VANCOUVER – There’s one thing you won’t see Canadian Adam Svensson do on the PGA Tour next year – hit a ball marked with the number four.

The Surrey, B.C.-native doesn’t know how the superstition started but he simply won’t jinx his game by playing a four, especially on the tour he’s been dreaming of playing his entire life.

While some pros use specially designed balls painted with a lucky numeral, others stick to the factory-produced version, marked with the numbers one through four to help golfers keep track of their shot on the course.

Svensson said he’s never had a bad experience with a four, but he’s not about to risk that changing at this crucial point in his career.

Last month the 24-year-old earned his card for next season’s PGA Tour when he finished the Web.com Tour’s regular season in 14th place on the money list with earnings of US $190,825.

A PGA Tour card has been a “life-long dream” for Svensson.

“Being able to play out there with the guys I grew up watching on TV is pretty special,” he said from Jupiter, Fla., where he now lives and trains. “It’s just an exciting time for me.”

But Svensson has work to finish on the Web.com Tour first. He goes in to this week’s Albertsons Boise Open in 15th place on the tour’s earnings board after posting four top-10 finishes this season and winning The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic in January.

The success follows an off-season full of tough workouts, Svensson said.

“Pretty much grinding it out,” he said. “It pretty much just comes down to working harder than I ever have before.”

Working hard at golf has been a major part of Svensson’s life since childhood. He remembers being at the range with his dad when he was about three, and begging to hit balls.

“I would just sit there for hours and watch him hit golf balls,” Svensson said.

At five, he was out playing with his dad and got to drive the power cart. He steered it directly into a pond, sinking his dad’s clubs. A tow truck was needed to pull the cart from the water.

Svensson was banned from driving for years, but golf continued to play a pivotal role in his life.

By eight he was entering tournaments and at 16, he joined Golf Canada’s development team.

The program offered “the whole package,” from a workout coach to a swing coach to a mental coach, Svensson said, and he credits the experience with helping to turn him into a successful pro.

Svensson noted that he isn’t alone in reaping the benefits. He came up with Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes, who have succeeded on the PGA Tour in recent years.

“There are a bunch of Canadians that have been extremely successful the last few years that I’ve played with on the Canadian national team,” he said.

“You play with these guys your whole life, your whole amateur career and you get to see how they work their butt off and how they’re successful now. It’s pretty cool.”

Svensson also spent two years playing at Barry University in Miami, where he helped the team win two NCAA national championships. He took home freshman golfer of the year honours in 2013 and the collegiate golfer of the year award in 2014.

By 2015, Svensson was ready to turn pro.

“I just felt that my game was ready and I wanted to challenge myself,” he said. “I had a great time (at Barry). I learned a lot and I was kind of ready to set sail.”

He won Web.com’s 2015 qualifying tournament by a record seven shots and earned himself full status for the next year. Since then, he’s continued to work on what he describes as his “aggressive” style of golf.

“I’m a great ball striker,” he said. “I do play the golf course and try not to play other people. My game pretty much comes down to the greens. If I feel like I’m putting well that week and make a decent amount of putts, I’m going to play well.”

To get more consistency with his putting, Svensson hired Ralph Bauer, a coach who’s worked with a number of PGA Tour players, including Canadian Adam Hadwin. They’ve been working together for a few months, practising drills and working on mental strength, Svensson said.

The ultimate goal, he added, is to maintain that consistency when he hits the PGA Tour.

“Golf is so up and down,” Svensson said. “For me, success is playing well week in and week out, making the cut, finishing top 20, top 25. Obviously I want to win on the tour and hopefully I will one day. But just playing consistent golf is success.”

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Keegan Bradley held off Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to win the rain-plagued BMW Championship on Monday for his first PGA Tour victory in six years.

Though Rose was runner-up at the FedEx Cup playoff event at Aronimink, he didn’t come up short in the world ranking. Rose hit No. 1 in the world and became the 22nd player to reach the top spot since the ranking began in 1986.–

Bradley, who shot a final round 6-under 64 to finish at 20-under par, thrust his arms toward the grey sky and drizzle in celebration and waved his family onto the 18th hole. He tossed into the air his young son, Logan, who hadn’t even been born in 2012, the last time Bradley won on the tour.

“A lot has happened to me over these six years,” Bradley said. “I kind of fell of the radar there for a little while. It’s tough to go from being on Ryder Cup teams, being on Presidents Cup teams to being outside the top 100 in the world.”

