Live notes: Final round of BMW Championship

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Camilo Villegas enjoys the fruits of victory after winning the BMW Championship on Sunday at Bellerive.

The BMW Championship is the third stage of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, and PGATOUR.COM's crew is on the scene in St. Louis. We'll provide continuous coverage of Sunday's final round, so check back often for live notes.
FINAL ROUND: Leaderboard | PGA TOUR Shot Tracker | FedExCup points points projection

SINGH CLINCHES FEDEXCUP TROPHY: With Camilo Villegas winning the BMW Championship, Vijay Singh now has an insurmountable leader in FedExCup points.

Singh

After his T44 finish Sunday, Singh now has 122,651 points. Villegas, by winning at Bellerive, moves into second place with 112,050 points.

A win at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola is worth 12,500 points. Should Villegas win, he would have 124,550 points.

Meanwhile, the 30th (last) place finish at THE TOUR Championship is worth 2,000. So if Singh finishes last, he would have 124,651 points -- 101 points more than Villegas.

Only three things can happen to prevent Singh from winning the FedExCup and the $10 million bonus: a) He decides not to play at East Lake; b) He withdraws from East Lake; or c) He gets disqualified during THE TOUR Championship. Don't expect the first one to happen, and the last two, while certainly possible, aren't likely.

Essentially, all Singh has to do to claim the FedExCup is sign his scorecard after the final round at East Lake later this month. -- (6:10 p.m. ET)

FIRST-TIME WINNERS: Camilo Villegas is the 10th first-time winner on the PGA TOUR this season: -- (5:58 p.m. ET)

GARCIA'S TOUGH RUN: Sergio Garcia came to the BMW Championship with a mathematical chance to win the FedExCup.

Garcia

He lost a playoff to Vijay Singh at The Barclays and tied for fifth behind the big Fijian at last week's Deutsche Bank Championship. But Garcia wasn't able to contend again this week, and Camilo Villegas' win at the BMW Championship assured Singh of the $10 million bonus.

"I just didn't play well enough this week," the Spaniard said. "Obviously it's been a tough run and a lot of weeks out there and trying to win. You know, we got one day off and then we had to catch up this week. The course was very wet, it was very heavy on our legs, and obviously just a little bit tired towards the end of the week.

"I would have loved to play a little better and putt a little better and score a little better, but unfortunately I didn't, so I'm looking forward to my resting."

Garcia plans to take the next week off leading up to the Ryder Cup at Valhalla. He'll stay in the United States, visiting friends, and then head to Kentucky.

"I'm trying to rest, so I didn't want to go all the way back to Spain and then come back only for one week and be in the Ryder Cup," Garcia said. "If it was any other tournament I'd probably do it, but I think Ryder Cup is too important to do that. ...

"I'll practice a little bit but towards the end of the week. I need to take at least three or four days off, just relax and make sure that I get my batteries fully charged for Valhalla." -- Helen Ross (6 p.m. ET)

WIRE-TO-WIRE: In winning his first PGA TOUR event Sunday, Camilo Villegas has gone wire-to-wire, leading after every round of the BMW Championship. The only other winner to do that on TOUR in 2008? K.J. Choi at the Sony Open in Hawaii. The last player to win his first TOUR event going wire-to-wire? Tim Herron at the Honda Classic in 1996. -- (5:54 p.m. ET)

SINCE THAT 4-PUTT: On the ninth hole of his second round Saturday morning, Camilo Villegas four-putted for double bogey. Since then? Going into his final hole, Villegas has one-putted 27 greens and two-putted 17 greens.

