Thomas blitzes field; McIlroy, Lowry and McDowell facing FedEx delivery problems

Justin Thomas. Picture: Scott Halleran/PGA of America

Justin Thomas all but ended Rory McIlroy’s hopes of heading to Atlanta ranked No 1 in the FedEx Cup standings when he fired an 11-under 61 to take a six-stroke lead into the final round of the BMW Championship in Chicago.

Thomas was in incredible form at Medinah, opening with five birdies in a row before following a solitary bogey at the sixth with more fireworks.

After a two at the eighth, Thomas turned in 31, then came home in 30 by following an eagle three from just three feet at the 10th with a birdie at the 14th to go eight under for the day.

The 2017 PGA Championship winner (26) then holed his 180-yard approach at the difficult 16th for an eagle two and added his fourth two of the day from nine feet at the 17th to smash the course record 63 set by Hideki Matsuyama.

“It was obviously a fun day. It was just kind of one of those days where you get in a rhythm and zone and I'm trying to make more birdies,” Thomas said. “The of course is very soft and getable.

”I’ve felt good about my game for awhile and you don't know when something like this is going to happen, a round like this. We've all been talking the last couple of weeks that I'm due to have one and it's nice when it happens. At the end of the day this round was great and awesome but it's over with and I need to go focus on tomorrow.”

McIlroy ended the day tied for 13th on 10-under after a 70 and at 11 strokes behind Thomas, he needs a miracle now to win and top the standings.

He’s projected to fall from third to fifth, meaning he would start the Tour Championship at East Lake with a five-shot deficit to make up.

The FedEx Cup points leader after the first two Playoffs events begins the Tour Championship at 10-under par. The No. 2 player will start at 8 under. The No. 3 player starts at 7 under; the No. 4 player starts at 6 under; the No. 5 player starts at 5 under. Players 6-10 start at 4 under; players 11-15 start at 3 under; players 16-20 start at 2 under; players 21-25 start at 1 under; and players 26-30 start at even par.

As things stand, Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell could see their FedEx Cup campaigns end today.

Twenty-fifth-ranked Lowry needs to finish solo 29th to remain inside the top 30 who will head to East Lake but lies tied 58th on two-under alongside McDowell, who must finish third to make it to Atlanta

Open champion Lowry looks set to make the move he needed when he turned in a brilliant 31 by following an opening bogey with four birdies (2nd, 4th, 7th, 9th) and a chip-in eagle three at the fifth.

But he found water and bogeyed the short 13th, then followed a bogey at the 14th with a two at the 17th for a four-under 68 that left him projected to finish 33rd in the FedEx Cup standings, six strokes outside his target position (T24).

McDowell is 64th in the standings and projected to fall to 67th as he lies 13 strokes outside the finish he now needs, tied second.

Tiger Woods is also in danger of being unable to defend the Tour Championship.

He shot a five-under 67 but he’s also 38th in the standings and needs at least another 67 today to break into the top 30 with a top 10 finish.

he also shed some light on the tactics employed by players in the modern game and it all boils down to driving for dough. Asked about the low scoring on such a tough, 7,613-yard course — all bar two players in the 69-man field are under par and 10-under is not even in the top-10 — Woods said:

TIGER WOODS: I think that's the way the new game is played. We were talking about that earlier this week is that when I first came out on Tour and before me, especially, there's a lot of 1 irons and stuff off the tees. Just kind of get it in play.

Now, you just pull out driver, bomb it down there and you're looking for three to four good weeks a year. That's how you play. It's not the consistency, it's not about making a bunch of cuts. It's about having three, four good weeks a year. That's the difference. The guys understand that.

Today's equipment you can maximize a driver and just absolutely just bomb it and some of the guys sacrifice stuff around the greens or short irons for the driver. The driver is the most important club in the bag now just because of the way the game is played.