Collin Morikawa, Byeong Hun An Set to Advance in FedEx Cup Playoffs

Fellow Cal alum Max Homa is on shakier ground after another bad round at the St. Jude Championships in Memphis

Byeong Hun An / Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports

Cal golf alums Collin Morikawa and Byeong Hun An each shot 2-under 68s in Saturday’s third round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, solidifying their chances of advancing to next week’s second round of the three-week FedEx Cup playoffs.

But fellow Golden Bear Max Homa, after another rough day at TPC Southwind in Memphis, has work to do.

Morikawa, 27, who began the week ranked fourth in the FedEx Cup standings, is tied for 31st place at the St Jude, and the PGA tour is projecting him to drop just one spot to No. 5 in the standings.

The top 50 players in the points race qualify for next week’s BMW Championships at Denver. From there, the top 30 in the standings will advance to the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta for a chance at pursuing a $25 million first prize.

An, the 32-year-old South Korean who spent just one year at Cal before turning pro, is tied with Morikawa and six others for 31st. He entered the week at No. No. 12 in the FedEx Cup standings and is on pace to wind up at No. 15 after Sunday, according to the PGA tour.

Homa, 33, continues to struggle, and he has less wiggle room than his two fellow Golden Bears.

Coming off a 7-over 78 on Friday that left him in last place in the 70-player field, Homa had back-to-back double bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18 (he started play on the back nine) and finished with a 4-over 74. He remains in last place at plus-11 — four strokes worse than Jordan Spieth in 69th place and 28 strokes back of third-round leader Hideki Matsuyama.

After Friday’s catastrophic round, the PGA tour projected Homa to drop from No. 35 in the FedEx Cup standings to No. 41. He dropped two more spots on Saturday and would like to level his game Sunday to assure himself of a trip to Denver.

Homa and Spieth aren’t the only big names experiencing tough weeks. Rory McIlroy, ranked third in both the official world rankings and the FedEx points standings, had back-to-back double bogeys on Saturday and resides in a tie for 66th place at plus-5.

McIlroy is projected to lose just one spot in the rankings, keeping him a sure bet for next week.

Matsuyama shot a 64 for the second day in a row and has a five-stroke lead over Nick Dunlap at minus-17. Matsuyama is being projected to leap five spots to No. 3 in the points standings.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who maintains a huge lead over Xander Schauffele in the points race, is tied for third at Memphis at minus-10.