Villegas goes into the 18th hole with a two-shot lead. -- (5:30 p.m. ET)

HART IN WITH 65: Dudley Hart has finished a terrific final-round 5-under 65. He's the clubhouse leader at 13 under, and is now projected well within the top 30 for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. Hart entered the tournament 67th in FedExCup points and has easily made the biggest move of the week. -- (5:19 p.m. ET)

DOWN THE STRETCH: Here's how Camilo Villegas and Anthony Kim have played the final two holes in the first three rounds at Bellerive: -- (5:06 p.m. ET)

DOWN TO TWO SHOTS: Camilo Villegas failed to take advantage of a great approach shot, missing his 7-foot birdie putt and settling for par at the 15th. Meanwhile, playing partner Anthony Kim just birdied the hole, moving to 13 under, two shots within Villegas. -- (4:57 p.m. ET)

TOP 30 UPDATE: The top of the FedExCup leaderboard looks pretty well set, but the 30th spot is still in flux due to the great play of Dudley Hart and Stephen Ames. Both are probably one birdie from climbing into the top 30.

One of the two would displace Geoff Ogilvy, and the second would eliminate Chad Campbell. Kevin Streelman made a great run, but fell just short. Boo Weekley nearly got back in with his round today, but is also probably 50 points short. -- Steve Dennis (4:50 p.m. ET)

GREAT BREAK: We forgot to mention another thing you might need to win a TOUR event -- a little bit of fortune.

Camilo Villegas' tee shot on the 15th went right and rattled around in the trees, but it bounced back just short of the fairway, leaving him with a good lie. He then proceeded to rip an iron shot with seven feet of the hole. -- (4:49 p.m. ET)

CAMILO CLINCHER? Camillo Villegas just dropped in a 36-feet, 3-inch bomb for birdie at the 14th. He's now at 15 under, three shots in front with four holes to play.

It's not over yet, but Villegas is showing steady back-nine nerves and spectacular putting -- two things that help you win a PGA TOUR event. -- (4:39 p.m. ET)

VILLEGAS PULLING AWAY: Thanks to a two-shot swing at the par-3 13th, Camilo Villegas now leads by three shots with five holes to play.

Villegas rolled in a 10-1/2-foot birdie putt while Jim Furyk two-putted from 14-1/2 feet. Villegas is now 14 under, with Furyk falling back to a group of six players at 11 under.

As it stands now, a Villegas win not only would give him his first PGA TOUR win, it would give Vijay Singh the FedExCup (provided Singh simply shows up and plays all 72 holes at East Lake). -- (4:29 p.m. ET)

SINGH DONE: FedExCup points leader Vijay Singh just tapped in his final putt for a 1-under 69. It was only sub-par round of the week, as he finished the tournament at even par. He's currently tied for 43rd.. -- (4:19 p.m. ET)

BADDELEY UPDATE: After 11 consecutive pars to start his round, Aaron Baddeley birdied the 12th and 13th holes to move to 10 under. That puts him just three shots off the lead.

Baddeley needs to keep moving up the leaderboard, though, if he wants a ticket to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. He's currently 39th in projected points after starting the tournament 64th in points. -- (4:08 p.m. ET)

CURTIS IN AT 65: Nice final round by Ben Curtis, who shot a bogey-free 5-under 65. Curtis finished at 7 under for the tournament and is currently tied for 13th. He's also tied for 10th in projected FedExCup points; he can book his ticket to Atlanta.

Curtis needed just 25 putts in his round Sunday, and didn't need to hole anything longer than 11 feet. In fact, he was near-perfect inside 10 feet, making 16 of 17 putts from that distance. -- (3:55 p.m. ET)

FURYK FALLS BACK: Back-to-back bogeys have dropped Jim Furyk to 11 under, two strokes behind Camilo Villegas.

Villegas just survived a potentially damaging situation on the green at the 10th. With his ball on the fringe 9 feet, 2 inches from the pin, Villegas mis-hit the birdie putt, with the putt going less than two feet. XM radio analysts believe the ball was sitting in a pitch mark, causing the ball to pop up when it moved forward.

But Villegas salvaged par by draining the 7-foot, 5-inch putt for par to take that two-stroke lead. -- (3:45 p.m. ET)

AT THE TURN: As the last group enters the back nine, Camilo Villegas has regained the lead at 13 under, with Jim Furyk one storke back. Dudley Hart, K.J. Choi and Anthony Kim continue to be breathing down their necks at 11 under. Looks to be a back-nine shootout. -- (3:27 p.m. ET)

KIM'S RYDER CUP PAIRINGS: In Sunday's final round, one of Anthony Kim's playing partners in the final group is Jim Furyk, his soon-to-be U.S. Ryder Cup teammate.

