MEDINAH, Ill. – Medinah Country Club boasts a storied history, one that dates back nearly 100 years and includes five major championships and a Ryder Cup. It has built a reputation as a brawny, demanding, old-school layout, one that requires precision in every facet of the game.

And in the course of three rounds at the BMW Championship, that storied reputation has been torn to shreds.

It’s not just Justin Thomas running away with the tournament, torching Medinah for a Saturday 61. Or the fact that Thomas’ round broke the course record by two shots, just one day after Hideki Matsuyama broke the old record by two shots himself.

It’s the depth of the red figures that are plastered across the leaderboards outside Chicago, where only two players will begin the final round over par. This, on a course where Lou Graham shot 3 over in 1975 and still left town with the U.S. Open trophy.

Eleven under, the 72-hole total that Tiger Woods shot en route to victory here at the 1999 PGA Championship, is only tied for ninth with a round to go and doesn’t stand a chance of retaining that position. Even Woods’ 18-under winning total from the 2006 PGA likely wouldn't be enough to catch Thomas.

“We all thought this was one of the more tough and bigger ballparks, and the whole field is playing well,” said Woods, who is T-31 at 7 under. “Somehow guys are figuring out a way to all make birdies.”

While Woods didn’t seem to have many answers, the same cannot be said for some of his peers. Adam Scott shot a 3-under 69 to move inside the top 20 at 9 under, but he was neither shocked nor surprised at the low scores posted around him.

“If a golf course is soft, we’re just going to tear it apart,” Scott said. “They just, they haven’t figured out yet that long means nothing to us. You can’t build it long enough. And I’m not challenging them to build a longer golf course, I’m challenging them to build smarter golf courses.”

While the scoring deluge has likely led to plenty of wincing among the Medinah membership, some factors have conspired to aid and abet the 69-man field. With the tournament moved up a month from its usual mid-September slot, players are enjoying summer heat that allows the ball to soar. And while sporadic storms throughout the week have softened the No. 3 course, the rain that blew through Saturday morning and caused a 76-minute suspension of play meant the leaders teed off with the course at its most vulnerable.

But in the Aussie’s eyes, the scoring this week highlights a glaring issue with the current state of the game. Scott pointed to shorter layouts like Colonial and Harbour Town as examples that length is not synonymous with challenge, and believes that the task required of top players has become overly simplified.

“If you require us to shape tee shots to get it in play, I think we’re going to struggle,” Scott said. “We just play straight. Everything straight. And if you had to draw a driver to get it in the fairway, down where you want to be and long, then I think we’re going to see different scores. But while there’s an option to go over trees and go over bunkers, it’s just relentless.

“The driver is the most forgiving club in the bag now. You swing as hard as you can and get it down there far, it’s not skillful. It’s not a skillful part of the game anymore.”

Scott was not alone in his assessment. Seven years removed from his postseason run to the FedExCup, Brandt Snedeker is poised for an East Lake return but mirrored Scott’s thoughts nearly word-for-word at Medinah.

Snedeker pointed to players like Jack Nicklaus, or even Davis Love III, both of whom were skilled drivers in their respective eras. But neither man could swing out of his shoes off the tee because the cost for a mis-hit drive with older equipment was exponentially more penal.

These days the misses are more manageable, which means top players like Thomas and Rory McIlroy can fire at will with the biggest club in the bag.

“Now the drivers are made so easy to hit that there’s no penalty for swinging as hard as you want to at every driver, because it won’t go as far off-line,” Snedeker said. “There’s no penalty for really going all-out on one. That’s changed a lot.”

Staked to a six-shot lead and coming off his best round of the year, Thomas agreed that the soft conditions contributed significantly to the blood-red scoring trends this week. But he bristled at the notion that modern driving is nothing more than swinging for the fences.

“Trust me, I’ll show you some drives that go pretty far off-line, even if it doesn’t especially feel that far off,” Thomas said. “It’s the biggest face, so I guess you could make an argument that yeah, it’s the easiest to hit because you have the biggest margin for error. But the faster you swing it, the easier it is to hit off-line.”

In another place in time, perhaps a baked-out Medinah would have posed as stern a test as it did in major days gone by. Perhaps the sloping fairways would be less receptive to ball flights coming from any direction, with players required to put in more thought and strategy before firing over the corner of another dogleg.

But with more rain in the forecast bumping back final-round tee times, it’s not going to dry out here anytime soon. There will be another bevy of birdies in the final round, when a par-72 monster tipping out above 7,600 yards will play more like a par-68 muni.

In the modern game, technology off the tee continues to outpace any efforts to rein in the world’s best by adding distance. Throw in some receptive fairways and soft greens, and the scoring records might as well be written on napkins.

