Survival makes FedExCup bubble busters feel like Boston's real winners

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Chris Stroud, Ernie Els and Geoff Ogilvy survived the cut and qualified for the BMW Championship.

NORTON, Mass. -- Ernie Els has three majors among the nearly 70 titles on his resume as well as a locker in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Yet for the last three weeks, the affable South African has been staring elimination from the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup squarely in the face. And each time Els has responded like the champion he is.

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On Monday at TPC Boston, he came to the 18th hole needing a birdie to move inside the top 70 and advance to the BMW Championship. And Els was up to the challenge, getting up and down for birdie from the left side of the green at the par 5 to squeeze in at No. 68.

A week ago at The Barclays, Els moved from 118th to 99th -- this time with just one spot to spare as he advanced to the Deutsche Bank Championship. And at the Wyndham Championship, the Regular Season finale, Els was also living on the edge, starting the week ranked No. 126 when only the top 125 qualified for the Playoffs.

Els, who has played in the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola every year since it's been the Playoffs finale, said the pressure to advance is not unlike what he feels when he's winning a golf tournament. And he's had plenty of experience of late.

"The last three weeks I've been really under the gun," Els said. "I really tried to stick in there this time. As I say, the emotions and the stuff that I've been going through are very similar to trying to win a golf tournament. It's good to be on the bottom of the pile, also. I think adversity makes you stronger at the end of the day, so I'll be fine."

Els was one of eight players who punched their tickets to Chicago for the BMW Championship on Monday. Chez Reavie, who lost to Webb Simpson in a playoff, made the biggest jump, vaulting 78 spots to No. 9 and assuring his first appearance at East Lake.

Blake Adams jumped 24 spots to No. 57, Chad Campbell climbed 15 to 58th and Andres Romero moved 13 to No. 59. Meanwhile, Johnson Wagner had some anxious moments after missing a 6-footer for birdie on the final hole but he ended up hanging tough at No. 67, a move of 21 spots.

Geoff Ogilvy survived an unplayable lie at the 17th hole -- making a 20-footer to save par when "I thought it was over at that point," he admitted -- and then birdied the 18th hole to move back inside the number at No. 69. And an eagle at the 18th hole made Chris Stroud the last man in as he moved up five spots to No. 70.

Although the projections actually changed as he walked down the 18th fairway, putting him safe at 70th, Els hit his second shot at the 533-yard par 5 thinking he a birdie was essential. He thought the same thing as he stood over the 6-foot putt for birdie, too.

And Els liked what he felt.

"(It's) basically the same stuff that goes through your head when you've got a one-shot lead or you're trying to win a golf tournament," he said. "I mean, I just went through probably the exact same kind of emotions. It's good to feel that, and it's good to get one up on the game for once. The game has really had its own on me this year so far, so it's nice to get something back."

Like Els, Stroud knew what he needed to do on the 18th hole Monday afternoon. Only his task was more daunting after a double bogey on the 14th hole -- "I knew I blew myself out there," Stroud acknowledged, shaking his head -- and the bogey that followed at the 15th. Pars at Nos. 16 and 17 didn't help the situation, and Stroud saw that he was projected at No. 76 as he prepared to hit his drive on the final hole.

"So I told (my caddie) from the tee, we've got to make 3 to get in," Stroud said.

The drive was solid, and Stroud had 232 yards to the hole -- which happened to be tucked right where he'd hit a hybrid during the second round. This time, the Texan was between a 2-iron and a 3-iron and he waivered, until he took his caddie's advice, grabbed the 3 and nearly holed the second shot for a double eagle.

"Sometimes you've got to listen to those caddies; they know what they're talking about," said a grinning Stroud, who went on to make the 3-footer to advance.

"It's nice, you've got to have some breaks in this game. Today was just a rough day all the way around. I didn't drive it well, I didn't make any putts. ... It's just nice to get of get a little pat on the back and get to Chicago."

Ogilvy, who took the unplayable after his tee shot landed in a hole next to a rock, said the par putt at the 17th hole was the best one he made all day. He was concentrating on the putt and not on what it could or couldn't do to his FedExCup hopes, and the ball snaked into the hole. "Golf is weird like that," Ogilvy said philosophically.

The approach at the 18th hole was another week's "best" for Ogilvy, who said if it had been 3 or 4 yards shorter it might have been stiff instead of scooting over the green. He chipped on and made the 7-footer for the birdie and a 73, and while he didn't feel like he played well enough to "earn" his spot in Chicago Ogilvy will take it anyway.

"Most of the day I thought 7 or 8 (under) I probably would have needed to be, so when you're at 5 taking an unplayable 150 yards from the green, I thought I was pretty done here," Ogilvy said. "It worked out. I get rewarded with a trip to Cog Hill."

So Els, Stroud and Ogilvy each responded to the pressure on Monday. And Els, for one, said it was "worse" than what he feels trying to win a tournament.

"You screw up on the 18th leading and now you're going to finish second and you're going to have a $600,000 check," the South African veteran said. "Here I'm going home. As I said, it's a bad place to be, but it's a good place to come back from."