TOUR Championship: Five Surprising Names That Won’t Be at East Lake

The BMW Championship wrapped up from Castle Pines on Sunday, finalizing a list of thirty golfers who will trek to East Lake Golf Club just outside of Atlanta to chase a $25 million top prize.

The 50 players that made it to the BMW Championship fought and clawed for a top thirty spot, but several surprising names won’t make it to East Lake for a shot at the PGA TOUR Season’s final event and its biggest payout of the year:

Brian Harman

Finishing 31st, the 2023 Open Champion will not be playing East Lake this coming weekend as he dropped two spots from 29th.

Harman finished -3 in 25th place at the BMW, as a Sunday +1 solidified his season, which ended yesterday. We likely will not see him until next year.

Jason Day

Jason Day’s disappointing weekend at the BMW was capped off by a -1 on Sunday, but it was only enough to bring him to +1 for the weekend.

Day said he was “gutted” to have the season end this way in a post on X following the conclusion of the BMW Championship. 

Gutted to have the season come to end but thank you to all the fans and sponsors throughout the year! On to the @presidentscup @presidentscupintlteam 👊🏽 pic.twitter.com/Quy8Gwfzqv

— Jason Day (@JDayGolf) August 25, 2024

However, Day seems as if he is back on the right track after several slow seasons. A win last year put him in the field of The Masters as his exemption from his win at the PGA Championship in 2015 no longer puts him in those fields.

As of now, Day will not play at Augusta in April. However, he is on the President’s Cup team.

Will Zalatoris

Battling back issues and what was somewhat of a comeback season, Will Zalatoris will not be in East Lake. Making it to the BMW Championship after missing all of last year with his ailing back is somewhat of an accomplishment in itself.

Zalatoris has a long career ahead of him, so this is just a speed bump in the grand scheme of things. We will look for a bounce back for him next year.

Max Homa

With what started off looking like a career year for Max Homa after landing a spot in the penultimate pairing at Augusta, the Southern Californian’s season comes to a disappointing end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Max Homa (@max.homa)

Homa is a fan favorite and has never shied away from wearing his emotions on his sleeve. His personality, along with his play, is what sets him apart from a lot of players on the TOUR.

But this year, Homa will watch the TOUR Championship from home, or perhaps a nice vacation spot. We are hopeful he will rebound in 2025, as he is a great addition to any competitive field.

Alex Noren

A name that stayed near the top of the leaderboard of the BMW Championship was Alex Noren. However, a slow finish on Sunday ended his chances after posting a +3 and a -7 overall for the weekend.

Noren is one of the most notorious grinders on TOUR. In the tournaments I’ve seen him, he is consistently on the range and practice facilities the longest. I can remember on Sunday at the 2023 BMW Championship at Wilmington Country Club, seeing him after his final round on a Sunday chipping balls, despite him being out of the running to be in the field at the TOUR Championship.

On another occasion, the year before at Caves Valley, he grinded out a 90-minute range session using exaggerated movements to emphasize a draw ball flight. This was BEFORE his round.

Noren just did not have quite enough to make it to East Lake this year.

Cover Image via Golf Magazine