“That’s probably the best way the Tour can temper the scoring a little bit is stop watering greens as much. And fairways, for that matter. Let it run into trouble,” Scott sad. “Just stop watering stuff so much. Let it go firm.”

ENDICOTT, N.Y. – Monday qualifier Doug Barron had a one-stroke lead in the Dick's Sporting Goods Open when lightning forced the suspension of play late in the second round Saturday.

Making his second PGA Tour Champions start after turning 50 last month, Barron was 10 under for the tournament playing the par-4 15th when play was stopped at En Joie Golf Club.

Barron got into the field Monday with a 66 at The Links at Hiawatha Landing. He's coming off a fifth-place tie in the Senior British Open in his Champions debut.

Scott McCarron was tied for second after a 66. He won the event two years ago.

Marco Dawson, playing alongside Barron and Miguel Angel Jimenez in the final group, also was 9 under with Scott Parel and David McKenzie. Playing together in the second-to-last group, Parel and McKenzie also were on 15 when play was suspended.

MEDINAH, Ill. – Justin Thomas pushed his lead to five shots late Saturday when he holed out for eagle from 180 yards at the par-4 16^th.

And he immediately name dropped Brooks Koepka, as you can hear in the video below.

“The first thing I said to Jimmy,” Thomas said, “‘I got some of that Brooks Koepka money.’”

Thomas and Koepka have a running bet this season concerning holeouts, with certain payments allotted for certain shots.

“That’s the first thing I said to him,” Thomas repeated. “Because that’s another holeout.

“Thank you, Brooks.”

That was an 8-iron from 180, by the way.

PINEHURST, N.C. – Order has been restored at the 119^th U.S. Amateur.

Gone is the high school junior who wasn’t even listed in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Sent packing is the little-known Sam Houston State player who was so thrilled to make it this far that, after being ousted Saturday night, he and his family grabbed a few clubs and a bag of beers and headed out to Pinehurst’s par-3 course.

No, the only ones left here are two seniors who have loads of match-play experience and are bona fide top-25 college players.

Who could have possibly seen that coming?

Andy Ogletree, it turns out, because after the Round of 16, the Georgia Tech standout studied the match-play bracket and saw no other possible outcome to the week. He’d face Vanderbilt’s John Augenstein in the 36-hole championship match.

“I thought we were the best two players left with the most experience,” he said.

Good call.

Cohen Trolio, the teenager playing in his first individual amateur tournament, and William Holcomb V, the duck hunter from Crockett, Texas, were interesting stories, no doubt, but also the longest of long shots. Even Holcomb seemed shocked that he was still alive. “Once you get down to these guys,” he said, “these are men. We’ve been playing boys the last few rounds.”

And Augenstein and Ogletree know how to play grown-man golf.

Augenstein, 21, came to Pinehurst with two goals: make the Walker Cup team and win the U.S. Amateur. In that order. Though he’s been a match-play savant the past few years, his spot on the American team was imperiled by a sluggish summer in which he failed to record a top-30 finish. That all changed this week, when he took down some of the biggest names in amateur golf (including top-10 talents Akshay Bhatia and Ricky Castillo) and advanced to the finals after a 3-and-2 win over Holcomb. He’s now a lock for the U.S. team, unless the USGA committee has no interest in winning. By reaching the championship, Augenstein improved his singles record to a mind-boggling 17-3-1 since spring 2017.

“He’s just one of those guys that has a bone in him,” Holcomb said.

Ogletree, 21, is no pushover either, at least not since his tough-love lunch with Georgia Tech coach Bruce Heppler last fall. It was during that meeting that one of college golf’s most powerful players finally resolved to improve his short game.

“The way you see him drive the ball and the iron shots he hits, he’s been doing that since he was 15,” Heppler said. “But he was taking a knife to a gunfight around the greens and bunkers.”

Ogletree learned a few new techniques around the greens, received a putting tip from teammate Noah Norton and transformed his game. Last spring he ripped off six consecutive top-15 finishes, carrying that momentum into the summer when he broke through to win the Monroe Amateur.

“Now, he’s got a world-class amateur game,” Heppler said.

And that’s no small achievement after growing up in Little Rock, Mississippi, a no-stoplight town whose main attraction might be the gas station with a seafood buffet on Friday nights. (“Food’s incredible,” Ogletree said, without a hint of sarcasm.) The nearest courses were a half hour away, so he and his family built their own practice facility. Their spacious backyard could accommodate 200-yard shots, and Andy and his two brothers (who later became a high school state-title-winning trio) took turns cutting the grass with their greens mower.

“I can remember countless nights down there putting under the lights,” he said. “I’ll always call that place home.”