Bradley finished with his fourth career victory and first since the 2012 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He gets a trip to Maui to start next year for the winners-only Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Rose could have won in regulation but lipped out on the last hole to force the playoff.

He fell short again in the playoff, missing a 5-foot par putt that would have kept him alive. The 38-year-old Rose had grown to love the suburban Philadelphia golf courses. He won the 2010 AT&T National at Aronimink and the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion.

He didn’t get a trophy on this trip. But a No. 1 ranking will do. Rose, who overtook Dustin Johnson, joins Nick Faldo, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald as the only Englishmen to reach No. 1.

“I’m delighted to be world No. 1,” Rose said. “Boyhood dreams, you know what I mean?”

Rose trails Bryson DeChambeau, who won the first two playoff events, in the FedEx Cup standings.

It was amazing play even finished Monday after rain soaked the course overnight and pushed up tee times. But it rained only lightly and the players had few complaints about the condition of the course, even if the walking paths became a muddy, soggy mess for the gallery.

Canadian Adam Hadwin finished T19 at 12 under par. The Abbotsford, B.C., native is projected to finish 36th, outside the required top-30 to advance to the TOUR Championship from Sept. 20-23 at East Lake Golf Course in Atlanta, Ga.

As usual, it crowded around Tiger Woods.

Woods caused some more noise – he’s been doing that a lot in recent months before the largest galleries at every course – and got within one shot of the lead when he made birdie on No. 9 to go out in 31.

But he missed the green on the 10th and made bogey. He found a bunker on the par-3 14th for another bogey. And this was the kind of day when more than one mistake was going to be costly. Woods wound up with a 65.

Such was the scoring at Aronimink that Woods had a 72-hole score of 263 for the sixth time of his career. The other five times he won; this one got him a tie for sixth.

“I thought I needed to shoot something around 62 today to have a chance,” Woods said. “And I don’t think that would have been good enough.”

Woods took away any suspense of getting back to the Tour Championship for the first time since 2013. That was about the time he was just starting to cope with back pain. He had his fourth back surgery last April, and at this time last year he had just been cleared to chip and putt.

“To say that I made it back to the Tour Championship after what I’ve been through is a pretty good accomplishment,” Woods said.

Jordan Spieth will not be joining him. Spieth started at 27th in the FedEx Cup standings and took a step backward, finishing with a 73 to tie for 55th. He fell out of the top 30 and will miss the Tour Championship for the first time.

That means he will have played only 24 tournaments this year, which includes the Ryder Cup. Because he didn’t add to his schedule a tournament he had not played in the last four years, he is in violation of the PGA Tour’s scheduling policy.

Still to be determined is the penalty. Spieth is the first player to violate the policy, which began last year.

“I obviously accept whatever fine it is and move on and try and add one every year, but it’s kind of tough,” Spieth said.

Later Monday, U.S. captain Jim Furyk will announce one more selection for the Ryder Cup.

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Justin Rose has to wait until Monday to have a shot at getting to No. 1 in the world. And he still might not have to hit another shot at the BMW Championship.

A steady rain washed out play Sunday soggy Aronimink, and the PGA Tour will wait until Monday to decide whether it can try to complete 72 holes of the third FedEx Cup playoff event.

If the forecast makes it unlikely to finish, the tour could cut the tournament short to 54 holes.

Rose had a one-shot lead over Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele. A victory gets him to No. 1 in the world ranking. Keegan Bradley was projected to finish 30th in the FedEx Cup, which would knock out Jordan Spieth from the Tour Championship.

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Justin Rose could sense the sky getting a little darker, the wind a little cooler and more brisk. Every shot means so much this time of the year, and the last two holes Saturday at the BMW Championship might mean even more.

Rose saved par from an awkward stance with his golf ball in the thick grass on the slope of a bunker. Xander Schauffele left a long putt from the tightly mown collar on the 18th green 8 feet sho–rt, and his par putt from there caught the high side of the cup and spun away.

When the third round ended, Rose had a 6-under 64 – six birdies on the front, all pars on the back – for a one-shot lead over Schauffele and Rory McIlroy going into the final round at Aronimink, a course so soft from rain than the average score from 69 players over three rounds was 67.5

At stake is chance for Rose to reach No. 1 in the world for the first time with his third title in the Philadelphia area, including his U.S. Open at Merion five years ago.

