Jon Rahm marches on to East Lake after BMW Championship heroics

Jon Rahm won the BMW Championship in dramatic fashion at Olympia Fields, Illinois, defeating Dustin Johnson in a playoff thanks to a birdie putt from 66 feet.

The Spaniard, who suffered a one-shot penalty in round three for picking his ball up on the fifth green without marking it, carded a bogey-free Sunday 64. That looked like it would be enough for victory until Johnson drained a birdie putt from 43 feet on the 18th green to force extra holes.

The playoff lasted only one hole thanks to Rahm's heroics. He was second in the ante-post betting at 10-1 – with only 8-1 Johnson ahead of him – so bookmakers suffered badly in the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Johnson won the opening playoffs event – The Northern Trust – so the layers will be hoping for some respite from the big names in the FedEx finale this week. The Tour Championship, which starts at East Lake, Georgia, on Friday and finishes on Monday, features the top 30 in the standings.

A new system was introduced last year which meant the Tour Championship runners started on different scores to reflect their FedEx position. That is the case again this time, with FedEx leader Johnson arriving at East Lake already at ten under par.

Rahm, second in the standings, is at eight under par, with Justin Thomas (seven under), Webb Simpson (six) and Collin Morikawa (five). The players from sixth to tenth on the list will be at four under par on the first tee, with 11-15 at three under, 16-20 at two under, 21-25 at one under, and 26-30 starting from scratch.

The European Tour moves from England to Spain for the Andalucia Masters. Rasmus Hojgaard, the brilliant Danish teenager who was the 14-1 winner of the UK Championship on Sunday, is in the field for the Valderrama gathering.

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