The challenge of getting among the top thirty who compete in the final play off of the Fedex Cup, the Tour Championship, which is what is being decided this week at the BMW Championship, is of enormous complexity.
Just check this simple fact to realise: of the thirty finalists from 2023, nine already have no chance of repeating this year, as they will not even be at the BMW from this Thursday, and at least another six arrive this week with the mission of playing very well to do so, as they are currently behind 30th place in the ranking (Bradley, Homa, Fitzpatrick, Si Woo Kim, Conners and Fleetwood). That is, half of the field of the 2023 Tour Championship could well be replaced the following year by other players who rejoin (Matsuyama, for example, was not in 2023) or who reach the final for the first time.
The difficulty of the challenge multiplies if we rewind back in time, in search of the players who have the most consecutive finals. It is at this point that we begin to outline the two questions, the two riddles, that we pose to the avid reader as a summer pastime. The requirement that we propose to make it more complicated is the following: you have to answer from memory, without consulting data and records in the cloud. Being so, let’s be honest, it is normal that no one gets any of the two questions right…
Before, let’s give other information that can even serve as clues, as after all names will be discarded.
– There are three players who this year are going to play their fifth consecutive final with absolute certainty, all since 2020 included, but who had never played any more before. They are Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland.
-There is a player who this year is going to compete with absolute certainty his seventh consecutive final, all since 2018 included, and who had previously played some more finals. Specifically, four more, since he debuted in 2012. Of course, it is Rory McIlroy.
– There is a player who this year will not be able to compete in his eighth consecutive final, having played the previous seven, all since 2017 included, without having played any more before. It is, of course, Jon Rahm.
– FIRST RIDDLE: there are two players who this year are going to compete with absolute certainty their eighth consecutive final, all since 2017 included, and who had never played any more before, establishing the best active streak. One of them is, naturally, Xander Schauffele.
But, WHO IS THE OTHER?
– SECOND RIDDLE: There is also a player who this year is going to compete with absolute certainty his sixth consecutive final, all since 2019 included, and who had never played any more before. WHO IS IT?
ATTENTION, SPOILER: (WE WILL LEAVE SOME SPACES BELOW FOR THOSE WHO REALLY DEDICATE TWO MINUTES TO TRY TO FIND OUT THE ANSWERS…
ANSWER TO THE FIRST RIDDLE: It is Tony Finau, who indeed, like Schauffele, played his first final in 2017, has never missed the appointment and will not do so this year, whatever happens this week at the BMW, as he arrives in 14th place in the ranking.
ANSWER TO THE SECOND RIDDLE: It is the Korean Sungjae Im, whose consistency in excellence is greater than we usually think. Im played a final for the first time in 2019 and has not missed the appointment since then. He will not miss this year either, whatever happens at the BMW, as he arrives in Colorado in 10th place in the ranking.