Jordan Spieth was projected to fall just outside the top 30 in the FedEx Cup, which would mean missing the Tour Championship and getting some form of penalty from the PGA Tour because of his schedule. He would have one more day to change that.

The question lingering amid the clouds: Would there be another round?

Rose tried not to think about it.

“It was definitely in the back of your mind,” he said. “You could start to feel the weather coming in and getting darker. Kind of had the feel there’s some big weather coming. I said to my caddie, ‘How about tomorrow?’ Just got to get through today.”

Starting times were moved up to 7 a.m. Sunday with hopes that the heavy rain stays away, and that the final round can get in. The forecast has a small window Monday morning if needed. If the rain is relentless, there’s a chance of a 54-hole tournament, which has happened only once in the 11 years of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Rose was at 17-under 193, and 13 players were within five shots of the lead. That included Tiger Woods, who missed only two greens in regulation, kept a clean card, shot 66 and let a good round get away. That’s how much of a pushover Aronimink has been this week. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., jumped into a tie for 26th after a 7-under 63 to put him at 9 under.

McIlroy also had a 63 with a double bogey, though he bounced back from that on the very next hole with a 3-wood that barely moved forward when it hit the green, caught the slope of a ridge and left a short eagle putt he converted.

“I’ll be ready to play. I’ll be ready to go. I hope we play,” McIlroy said. “I feel like my game is in good shape and I’d love to get another crack at it out there and have a chance to take the lead. Maybe that chance won’t happen until Monday if it goes to that and the good thing is we don’t have a tournament next week.”

Rose made four straight birdies early on the front nine to quickly erase a two-shot deficit to Schauffele, and he finished the front nine birdie-birdie for a 29.

Schauffele, hopeful that a victory will give U.S. captain Jim Furyk reason to pick him for the Ryder Cup, stayed with Rose the whole way until his lone bogey on the 18th for a 67.

“Still have a good chance tomorrow,” Schauffele said.

Spieth salvaged his round late again for a 66. He has never missed the Tour Championship, and he likely would face some form of penalty for not having added a new tournament to his schedule without competing in at least 25 events. He needs to be at East Lake to reach 25.

Keegan Bradley made two tough pars for a 66 and narrowly edged past Spieth for the 30th spot. For someone like Bradley, getting to the Tour Championship would get him into all four majors next year.

Scoring was the lowest it has been all week at 67.17. Only six players from the 69-man field were over par, and there was a 62 for the third straight round. Tommy Fleetwood has two of them, Friday and Saturday. After opening with a 71, Fleetwood goes into the final round just two shots behind.

So does Rickie Fowler, despite a bogey on the final hole for a 65. Fowler played in the final group at Aronimink in 2011 when it held the AT&T National, though he faded to a tie for 13th. He is trying to win for the first this year.

For Woods, it was another lost opportunity, even though he remains in the mix. He opened with two straight birdies and the crowd was on his side, loud as ever. He followed with 11 straight pars, even though he had chances from 15 feet and closer.

“I hit the ball well enough to shoot a low score and I got off to a quick start,” Woods said. “I was looking up on the board and everyone seemed like they were 3 under through eight, 5 under through 9. I was only 2-under par. I wasn’t doing much.”

It was the 17th time Woods had a 54-hole score of 198 or lower. The previous 16 times he was either leading or tied for second. At Aronimink, he was tied for 11th.

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk had an easy time deciding on three of his four picks for the Ryder Cup.

Xander Schauffele is making the last one a little more difficult.

Schauffele nearly holed a wedge on his second hole, rolled in a 40-foot birdie putt in the middle of his round Friday and wound up with a 6-under 64 in the BMW Championship for the lowest 36-hole score of his career and a two-shot lead over Justin Rose.

“I’m sort of in a position where I feel like a win is the only way I’d even be in consideration,” Schauffele said.

He also made it more difficult on Woods, who again goes into a weekend have to catch up to the leaders.

One day after he opened with a 62 – his lowest score since his last victory more than five years ago – Woods went eight holes before his first birdie and didn’t make many after that. He finished with two straight bogeys for a 70 that left him five shots behind in a tie for 12th.

“Very simple. I didn’t make any putts,” Woods said. “I hit a lot of beautiful putts that were on the top of the edge, and then obviously hit a couple bad ones on the last hole, but looked like all the putts were going to in. But they didn’t go in today.”

