-17 J Rose (Eng); -16 R McIlroy (NI), X Schauffele (US); -15 T Fleetwood (Eng), R Fowler (US); –14 K Bradley (US); -13 F Molinari (Ita), J Thomas, B Horschel (US), H Matsuyama (Jpn)
Selected others: -12 T Woods (US); –11 J Day (Aus); -6 J Spieth (US); -5 I Poulter (Eng)
Justin Rose shot a six-under-par 64 to take the BMW Championship lead after round three in Philadelphia.
The Englishman is one shot clear of Rory McIlroy, who moved up into a share of second with overnight leader Xander Schauffele after a seven-under-par 63.
Tommy Fleetwood is level with with Rickie Fowler one shot further back after scoring an eight-under-par 62 for the second successive round.
While Tiger Woods moved up to joint 11th with a three-under-par 66.
“Tomorrow will be gruelling, it’s set to rain all day and it will be a battle,” Rose told Sky Sports.
“Just getting round will be a win I think, perhaps the weather will help keep me distracted but a one-shot lead with a chasing pack behind doesn’t mean much.”
Defending champion Matthew Fitzpatrick will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Omega European Masters after carding a bogey-free third round of seven-under 63.
The Englishman posted five birdies and an eagle in Switzerland to move to 14 under overall.
France’s Mike Lorenzo-Vera dropped just one shot in a six-under 64 to move up to second.
England’s Daniel Brooks is one of five players tied for third at 10 under.
Fitzpatrick missed the cut on his first visit to Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club in 2014, but finished second in 2015 and seventh in 2016 before winning his fourth European Tour title there last season.
Fitzpatrick is looking to become the first player to successfully defend the title since Seve Ballesteros in 1978.
“He is a good man to emulate, so hopefully things go to plan tomorrow,” Fitzpatrick said.
The 24-year-old described his third round as “really, really good”, adding: “I would say that everything went well today.
“I drove it really solid and made some great up-and-downs, which has been a bit of a struggle this season to keep the round going. There were some real key ones today and that was the difference. It kept the momentum and I managed to kick on.
“You still want to put the pressure on and make birdies. You are going to have to, because someone is going to come up from somewhere tomorrow, there is no doubt because you can get it going. Hopefully I’ll stick to my game plan and make plenty of birdies.”
Tiger Woods scored his lowest opening round in two decades – but still had to share the lead with Rory McIlroy at the BMW Championship in Philadelphia.
The 14-time major winner’s eight-under-par 62 was his best opening round score since hitting 61 at the 1999 Byron Nelson Classic.
Northern Ireland’s McIlroy briefly threatened to dislodge Woods before equalling the American’s score.
“To shoot 29 on the front nine helps. It helps a lot,” Woods said.
His season’s best round at Aronimink Golf Club came in the week he returned to the United States Ryder Cup team after a six-year gap in which he has battled injury and personal issues.
The 42-year-old was one of captain Jim Furyk’s wildcard picks for the event.
Woods ended last year ranked 656 in the world but has risen to 26 on the back of what has been a consistent and largely uninterrupted season after spinal fusion surgery.
He led in the final round of July’s Open before finishing sixth, then was runner-up at last month’s PGA Championship.
But McIlroy threatened to trump his rival with a round that included a career-best six birdies in a row – before bogeying his 16th and 17th holes. The 29-year-old recovered with a birdie on the last to ensure a share of the opening-round spoils with Woods.
American Xander Schauffele sits one shot behind the pair.
The BMW Championship is the third of the four season-ending FedEx play-offs which start with 125 eligible players. The number of players is reduced at each event before the final 30 contest the decisive Tour Championship in two weeks’ time.
-6 M Kieffer (Ger); -5 A Sullivan (Eng), S Kjeldsen (Den), J Guerrier (Fra), H Tanihara (Fra); -4 N Elvira (Spa), D Drysdale (Sco), E van Rooyden (SA), J Walters (SA)
Selected others:-3 T Pieters (Bel); -2 M Wallace (Eng), L Westwood (Eng), D Willett (Eng); -1 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), M Kaymer (Ger)
Despite Wallace winning his third European Tour title this season, Bjorn instead opted for the experience of Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson for the contest with the United States at Le Golf National near Paris at the end of the month,
Kieffer had seven birdies and dropped just one shot in his 64 as he chases a maiden European Tour title in his 162nd event.