Kim

For Kim, who will be making his Ryder Cup debut at Valhalla later this month, it was a good week to gain some knowledge and talk about the Ryder Cup. In the first round, he played with Phil Mickelson and Kenny Perry; in Saturday's second and third rounds, his playing partners were Mickelson and J.B. Holmes. That means for the first three rounds, he played strictly with his future teammates. (Kim and Furyk are playing with Camilo Villegas in Sunday's final group.)

In looking back at Kim's playing partners this year, he had multiple occasions in which he played with Ryder Cup teammates. Of course, of those pairings earlier in the season, the Ryder Cup teams had not been set, but that probably didn't prevent Kim and his then-partners of at least discussing the Ryder Cup during their 18 holes together.

In addition, Kim also played with two-time U.S. Ryder Cupper Chris DiMarco on three occasions. He also played a few rounds with his soon-to-be Ryder Cup opponents, including Sergio Garcia in the first two rounds of the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.

Here's a look at Kim's playing partners in 2008 who were to become his Ryder Cup teammates:-- Mike McAllister(3:25 p.m. ET)

REGULAR SEASON: Some players have stated that with all the volatility in the Playoffs, there's not enough importance to the regular season anymore. It's easy to see why they might think that, because players ranked well down in the points can vault up the standings with one strong Playoff finish. However, they've missed a very important point.

Here's why the regular season is more important than ever:

Even the great players will have an off-week occasionally. Players who have an off-week fare very differently depending on their seeding, which of course is what the regular season is all about.

If you start in the top 15, having one off-week won't hurt your chances of getting into THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

If you start in the top 30, you can still get to East Lake with an off-week if you play OK in the other two events.

If you start in the top 70, you can survive one off-week, but you have to have a great one in the other two.

If you start outside the top 100, one off-week is a ticket home.

Of course, if you want to win the FedExCup, you can't really afford to have an off-week at all, unless you plan to win two of the other three events (a la Tiger in '07 and Vijay in '08) -- Steve Dennis (3:20 p.m. ET)

BOO VS. HART: Dudley Hart and Boo Weekley are battling it out, whether they know it or not.

Hart's birdie at the eighth hole moved him into a two-way tie for third, and back into the top 30, dropping Weekley out of the top 30 in the points standings for the moment.

Another birdie for Weekley would put him back in THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola field, dropping Chad Campbell out.

Of course, if D.J. Trahan or KJ Choi can make a birdie and get into a three-way tie with Hart and Anthony Kim, Hart's point total would drop, and he'd be back on the outside looking in.

Geoff Ogilvy and Bubba Watson can also have an impact, depending on what they do the rest of the afternoon. -- Steve Dennis (2:53 p.m. ET)

TIGHTENING UP: Jim Furyk has moved ahead of Camilo Villegas, who bogeyed consecutive holes to fall to 12 under. Meanwhile, Anthony Kim and Dudley Hart have moved up to 11 under. It's not longer a two-man game. -- (2:45 p.m. ET)

LUCAS ON THE MOVE TOO: Lucas Glover has made a big jump up the leaderboard with a string of four straight birdies. He started the final round in a tie for 17th and had moved up 10 spots with the streak that began at the fifth hole and moved Glover to 9 under. The Clemson grad's birdie putts came from 4, 4, 21 and 6 feet . -- Helen Ross (2:35 p.m. ET)

BOO'S MOVE: Boo Weekley is making the charge he needs to get to Atlanta. He is 2 under through 11 holes, and tied for 20th. That's good enough to get him into the top 30 in the points standings, if things stay as they are.