Schauffele was at 13-under 127 and will be paired in the third round Saturday with a familiar figure in Philadelphia. Rose, who played bogey-free for a 64, won the AT&T National at Aronimink in 2010, and he captured his only major at nearby Merion in the 2013 U.S. Open.

“Cheese steaks, I guess,” Rose said. “I played well. The crowd latched onto it, for sure. I get good support around here. It’s nice when they’re reminding you all the time that it’s your town, as well. It’s nice to have the added bit of enthusiasm from the crowd.”

Aronimink was even softer than the opening round from a burst of rain overnight. Starting times were moved up four hours because of a forecast for more rain. The trick Friday, when the average score was 67.33, was to avoid wedges that spun too much to back pin positions.

Hideki Matsuyama, who started the FedEx Cup playoffs at No. 76, had a 64 and was in a group three shots behind that included Keegan Bradley, Alex Noren and Rickie Fowler. Matsuyama suddenly is in position to be among the 30 players who advance to East Lake in Atlanta in two weeks for the Tour Championship.

The same is true for Bradley and for Noren, the Swede who makes his Ryder Cup debut at the end of the month. Noren holed out for eagle on the par-5 ninth for a 66, while Bradley keeps flirting with contention in these playoff events.

Rory McIlroy (67), FedEx Cup champion Justin Thomas (67) and Jason Day (64) were at 9-under 131.

Schauffele also needs a good week to get to East Lake, though he would like to extend his season an additional week in France at the Ryder Cup.

A runner-up at the British Open, the 24-year-old from San Diego finished 12th in the Ryder Cup standings. Furyk used three of his picks Tuesday night on Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Woods – Nos. 9, 10, 11 in the standings – and has one more pick after the BMW Championship.

Tony Finau is regarded the leading candidate, and he did nothing to hurt his chances. Finau made seven birdies in his round of 64 and goes into the final 36 holes at Aronimink just five shots behind.

“The possibilities are cool, the potential of what could happen,” Finau said. “But nothing good comes from thinking too far ahead. I got a couple rounds in front of me, 36 holes to try and win this tournament. And winning takes care of everything.”

Woods once used that phrase – “winning takes care of everything” – when he returned to No. 1 in the world after his injuries in 2013. Winning remains elusive, a cold putter didn’t do too much damage after starting with a 62.

He missed a 4-foot par putt on the par-3 fifth hole and didn’t convert any of the birdie putts from the 20-foot range. What he made on Thursday, he missed on Friday.

“I hit it just as good and putt it just as good,” Woods said. “Nothing went in. That’s the way it goes.”

Schauffele said he was on a mission, and the Ryder Cup was merely a byproduct. He was the PGA Tour rookie of the year last season after winning the Tour Championship for his second PGA Tour title. Now, results are harder to find.

His mission?

“Just prove to myself that I can win again and just be clutch,” he said. “I always thought I was rather a clutch player coming down the stretch and this year has said otherwise. I’m trying to prove it to myself again.”

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – With the glare of a scorching sun in his eyes, Tiger Woods couldn’t believe what he saw.

He finally missed a green on his 14th hole.

“Is that long?” he said to his caddie. “I thought it was perfect.”

Everything else felt that way Thursday in the BMW Championship, where Woods had his lowest score in an opening round in nearly 20 years and his best score on the PGA Tour since his last victory more than five years ago. With a bogey on his penultimate hole, he had an 8-under 62 at Aronimink.

And all that got him was a share of the lead with Rory McIlroy.

“Just the way it goes,” Woods said with a smile, caring more about a complete round of golf and a strong performance with his old putter than whether he was leading after one round in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Aronimink was never easier, not with temperatures in the upper 90s and feeling even hotter. Not on a course with generous fairways and greens so soft that Woods hit a 3-iron from 242 yards that landed 8 feet in front of the hole and stopped 5 feet away next to the pin.

Woods hit nothing longer than a 9-iron into the par 4s. McIlroy relied heavily on his wedge game to make a strong bid at 59, only to make consecutive bogeys late in his round and having to settle for a 62.

Through all the sweat, through all the birdies, they managed to give Philadelphia fans a reason to cheer for golf in the hours before the Super Bowl champion Eagles opened the NFL season Thursday night against Atlanta.

“It was one of those days where it was out there,” McIlroy said.

And it was a Thursday, finally, that included Woods in the mix. He had failed to break par in the opening round at 10 of his last 11 tournaments.