He holds a one-shot advantage over Sullivan, Dane Soren Kjeldsen, France’s Julien Guerrier and Japan’s Hideto Tanihara.
Europe captain Thomas Bjorn says he “felt sick” when telling Rafa Cabrera-Bello he would be left out of the Ryder Cup squad.
Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson were the four players given Ryder Cup wildcards by Bjorn on Wednesday.
“It’s the tough part of being captain,” said the Dane, 47.
“I called the four that made it and I called six players to let them know it wasn’t going to be this time.”
Cabrera-Bello, 34, might have expected to be named among Bjorn’s four picks, having finished just short of an automatic qualification spot after a strong season.
Bjorn added: “I can only imagine what the other guy on the end of the phone felt like.
“For Rafa it was hard to understand and tough for him to take it. That was really hard for me. When I picked up the phone I almost felt sick having to do it.”
The four wildcard picks join automatic qualifiers Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren and Thorbjorn Olesen.
The three-day event starts on 28 September at Le Golf National in Paris.
‘It was a risk, but I’m ready’
Meanwhile, Garcia defended his decision to not compete for automatic qualification by sitting out the Made In Denmark tournament.
The Spaniard, 38, believes he will now arrive rested and ready to take on defending champions the United States, who have not won in Europe since 1993.
“Unfortunately because of how the year went I had to play five weeks in a row in the summer, eight weeks out of 10 – and I’m not 25 any more,” Garcia said.
“I knew I was putting my position at risk, but at the same time I told Thomas I want to get to the Ryder Cup at 100%.
“I’m thrilled and now want to help my team again to make sure we have the best possibility of winning the Ryder Cup back.”
Garcia is the first European to win Ryder Cup selection having missed the cut at all four majors in the season.
But fellow wildcard pick Poulter backed his selection, saying: “If you look at the highlights of what Sergio has brought to the European Ryder Cup team through the years, that’s why he was picked.
“It’s hard to explain to the rookies how they are going to feel and how big a stage the Ryder Cup really is.
“You definitely need guys like Sergio in the team who can help these guys to be able to feel comfortable.”
Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey and Henrik Stenson have been given Ryder Cup wildcards by Europe captain Thomas Bjorn.
They join automatic qualifiers Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren and Thorbjorn Olesen.
Europe face defending champions the United States at Le Golf National in Paris in the three-day event starting on 28 September.
Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau have been chosen as wildcard picks for the United States team to face Europe in this month’s Ryder Cup.
Woods, 42, returns as a player for the first time since 2012, having recovered from back surgery and after finishing second at the US PGA Championship.
Mickelson, 48, plays in a record 12th event after making his debut in 1995.
On Monday Jim Furyk will make his final captain’s pick for the event in France, which takes place from 28-30 September.
Five-time major winner Mickelson had jointly held the record for most appearances with England’s Nick Faldo, who played in 11 editions of the biennial event from 1977.
DeChambeau is in fine form, having won the previous two PGA Tour events and finishing ninth in the US Ryder Cup qualification standings, with the top eight being automatically selected, leaving Furyk to make four wildcard picks.
US Open and US PGA Championship champion Brooks Koepka, Masters winner Patrick Reed, world number one Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson had all qualified automatically.
Mickelson was 10th in the standings, with 14-time major champion and former world number one Woods 11th.
United States are the current holders, having won 17-11 in 2016 at Hazeltine, but have not triumphed on European soil since a 15-13 victory at The Belfry in 1993.
Open champion Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren and Thorbjorn Olesen are in the Europe side with captain Thomas Bjorn set to announce his quartet of wildcard picks at 14:00 BST on Wednesday, 5 September.
Bryson DeChambeau won his second FedEx Cup play-off event in as many weeks with victory at the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston.
The 24-year-old American carded a final-round four-under-par 67 to win by two shots from England’s Justin Rose.
