Round 4: BMW Championship

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

LEMONT, Ill. — When Bill Haas started Sunday’s final round of the BMW Championship he was tied for third, with a chance to win for the third time in his career.

Instead, Haas hit the wall on the back nine at Cog Hill, closing with a 42 on the way to a 78 that left him well off the pace in a disappointing tie for 16th.

Haas preserved his spot in the top 30, though, dropping just one spot and punching his ticket to Atlanta for the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola for the first time. A year ago, Haas missed a spot at East Lake by a mere seven points.

Haas will also have to await Fred Couples’ Captain’s Picks on Sept. 27 to see whether he gets to play in the Presidents Cup in November. He ranked 12th in the U.S. Team standings entering the week and likely needed to finish 11th or better to play his way onto the team.

"It was tough because I just didn’t have it and I was getting frustrated," Haas said. "I was just trying to finish well in the tournament and I just kept leaking oil and kept hitting bad shots. I knew it I played well something good would happen and if I played poorly nothing would happen.

"I guess I was conscious of that but it didn’t pertain to shot by shot."