The pull of his hometown is still strong. Burnt out this summer, Ogletree pulled out of the Western Amateur to attend the popular Neshoba County Fair, nicknamed “Mississippi’s Giant House Party” with its 700 cabins and 800 campers and carnival rides, bands and greasy food. The fun diversion allowed him to recover and refocus for the U.S. Amateur, which proved beneficial, because Pinehurst No. 2 turned even more fearsome Saturday after another afternoon of baking in 95-degree heat.

Ogletree’s semifinal match against Trolio was ugly, and not just because of the quality of golf. (The two were a combined 17 over par.) Supporters of the 17-year-old Trolio were apparently so boisterous that three members of the gallery were escorted by police off the property. Another fan’s cellphone went off as Ogletree stood over a 4-footer, eliciting a few giggles from the crowd as the Masters theme song played.

“There was about a tenth of the crowd pulling for me,” said Ogletree, still visibly annoyed. “You just have to be your own cheerleader.”

But Ogletree remained steady down the stretch, blistering a drive down the 16^th fairway to move 2 up, then closing out the match with a 212-yard missile to 3 feet on 17.

It didn’t take long for the two finalists to realize what they’d accomplished. Both players were now guaranteed starts at the 2020 Masters and U.S. Open; the winner Sunday will receive another sweet perk, playing the first two rounds at Augusta National with defending champion Tiger Woods.

But that’s eight months from now. For the two most proven players left, 36 holes and the most prestigious prize in amateur golf remains. There’s no shortage of motivation.

For Augenstein, it’s pretty simple: “Nobody wants to make it this far and then lose.”

MEDINAH, Ill. – While Justin Thomas has sucked any lingering drama out of the top of the leaderboard at the BMW Championship, there’s still plenty of intrigue heading into the finale at Medinah as players jockey for positions and places in the season’s last event.

Only 30 players will advance to next week’s Tour Championship, and while Thomas appears poised to start East Lake at 10 under as he carries a six-shot lead into the final round, many others are simply trying to earn a flight to Atlanta. The bubble boys range from rookies to seasoned veterans, all looking for one more good round to reach the capstone of a marathon season.

The financial incentives for making the Tour Championship need no explanation, as the winner will claim a $15 million prize. But there are other priceless prizes up for grabs, including spots in the Masters, U.S. Open and Open next year. Get to East Lake and your schedule for the upcoming season is guaranteed to be chock full of elite events.

That’s an enticing incentive for Rory Sabbatini, who at age 43 is trying to make the Tour Championship for the first time since 2007. Sabbatini hasn’t played the Masters since 2012, but after firing a back-nine 30 the Slovakian moved all the way into fourth place – a position that now has him projected to move from 45^th to 22^nd in points.

“I kind of had a target in mind, and I’m a couple shots shy of getting there,” Sabbatini said. “So tomorrow I’ve got to go grind it out and really put my foot down and play well.”

Also inside the projected top-30 number is Sungjae Im, the Korean workhorse who is making his 34^th start of the season. Im would qualify for his first Masters with a Tour Championship appearance, and at age 21 he’d likely lock up Rookie of the Year honors. After struggling through the first two rounds, he shot a third-round 66 and is projected into the 29^th spot heading into Sunday.

Louis Oosthuizen has seen both sides of the Tour Championship bubble. Back in 2015 the South African eked out a 30^th-place finish, narrowly qualifying when the BMW was held at nearby Conway Farms. But two years ago he wasn’t as fortunate, left on the doorstep of East Lake at No. 31.

This time he’s back on the bubble, starting the week at No. 28 and projected at No. 30 entering the final round.

“I don’t even know where I have to finish to be in the top 30, to be honest. I think the only time I see it is when they show it on the board, you make this birdie and you’re in, that type of thing,” Oosthuizen said. “I think if I just have a solid round tomorrow, I’ll probably be fine. And if I’m not, it’s one of those things where obviously it’s nice if you’re in Atlanta, but a good break will also be very nice.”

Oosthuizen’s credentials as a major champion and staple among the top 50 in the world likely allow him to lower the stakes for Sunday’s round outside Chicago. But there’s much more on the line for a guy like Jason Kokrak, who has been on Tour since 2012 but has never played the Masters. Kokrak said earlier in the week he has turned down “a hundred” invites to Augusta National, waiting until he qualifies to step foot on the property.

His chance awaits Sunday, after a topsy-turvy back nine that included five birdies, two double bogeys and a single par left Kokrak right where he started the week in the points projections: 32^nd, still on the outside but within reach of the promised land.

“The pressure’s off. You’re here, you’ve kept your card. It’s a bonus for you to get into all those events,” Kokrak said. “I think if I can eliminate some of the mistakes I had out there, the birdies are there. If I can just make bogeys instead of those doubles, I think I’ll be right in the mix.”