“Got off to a better start than I have most of the season. And as of right now,” he said, pausing to smile, “I’m one back. Just the way it goes.”

He had just signed his card and saw that McIlroy was at 9 under, and by the time he stepped out from the hot sun and suggested another ice bath might be in order, McIlroy had dropped two shots before finishing with a two-putt birdie.

It was the lowest score for Woods since he shot 61 in the second round of the 2013 Bridgestone Invitational, which he won by seven shots for his 79th title on the PGA Tour and 90th worldwide. It remains his last victory.

And it was his best opening round since a 61 in the 1999 Byron Nelson Classic on a similar kind of day. Woods shot 29 on the front nine that day at Cottonwood Valley and it wasn’t even the best score in his group (Paul Goydos shot 28). Woods wound up with a one-shot lead that day and tied for seventh.

Woods returned to the same putter he has used to win 13 of his 14 majors – his third different putter in as many weeks – and saw some familiar results. He opened with a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 10, shot 29 on the back nine, and then rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 1 to reach 7 under through 10 holes.

He didn’t make many more, but he had chances.

His only bogey came at the par-3 eighth, by far the most difficult pin on the course. Woods was between clubs, went with a soft 4-iron and yanked it into the rough. He pitched to 18 feet, a good shot up a ridge and onto a green that sloped away from him. The putt caught the lip.

Woods and McIlroy still had to hit the shots and make the putts.

The wide fairways and temperatures in the 90s allowed the golf ball to seemingly fly forever and made for such low scoring that 48 players in the 69-man field broke par. Rickie Fowler opened with a 65 in his first tournament since the PGA Championship, and at times it felt like he was getting lapped playing alongside Woods.

Jordan Spieth couldn’t keep it in play off the tee and didn’t get under par until his 15th hole. He birdied three of the last four for a 67.

Peter Uihlein, who only advanced to the third FedEx Cup playoff event with birdies on his last three holes on the TPC Boston last week, had a 64 to join a group that included FedEx Cup champion Justin Thomas.

McIlroy was on the second green when he looked over at Woods, who had just hit wedge to 4 inches for birdie on the seventh hole and was waiting for the green to clear on the par-3 eighth. The crowd was much thinner for McIlroy, but those fans saw quite a show. He holed an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 2, part of a run six straight birdies.

When he was 9 under with four holes left – the last one a par 5 – he started thinking about breaking 60.

Instead, he missed the fairway on his next two tee shots, took bogey from about the same spot Woods was on No. 8, and those hopes were gone.

“You don’t get many opportunities to break 60 and today was one of them,” he said. “And I didn’t capitalize. I’m not going to say it stings too bad because I’d much rather shoot 62 today and win the golf tournament Sunday than shoot 59 today and maybe not win.”

NORTON, Mass. – Bryson DeChambeau plays golf differently from everyone else and is getting the results everyone wants.

It doesn’t take a scientist to figure that out.

For the second straight week in the richest part of the PGA Tour season, DeChambeau took down one of the strongest fields of the year by playing his best golf on the weekend to win the Dell Technologies Championship, becoming only the second player to capture the opening two playoff events in the FedEx Cup.

He closed with a 4-under 67 on Monday, making three straight birdies to close out the front nine and keeping his distance the rest of the way for a two-shot victory over Justin Rose on the TPC Boston.

“I wouldn’t have written it any better, to be honest with you,” DeChambeau said. “I’ve been playing some great golf this whole year. And I knew it was a matter of time before something cool showed up.”

Vijay Singh won the opening two FedEx Cup events in 2008, when the points system was different and points were not reset before the final playoff event. That allowed Singh to effectively wrap up the $10 million prize early.

DeChambeau, with his third victory this year, was assured of being the No. 1 seed when he gets to the Tour Championship, no matter what happens next week at the third playoff event outside Philadelphia.

And he would appear to be a shoo-in to be one of U.S. captain Jim Furyk’s three Ryder Cup picks to be announced Tuesday. The idea is to find the hottest player to fill out the team, and no one has been close to DeChambeau over the last two weeks.

The 24-year-old Californian is known as the “Mad Scientist” for his approach to the game, from his single-length clubs (34 inches, roughly the length of a 7-iron), to his work on biomechanics to the calculations that go into every shot.

Nine calculations, to be exact.

DeChambeau doesn’t want to give away all his secrets, but they range from yardage and wind to air pressure and adrenaline.