DeChambeau started the second of four end-of-season play-offs leading the FedEx Cup after winning last week’s Northern Trust.
The third event begins on Thursday in Pennsylvania.
Rose’s three-under-par 68 saw him take second position, one shot ahead of Australian Cameron Smith.
World number one Dustin Johnson, who is second in the FedEx Cup standings, finished in a tie for seventh, five shots off the lead.
DeChambeau’s win in Massachusetts makes him the second player – after Vijay Singh in 2008 0 to win the first two legs of the FedEx Cup play-offs.
He is projected to move to number seven in the world rankings.
“It’s such an honour to be able to do it so early in my career,” he told Sky Sports.
“That’s something I’ve been working on doing for a long time and hopefully I can get closer to that number one spot.
“If I keep doing my game its going to be tough to beat,” he added.
European Ryder Cup team-mates Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton finished tied for 12th at 10 under after one-under and two-over final rounds respectively.
Fourteen-time major winner Tiger Woods started the day just outside the top 10 but an even-par 71 saw him finish tied for 24th on seven under.
Eight European players have already booked their automatic places at Le Golf National, Paris as part of Thomas Bjorn’s Ryder Cup team to face the US, but which four golfers will be his wildcard picks?
Who will join Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren and Thorbjorn Olesen in Paris on 28 September?
Stalwarts such as Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter are all hoping to be hand picked by captain Bjorn, but who would you give the nod to?
BBC Sport has chosen 10 players who could be in the running, and now we want you to cut it down to the four who should make the plane to France.
Simply rank your players in order of preference below and BBC Sport will reveal the results on Wednesday, 5 September before the official team announcement at 1400 BST.
The contenders…
Ian Poulter: The Englishman has already summoned some Ryder Cup spirit this year after staging a remarkable comeback to qualify for the Masters via a play-off. An injury meant he was involved as a vice-captain last time out. The 42-year-old, who has lost just four of his 18 matches and is unbeaten in the singles, has been involved in five Ryder Cup wins since making his debut in 2004.
Sergio Garcia: The 2017 Masters Champion has won 22-and-a-half Ryder Cup points, playing in eight editions of the biennial event. But the 38-year-old Spaniard has struggled for form this year, missing all four cuts at the majors and failing to qualify for the PGA Tour’s FedExCup play-offs for the first time.
Henrik Stenson: The Swede has played in four Ryder Cups and holed the winning putt on his debut at The K Club in 2013. The 42-year-old has registered top-six finishes at both the Masters and US Open in 2018, but has slipped out of the world top 10.
Rafa Cabrera Bello: The world number 29’s best performance this year is tied for third at the WGC Mexico Championship, although he did finish in the top 10 at the last of the year’s majors, the PGA Championship. The Spaniard won two-and-a-half points from his three matches at Hazeltine in 2016.
Thomas Pieters: The Belgian impressed on his Ryder Cup debut in 2016, scoring four points – a record for a rookie – and forged a great partnership with McIlroy. The 26-year-old finished tied for sixth at the PGA Championship in August.
Russell Knox: “Welcome to the conversation,” said captain Thomas Bjorn to Knox after the Scot won the Irish Open earlier this year to put himself in contention for a first Ryder Cup place.
Eddie Pepperell: A first European Tour win at the Qatar Masters in February proved the beginning of a strong run of form for the Englishman, who is hoping to compete in his first Ryder Cup after enjoying a top-six finish at The Open.
Matthew Fitzpatrick: The Englishman was unable to get off the mark in two matches on his Ryder Cup debut in 2016. His best finish on the European Tour this season was tied for third in Abu Dhabi in January.
Paul Casey: The Englishman is eligible for selection again after ruling himself out in 2016 by declining to rejoin the European Tour. He missed out on a wildcard in 2010 despite being seventh in the world, but was part of victories in 2004 and 2006 before contributing just a half point at Valhalla a decade ago.
Matt Wallace: What better way of showing your credentials by winning the final qualifying event before the Ryder Cup? That’s what the Englishman did in Denmark on Sunday for his third European Tour win this season.
