Moved to No. 1 in the FedExCup as the TOUR heads into the second edition of the FedExCup Playoffs at the BMW Championship, where the top 70 will compete. RELATED: Final leaderboard | Who made it to the top 70? | Winner bag The heartache of two previous playoff losses this year — one by a wide margin — turned into relief for Zalatoris after a wild finish at TPC Southwind. It ended when he hit a penalty from the rocks that line the par-3 11th green and holed a 7-foot bogey to beat Sepp Straka. Zalatoris breaks into the world’s top 10 for the first time, and as the FedExCup leader, he is guaranteed to win the $18 million prize in two weeks at the TOUR Championship at East Lake. It was clutch even if it was mixed. He opened with a 10-foot par on the 18th in regulation for a 4-under 66 to send to 15-under 265. Straka, already a winner this year at The Honda Classic, narrowly missed a 20-foot birdie putt to win the 18th for a 67. Both reached par on the 18th on the first extra hole. Then, as Straka said after the loss, “It can get a little crazy” on a course like TPC Southwind and a closing hole like No. 18. Zalatoris came right off the tee, off the cart path and a few yards from a fence, leaving him no choice but to peel off. Straka just cleared the water to the left, but was just inside the danger line. He opted to take a penalty and hit it to 7 feet. Zalatoris hit his third to 15 feet to make par. Straka matched and they went to the 11th. Zalatoris watched his tee hit the bank and then the rocks, then the ball bounced seven times before landing next to the edge of the green. He was in trouble, even if the ball was dry. But then Straka went right, took a bounce off the slope, off one of the rocks and into the water. Straka hit a back bunker out of the drop zone and soared to 4 feet. Zalatoris studied his options for how to get off the cliffs before wisely deciding to go into the drop zone. He hit his wedge to 7 feet and raised both arms above his head when the putt landed. “Seeing that decision pay off was really cool,” Zalatoris said. He earned $2.7 million from his first PGA TOUR post-season event, and that takes the sting out of playoff losses at the Farmers Insurance Open and Southern Hills in the PGA Championship. Zalatoris also missed a 15-foot putt on the final hole of the US Open that would have forced a playoff. Straka, who went bogeyless over the final 13 holes of regulation, moves to No. 8 in the FedExCup and is assured of his first trip to the TOUR Championship. Lucas Glover came away with a consolation prize. The former US Open champion entered the FedExCup Playoffs at No. 121, knowing that only the top 70 advance to the next tournament. Glover closed with a 66 to finish tied for third. Not only was he among four players to crack the top 70, but he’s now ranked No. 34 and has a strong chance of being part of the top 30 heading into the TOUR Championship to play for the $18 million first prize. Also in the top 70 were Adam Scott, Andrew Putnam and Wyndham Clark, who had reason to believe he had blown his chances when he played a four-over-par four-over and had to save par on the 18th for a 72. He finished at No. 70 with a three-over par. Meanwhile, Masters champion Scottie Scheffler missed the cut and spent Sunday playing Pine Valley for the first time. Cameron Smith, winner of THE PLAYERS and The Open, could replace Scheffler at No. 1 by winning. He arrived at TPC Southwind two shots out of the lead. And then he was four shots back without hitting a single shot. Smith received a two-shot penalty when the rules officials realized on review that when Smith took a penalty in the third round, the ball was still touching the red hazard line. They checked with Smith, who confirmed he was touching the line. He birdied the first hole, made only one other birdie, shot 70 and tied for 13th.
