In-form Bryson DeChambeau left Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk in no doubt he will be a valuable wildcard after a second successive victory in the FedEx Cup series.
The 24-year-old will not have long to wait for confirmation as Furyk’s first three picks for Paris later this month are scheduled to be announced less than 24 hours after his two-shot victory at the Dell Technologies Championship in Boston.
DeChambeau began the day alongside England’s Tyrrell Hatton on 12 under, one stroke behind overnight leader Abraham Ancer, but followed up his victory at The Northern Trust with a round of 67 to reach 16 under.
That was two ahead of Justin Rose, who moved up to third in the FedEx standings with a final-round 68 to overtake compatriot Hatton, who had a day to forget on the greens as a two-over 73 dropped him to joint 12th for the tournament.
Rory McIlroy briefly challenged at the top of the leaderboard with birdies at the second, sixth and ninth but his quest for a third title at this course came to an end with bogeys at the 14th and 15th.
DeChambeau, who won the first FedEx event by four shots, had a minor stumble when he missed a five-foot par putt on the 13th and his lead was cut to one when Australian Cameron Smith birdied the 15th and 16th.
However, the American restored the two-stroke cushion with a birdie of his own at the 15th and comfortably closed out back-to-back wins to move him into the world’s top 10.
DeChambeau is set to be joined as a Ryder Cup wildcard by Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, who both continue to show improved form with Mickelson carding nine birdies in a round of 63 to finish tied 12th.
Woods got within three of the lead with a birdie at the 11th but his outside chance of a challenge ended when his tee shot at the short 16th ended up in the water for a double bogey, eventually finishing seven under.
That left him 25th in the FedEx Cup standings, putting additional pressure on himself heading into the penultimate event starting on Thursday from which only the top 30 on the list qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship.
Of the players vying for Furyk’s fourth and final wildcard, Tony Finau did most to advance his claim, shooting 68 to finish in a tie for fourth on 12 under.
But four-time Ryder Cup player Matt Kuchar’s chances have diminished after a final-round 74 dropped him out of the top 70 in the standings, meaning his FedEx Cup involvement has ended.
Rafael Cabrera Bello did his best to try to push his claims for a European wildcard with captain Thomas Bjorn, watching at home on television.
The Spaniard’s 35ft birdie putt briefly tied the lead at 15 under but after three-putting the 15th green he eventually slipped back to 11 under with a 68 and with it went his probable chances of convincing Bjorn.
“Looking at the bigger goal I felt I’ve done as much as I can, obviously I tried to qualify by own means but couldn’t do that so I came here and tried to show I’m in form and hopefully I’ve done that so hopefully it will be good for me,” he told Sky Sports.
Collated final scores & totals in the USPGA Tour Dell Technologies Championship, TPC Boston, Norton, Massachusetts, United States of America (USA unless stated, par 71):
268 Bryson DeChambeau 70 68 63 67
270 Justin Rose 65 67 70 68
271 Cameron Smith (Aus) 69 66 67 69
272 Tony Finau 69 68 67 68, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 71 69 67 65, Cheng-Tsung Pan (Twn) 69 68 69 66
273 Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 72 67 64 70, Dustin Johnson 68 69 72 64, Abraham Ancer (Mex) 66 69 65 73, Bubba Watson 72 68 67 66, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 68 68 69 68
274 Brooks Koepka 69 69 68 68, Phil Mickelson 72 72 67 63, Rory McIlroy 71 67 66 70, Peter Uihlein 69 71 66 68, Kyle Stanley 70 67 66 71, Tyrrell Hatton 69 63 69 73, Brice Garnett 70 70 65 69, Jordan Spieth 69 67 68 70
275 Keith Mitchell 73 66 67 69
276 Marc Leishman (Aus) 68 68 69 71, Paul Casey 69 70 69 68, Adam Hadwin (Can) 68 68 70 70
277 Tiger Woods 72 66 68 71, Jason Kokrak 72 70 69 66, Justin Thomas 73 69 70 65, Tommy Fleetwood 69 65 71 72, Gary Woodland 67 74 67 69, Patrick Cantlay 73 69 67 68, Kevin Kisner 69 71 70 67
278 Brian Stuard 72 72 67 67, Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 69 71 68 70, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 71 67 72 68, Brandt Snedeker 72 72 66 68
279 Daniel Berger 73 71 66 69, Chris Kirk 67 73 70 69, Beau Hossler 67 69 68 75, James Hahn 68 72 70 69, Ryan Armour 71 66 73 69, Kevin Chappell 69 72 70 68
Si Woo Kim (Kor) 70 66 70 73, Patrick Reed 71 69 69 70, 280 Alex Noren (Swe) 69 69 70 72, Jon Rahm (Spa) 73 67 70 70, Branden Grace (Rsa) 70 71 72 67, Matt Kuchar 71 69 66 74, Kevin Tway 71 67 72 70, Russell Knox 66 72 71 71
281 Andrew Putnam 70 71 68 72, Xander Schauffele 68 68 72 73, Scott Stallings 73 69 69 70, Adam Scott (Aus) 71 71 73 66, Brian Harman 68 72 71 70, Webb Simpson 68 63 76 74, Danny Lee (Nzl) 70 72 72 67, Keegan Bradley 67 69 73 72, J.B. Holmes 69 67 70 75
282 Russell Henley 71 68 71 72, Andrew Landry 73 71 71 67, Charles Howell III 69 71 71 71, Bronson Burgoon 74 69 69 70
283 Nick Watney 72 71 69 71, Brian Gay 72 67 72 72, Austin Cook 69 71 75 68, Stewart Cink 72 72 65 74
284 Ted Potter, Jr. 74 67 75 68, J.J. Spaun 74 68 75 67, Tom Hoge 73 70 68 73
285 Aaron Wise 71 73 77 64, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 69 71 71 74
286 Patton Kizzire 74 70 72 70, Jimmy Walker 70 74 75 67, Ryan Moore 71 69 73 73
288 Charley Hoffman 73 71 72 72
289 Whee Kim (Kor) 72 70 78 69
293 Jamie Lovemark 71 69 73 80