“He’s facing the biggest and best fields,” Rose said. “There’s a lot of conjecture about how he goes about it. But when he delivers as he is now, it just proves it.”

How much better can he get?

“You can always get better,” DeChambeau said. “How much? I would say it depends on what I can do in the restrictions of my biomechanics. So it’s all about error tolerances and being … less sensitive to error. So that when you do feel like you mess up, it’s not going to be that big of a mess-up. I hope that makes sense.

“But I can say there is another level.”

DeChambeau, who started the year at No. 99 in the world, moved to No. 7, one spot past Rory McIlroy. He finished at 16-under 268 and made $1,620,000 for the second straight week.

Canadian Adam Hadwin started his final round strong before settling with a 1-under 70 to finish 8-under in a tie for 21st.

The Abbotsford, B.C., native birdied three of his first four holes Sunday and reeled off 11 straight pars before back-to-back bogeys on No. 16 and No. 17 dropped him back two strokes.

Starting the final round one shot behind Abraham Ancer, and among 10 players within four shots of the lead, DeChambeau had a two-putt birdie from 50 feet on No. 7, took the lead with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 220-yard eighth hole, and then hit his approach to 6 feet to a back right pin at No. 9 for his third straight birdie.

Cameron Smith of Australia tried to make a run at him with a pair of late birdies, but DeChambeau answered with a birdie on No. 15 to keep his lead at two shots. Needing an eagle to catch him on the par-5 18th, Smith came up short and into the hazard and made bogey.

Rose birdied three of his last four holes for a 68 and wound up alone in second.

Ancer couldn’t keep pace, dropping three shots in the tough four-hole stretch early on the back nine. The 27-year-old Mexican hit into hazard on the 18th and finished with a bogey for a 73. The small consolation for Ancer was moving from No. 92 to No. 56, which at least made him among the top 70 who advance to the BMW Championship at Aronimink.

A few others also were happy to have another week left in a long season.

Peter Uihlein, the former U.S. Amateur champion in his first full season on the PGA Tour, birdied his last three holes for a 68. He played with Keith Mitchell, another PGA Tour rookie, who birdied his last two holes for a 69. Both moved into the top 70.

Matt Kuchar failed to advance beyond the second playoff event for the first time in 10 years, meaning he won’t get another chance to state his case as a potential Ryder Cup pick. Furyk makes his fourth selection after the BMW Championship.

The likely choices Tuesday would seem to be DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods – they finished Nos. 9, 10 and 11 when qualifying ended for eight automatic berths after the PGA Championship. Woods closed with a 71 and tied for 24th. Mickelson, who has played on every Ryder Cup team since 1995, boosted his case by winning a World Golf Championships event in Mexico in March, and he made nine birdies Monday in a closing round of 63.

“So fortunate also that it’s the day before the Ryder Cup picks, although I don’t feel that should be a bearing,” Mickelson said. “I think you have to look at the big picture through the course of the year statistically. … But it certainly doesn’t hurt.”

NORTON, Mass. – Abraham Ancer of Mexico learned the hard way that a game that got him to the PGA Tour was good enough to win.

A Labor Day finish on the TPC Boston will be his biggest test.

Ancer opened with three straight birdies, had a birdie chance on all but one hole and shot a 6-under 65 that gave him a one-shot lead going into the final round of the Dell Technologies Championship that could change his career.

He showed up at the second FedEx Cup playoff event at No. 92 in the standings, hopeful of getting into the top 70 to keep his season going. A victory would send him to East Lake for the Tour Championship and give him a spot in all four majors.

But one look at the leaderboard is enough to suggest that 18 holes is a long way off.

Right behind is a player who had the lowest score before the largest gallery at the TPC Boston. That would be Bryson DeChambeau, who played with Tiger Woods for the first time in competition and delivered a 63 to get within one shot of the lead.

Tyrrell Hatton had a shot bounce off a cart and into the woods, never to be found, leading to double bogey. He still managed a 69 and joined DeChambeau one off the lead. They were among 10 players within four shots of the lead, a group that includes major champions Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.

“I just know to win I’ve got to play good,” Ancer said. “There’s no way if you play sloppy you’re going to win out here. So I know I have to put up a good score out there tomorrow. And I know if I follow my game plan and make some putts, that could happen.”

He was at 13-under 200.

Woods had to settle for a 69 that left him in a tie for 16th – along with Adam Hadwin (70) of Abbotsford, B.C. – at 7 under.