Dudley Hart, currently tied for third at the BMW Championship, would be the first man out, but if he can get to third alone, he'll be back in and Weekley will be watching. -- Steve Dennis (2:32 p.m. ET)

GAME OF AN INCH?: If the putt Vijay Singh made at The Barclays in the first hole of the playoff had slid one inch past instead of dropping in, thus allowing Sergio Garcia to win the first Playoff event at Ridgewood, here's what the projected standings would look like (as of 2 p.m. ET Sunday):

Each of the seven players would have a mathematical chance to win the FedExCup at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, and the top four would have realistic chances. -- Steve Dennis (2:15 p.m. ET)

JACOBSON UPDATE: Fredrik Jacobson just made the turn at 5-under 30. Can he keep it going and make a bid to shoot 59? To follow the back nine of Jacobson's round on PGA TOUR Shot Tracker, click here. -- (2:10 p.m. ET)

HOT FREDRIK: Fredrik Jacobson is currently the hottest player on the course. He birdied five of his first seven holes and is now 9 under for the tournament.

Jacobson

Jacobson one-putted six of his first seven holes, including a 37-foot, 10-inch birdie bomb that he dropped at the par-4 fourth.

But making the top 30 may be too much of a hurdle. Despite the fast start, he's projected in 39th in points at the moment. -- (2 p.m. ET)

TWO-MAN TOURNAMENT?: Although it's still early in the final round, Camilo Villegas and Jim Furyk are threatening to make this a two-man show for the rest of the day.

Villegas birdied the opening hole thanks to a great approach shot that landed within three feet of the pin. Furyk birdied the second hole with a 6-foot, 9-inch birdie putt.

Villegas is now 14 under, with Furyk one stroke back. The next closest pursuers are another three shots back -- Dudley Hart, K.J. Choi and Anthony Kim are each 10 under.

Vijay Singh, even though he's not in contention, certainly has a rooting interest in the outcome. If Villegas wins, then Singh wraps up the FedExCup title. Essentially, the FedExCup trophy is on the line today.

To follow the threesome of Villegas, Furyk and Kim, click here. -- (1:50 p.m. ET)

EAST LAKE: If the BMW Championship were to end now, there will be eight players who will be making their debuts at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola in three weeks.

Neither Anthony Kim, Kevin Sutherland, Ken Duke, Ryuji Imada, Andres Romero, D.J. Trahan, Bubba Watson nor Brian Gay have ever played in the Playoff finale. Briny Baird, Trevor Immelman, Hunter Mahan, Carl Pettersson and Ben Curtis would be making their second starts in THE TOUR Championship.

Vijay Singh, who won the tournament in 2002 and has not finished out of the top 10 since, has the most appearances among players currently in the projected standings with 14 followed by Ernie Els with 12, Phil Mickelson with 11 and Justin Leonard and Jim Furyk with 10 each.

The benefits of playing in THE TOUR Championship are more than financial. A spot also comes with invites to the Masters, the U.S. Open and the World Golf Championships-CA Championship. -- Helen Ross (1:45 p.m. ET)

TOP 30 BUBBLE WATCH: The bubble watch could be very interesting today. Key players are:

Gay

Brian Gay, who will be solidly inside the top 30 with a third-place alone, on the bubble with a 4th alone and almost certainly out with a 5th or worse. If he misses by an inch, the Fall Series might see a lot of him -- he will also be just outside the top 30 on the money list, meaning he would be very close to eligibility for a couple of major championships.

Boo Weekley, who is currently tied for 27th in the BMW Championship, probably needs a 20th place finish to get into the top 30, and thus into THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. He needs to pick up at least two or three strokes on the field today to get there.

Geoff Ogilvy, 30th in the points standings coming in, is projected to be 32nd if he finishes where he is now -- tied for 32nd. He also needs to pick up two or three strokes to get in.

Dudley Hart is having a great week, but he needs for it to be just a little better. Currently tied for third at BMW, he needs a third alone to get in. Obviously, one stroke is going to make a big difference for him.

Chad Campbell is at home with his wife and less-than-24-hours-old baby. He started the week 14th on the points list, but because he had to withdraw from the BMW Championship, he missed out on the minimum 2,100 points that would have cemented his place. As it is, he's still in, but if a few players get hot, he might have some extra time on his hands in the next few weeks.

