.
Field — The top 70 players in the FedExCup Playoff standings after the Deutsche Bank Championship concluded on Sept. 1. There was no cut during the BMW Championship.
Purse — $8 million, with $1.44 million going to the winner.
Course Set-up — 7,352 yards. Par-70 (34-36). 3-inch-deep bluegrass rough. Greens 11-11.5 on Stimpmeter.
Tournament Beneficiary — All the net proceeds from the BMW Championship go to the Evans Scholars Foundation, which awards full tuition and housing college scholarships to worthy and qualified caddies with limited financial means. The average value of an Evans Scholarship nationwide is estimated to be $80,000. One of the 14 Evans Scholarship houses is located at the University of Colorado in Boulder. About 870 caddies are currently on scholarship nationwide, and the program has produced almost 10,000 alums since 1930, with about 430 from CU. Among the CU Evans Scholar alums is George Solich, the general chairman of the 2014 BMW Championship.
Autographs and Cameras — Not permitted during championship rounds Thursday through Sunday.
Tournament History — The BMW Championship’s predecessor, the Western Open, began in 1899, making it the third-oldest PGA Tour event, behind the British Open and U.S. Open. The tournament was renamed the BMW Championship in 2007 when it became part of the FedExCup Playoffs.
Course History — Cherry Hills Country Club, a William Flynn-designed course, opened in 1922. It has hosted a myriad of significant tournaments over the years: U.S. Opens in 1938, ’60 and ’78; PGA Championships in 1941 and ’85; a U.S. Women’s Open in 2005; U.S. Amateurs in 1990 and 2012; a U.S. Senior Open in 1993; a U.S. Senior Amateur in 1976; and a U.S. Mid-Amateur in 1983. Winners of those events include Arnold Palmer (’60 U.S. Open), Jack Nicklaus (’93 U.S. Senior Open) and Phil Mickelson (’90 U.S. Amateur).
For More Information — Visit the BMW Championship website (CLICK HERE.)