At least Woods saw plenty of good golf. DeChambeau has become of his regular practice partners, though they had never been in the same group until Sunday.

DeChambeau opened with two birdies and finished even stronger, with short birdie putts on the 16th and 17th, and then a 5-iron from 237 yards that stopped rolling 2 feet from the hole for an eagle.

“He’s my childhood idol,” DeChambeau said. “I’ve admired him my whole entire life. And to be finally able to play with him under tournament conditions, it was different. I was a little nervous, for sure. But I was able to get out there and execute shots and worry about my game and focus on hitting the best shots possible. And I was able to play really well like that.”

Not since Vijay Singh in 2008 has anyone captured the opening two FedEx Cup. DeChambeau led by four shots at Ridgewood Country Club last week and never was seriously challenged. This time, the 24-year-old Californian will have to come from one shot behind against a 27-year-old playing in only his 49th PGA Tour event.

Hatton had the lead until his approach on the par-4 12th went off a cart path and into the trees, and a search party of some three dozen fans and volunteers never found it. He did well to escape with a double bogey, and then finished with a birdie for a 69.

Justin Rose (70) and Cameron Smith (67) were another shot behind, followed by Emiliano Grillo (64) and Kyle Stanley (66).

McIlroy was making a charge until hitting into the water on the 16th hole and missing a short putt at the 18th. HE had to settle for a 68 and was in a group at 9-under 204 that included Beau Hossler (68), Ryder Cup hopeful Tony Finau (67) and Spieth (68).

More than being six shots behind, Woods has to climb past 15 players. He handled the par 5s, but didn’t make much else and spent some 45 minutes on the putting green after his round.

“I didn’t get a lot out of my round today,” Woods said. Looking ahead to Monday, he said he would need a round like he saw from DeChambeau.

“I’ve got to make a bunch of birdies, get off to a quick start and just get rolling early,” Woods said. “Kind of do what Bryson did today.”

Ancer knows what it’s like to be among the chaotic atmosphere that Woods brings to a tournament. He played in the group ahead of Woods in the third round of the Quicken Loans National, heard the cheers and delivered a 62 that hardly anyone saw.

He didn’t play his best from the final group, but it wouldn’t have mattered with Francesco Molinari closing with a 62.

Ancer got hot again, putting for birdie on every hole except No. 12, where he made a mental mistake by hitting 3-wood off the tee into a breeze and into a bunker. He was able to advance it only 100 yards on the 51–yard par 4.

Even with seven birdies and a 65, Ancer missed three birdie chances inside 10 feet, including a 5-footer on the par-5 18th.

NORTON, Mass. – The putt is one that Webb Simpson never practices enough. He wasn’t sure it even required his putter.

He worked it to perfection.

From just over 70 feet away off the green on the par-5 18th, Simpson rolled in the eagle putt for an 8-under 63 to take a one-shot lead Saturday at the halfway point of the Dell Technologies Championship.

“You just kind of laugh at those because you’re not trying to make them, you’re just trying to get them close,” Simpson said. “The grass around the greens is firm enough to where the ball runs pretty smoothly. I didn’t like my lie to chip it. I decided to putt it, and it came off really nice, just how I wanted it.”

A gorgeous Saturday in New England allowed for low scoring at the TPC Boston.

Tyrrell Hatton of England had eight birdies with his store-bought putter for a 63 and was one shot behind, along with Justin Rose (67). Tommy Fleetwood made it a trio of Englishman near the top with his 65, leaving him three shots behind.

Tiger Woods got into the act, too.

Woods only once came close to bogey, making a 12-foot par putt on the par-3 11th hole, and gave himself ample opportunities in his round of 66. It was an important day to move forward with conditions ripe for scoring, though he still was seven shots behind Simpson.

“I’ve got some work to do still,” Woods said. “This is a golf course you can’t sit still on. You have to keep making birdies. You have to keep getting after it. Conditions are going to be like this the rest of the weekend. You’re going to see plenty of birdies out there.”

Simpson was at 11-under 131, worth little more than pole position going into the final two days before the Labor Day finish.

Adam Hadwin, the lone Canadian in the field, sits in a tie for seventh at 6-under. The Abbotsford, B.C., native was 5-under for the day through 10 holes before two bogeys on the back nine left him with back-to-back 68s.

Ten players were assured of their season ending by missing the cut, meaning they will not finish among the top 70 to advance to the third event in the FedEx Cup playoffs next week outside Philadelphia.