Kevin Streelman parlayed a second-place tie at The Barclays into a chance at THE TOUR Championship. To close the deal today, though, he still has some work to do. He's currently tied for 24th at Bellerive, but needs to get into the top 15 at a minimum to move on.

DJ Trahan is currently projected to get into East Lake field with a T7 finish at BMW. But one dropped shot could also drop him below the elimination line.

Bubba Watson is currently projected just below on the line. He's tied for 51st at this moment in the tournament, but two birdies would put him back in the Atlanta field. -- Steve Dennis (1:35 p.m. ET)

ZERO POINTS: A zero-point effort is not inconceivable either this week or at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola -- in fact, we've already had one in St. Louis and very nearly had two of them already this week.

Chad Campbell had to withdraw when his wife went into labor (Dax Phillip Campbell was born Saturday evening), and Martin Laird spent some anxious moments early in his third round before the Rules Officials determined that he would not be assessed a two-stroke penalty for an incident that occurred in the second round.

Laird tamped down a pitch mark just off the green that was in Bart Bryant's line in the second round on Saturday, and there is a two-stroke penalty for intentially improving a competitor's line.

Because Laird had already signed his second-round scorecard, a two-stroke penalty would have made it incorrect, thus disqualifying him for signing an incorrect scorecard. Rules Officials and the USGA eventually ruled that he was not intentially helping Bryant, and thus would incur no penalty.

Campbell, incidentally, is currently on the bubble in the 30th spot in points, so depending on how the rest of the day plays out, he may not get an invite to East Lake. -- Steve Dennis (1 p.m. ET)

STAT COMPARISON: Here's how the top two players on the leaderboard, Camilo Villegas and Jim Furyk, compare in some key statistical categories through three rounds at Bellerive: -- (12:50 p.m. ET)

WEATHER UPDATE: With the final groups about to tee off, the fourth round is not expected to be delayed by any weather problems Sunday. Although skies are cloudy, the chance of precipitation is minimal. Winds will also be mild, 5-10 mph out of the west northwest. -- (12:40 p.m. ET)

FEDEXCUP UPDATE: With three rounds complete at Bellerive, the FedExCup picture is still cloudy.

If the tournament ended right now, Vijay Singh would be the champion, as long as he earned points at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. Camilo Villegas, who would move to second in the standings, would be 10,581 points behind, and the difference between first and last in the final Playoff event is 10,500 points.

To make a race of it, either Jim Furyk or Anthony Kim (or one of the other players in the top 24 not named Singh) needs to overtake Villegas to win the BMW Championship, or Sergio Garcia, Mike Weir or Justin Leonard needs to make a big move. Garcia can get within "catching distance" of Singh with any top-five finish except tied for 5th, but Weir and Leonard need a second alone.

If the BMW Championship ends like it is now and for some reason Singh did not earn points at East Lake, the FedExCup would be back in play. If Villegas, Furyk or Garcia won in Atlanta, that player would be FedExCup Champion, otherwise, Singh would win. -- Steve Dennis (12:10 p.m. ET)

CLOSE PROXIMITY: Why is Camilo Villegas threatening to go wire-to-wire this week in St. Louis? One reason is his ability to throw darts at the soft greens at Bellerive.

Villegas is having the best tournament of his career in terms of approach shots proximity to the hole. -- (11:20 p.m. ET)

FINAL ROUND: Instead of the usual Sunday twosomes, players will be in threesomes for the final round, with groups teeing off on both the first and 10th holes.

The first groups will tee off at 11:10 a.m. ET, with the final threesome of Camilo Villegas, Jim Furyk and Anthony Kim teeing off from No. 1 at 1 p.m. ET.

Click here for final-round tee times. -- (10:25 p.m. ET)

THIRD ROUND DONE: Camilo Villegas has completed his five holes in 1 under Sunday morning to finish his third round with a 4-under 66. That moves Villegas to 13 under for the tournament, giving him the third-round lead, one shot ahead of Jim Furyk.

Villegas has now led by one stroke after each of the first three rounds of the BMW Championship and will need to go wire-to-wire in order to win his first PGA TOUR event. -- (9:59 p.m. ET)