Simpson, who won The Players Championship in a landslide in May, is at No. 9 and already assured of being among the top 30 in the Tour Championship.

He is more interested in doing well enough, often enough, to be consistently among the elite.

“I don’t want to just have a couple of good years and have it go away for two years,” Simpson said. “There are a few guys that are always top 10 in the world. I want to do that.”

A lot of those guys are still in the hunt at the TPC Boston.

Jordan Spieth showed signs of getting on track, despite opening with two straight bogeys. He ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch after making the turn, and saved par from a bunker on the other, and had a 67 to be in the large group at five shots behind.

Dustin Johnson, the world’s No. 1 player, missed several birdie chances and shot 69. He was six behind.

Hatton is riding a hot streak with his $149 putter that he bought last week before the final round at Ridgewood Country Club.

Well, the putter his caddie bought. Hatton wanted to shake up his short game, but the equipment trucks had already left and he was too embarrassed to be seen in a golf store shopping for a new putter, even if not many in Paramus, New Jersey, would have recognized him.

His caddie headed to a Golf Galaxy store, using a video app so Hatton could look at the options.

“Obviously, he made a good choice,” Hatton said.

Abraham Ancer of Mexico was poised to get within one shot until he chipped across the 18th green and into a bunker, and then missed a 4-foot par putt and had to settle for a 69 that left him three shots off the lead, along with Cameron Smith of Australia (66).

It’s a big week for Ancer, who is No. 92 in the FedEx Cup and needs to move into the top 70 to advance to next week outside Philadelphia. After that, the top 30 make it to the Tour Championship for the FedEx Cup finale.

“I don’t play well, I’m not playing any golf next week,” Ancer said. “I’m not trying to put any extra pressure. I know what I need to do. And I just need to execute my game plan and it will be fine.”

Tony Finau had five birdies over his last eight holes for a 68, which might help his cause involving another cup – the Ryder Cup. U.S. captain Jim Furyk makes three of his four wild-card picks on Tuesday, and Finau entered the equation with a runner-up finish last week.

Rafa Cabrera Bello of Spain didn’t hurt his chances, either. The four European selections are Wednesday. Cabrera Bello chose to play in the FedEx Cup playoff event at the TPC Boston instead of going to Denmark with one last chance to qualify. He had another 68 and was at 6 under, which is sure to get the attention of European captain Thomas Bjorn.

NORTON, Mass. – Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, BC, finished with a share of 8th after firing a 3-under 68 on Friday at the Dell Technologies Championship.

The first time Justin Rose played a competitive round at TPC Boston, he shot 63. That was 15 years ago and he was not yet a TOUR member. He was playing on a sponsor’s exemption extended by then-tournament director Jay Monahan, now the PGA TOUR Commissioner.

Rose, then 23-years old, eventually finished solo third and earned his TOUR card without having to go through Q-school.

Since then, he’s played more than 300 TOUR events, won nine times – including a major and two WGC events – and also won an Olympic gold medal. It’s been a stellar career.

But he’s never been able to match that 63 – although he came close Friday with a bogey-free 6-under 65 to take the lead.

“This golf course has been changed and manipulated a lot through the years,” said Rose after his 45th career round at TPC Boston. “I think the first couple of years I played really well and enjoyed it. Then obviously significant changes through the years. I guess the last few years things have settled a little bit again.

“So I played better when it was pre-redesign. I probably had more success.”

Indeed. Besides his solo third in 2003, he tied for fourth in 2006. But since the debut of the FedExCup Playoffs the following year and the course’s redesign by Gil Hanse, Rose’s only top-10 finish came last year with a tie for 10th.

Perhaps he’s finally starting to solve it. He certainly solved the tricky wind conditions better than anybody else, and his bogey-free round was one of just two on the day (Abraham Ancer had the other in shooting 66).

Of course, it helps that he’s an established world-class golfer, ranked sixth in FedExCup points and fourth in the world.

Even so, TPC Boston – at least the latest version — may always seem liked a mystery to him.

“I’ve had some mixed results here,” said Rose, who turned his first missed cut of the season at last week’s FedExCup Playoffs opener into a six-day visit back home. “I’ve had some great weeks and I’ve had some poor weeks here. It’s a course I never really know exactly what to expect.

“But it’s a fun golf course.”

It was fun 15 years ago when he first saw it. Maybe it will be even more fun for him the rest of this week.