OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Justin Rose may have caught a stroke of good luck from Wrigleyville.

The former world No. 1 threw the first pitch at the Chicago Cubs game Tuesday night, and things have only been looking up since. Rose arrived in Chicago at No. 32 in the FedExCup standings, outside the allotted top-30 bubble to head to East Lake for next week’s TOUR Championship. After a pedestrian opening-round 70 at Olympia Fields Country Club (North Course), Rose began Friday’s second round with four straight birdies, en route to a 5-under 65, and he didn’t stop there.

A third-round, 2-under 68 leaves Rose in a tie for seventh into Sunday’s final round in Chicagoland, not only in contention to capture his second BMW Championship title, but also within the projected TOUR Championship bubble at No. 26 in the FedExCup standings.

Rose’s postseason run has been a rollercoaster from the beginning. He opened last week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship with a 6-over 76, dead last in the field of 70. He dramatically shifted gears with a 9-under 61 on Saturday, tying the course record at TPC Southwind en route to a T20. It allowed him to shake off three straight missed cuts and arrive at Olympia Fields at No. 32 on the FedExCup, knocking on the door of an 11th TOUR Championship appearance.

Rose won the 2011 BMW Championship (at nearby Cog Hill) and lost to Keegan Bradley in a playoff in 2018 (at Aronimink). His history with Olympia Fields, however, goes even deeper – he finished T5 at the 2003 U.S. Open here, the only player in this week’s field to have played that event.

The Englishman once again remains in contention heading into Sunday, only four strokes back of co-leaders Scottie Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick. Rose heads into the final round with two things at stake: a trophy and a spot in next week’s field. Both will require steady form on a day that promises to bring plenty of challenges.

NOTABLES

Saturday at Olympia Fields was headlined by Scottie Scheffler (No. 2, projected to No. 1) who carded a 6-under 64 to climb all the way up to first place headed into the final round ... Rory McIlroy (No. 3, projected to No. 3) finished with a 67 on Saturday and remains three back of the leaders. "Felt like I could have been a couple closer to the lead. But overall happy with how I played today compared to yesterday," he said afterwards ... The only eagle of the day was carded at the first hole by Viktor Hovland (No. 7, projected to No, 9) who finished with a birdie on 18 to shoot a 5-under 65, despite struggling to spin his irons. "The ball is just going really, really far for me, so whenever there's wind, I can almost just take the same club and just hit it normal and it just goes straight through the wind. It almost made it less complicated in a sense with the wind," he said after his round ... Second-round leader Max Homa faltered a bit, finishing with a 1-over 71 despite carding birdies on Nos. 15 and 17. He currently remains in solo fourth, two back of the lead.

TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP BUBBLE WATCH

PROJECTED IN

Matt Fitzpatrick (No. 40, projected to No. 5): A clean card until the finishing hole, Fitzpatrick carded five birdies before a bogey at the 18th to drop a shot and fall into a tie for lead with Scottie Scheffler. The former Northwestern Wildcat is trying to close strong on Sunday to not only move well inside the top 30 but win the BMW Championship.

Justin Rose (No. 32, projected to No. 26): Rose had an eventful front nine before steadying the ship on the back. Two early birdies and four total on the front were met with two bogeys for an opening 33. Closing in 35 for a 2-under 68, Rose sits T7 and in position to earn a spot at East Lake.

Denny McCarthy (No. 34, projected to No. 30): Our beloved “Bubble Boy” entering the final round. Fortified by a bogey-free 65, McCarthy vaulted into the top 10 for the tournament and sits right at No. 30 in the projected FedExCup standings. “I kind of just had a don't-care attitude today and I was just going to commit to the shot, hit it, go find it and hit the next one,” McCarthy said, “That's going to be the plan again tomorrow.”

PROJECTED OUT

Jordan Spieth (No. 27, projected to No. 31): The 2015 FedExCup champion was simply not able to get the wheels turning on Saturday. A lone birdie at No. 12 accompanied by three bogeys resulted in a 2-over 72 effort. Spieth sits in a tie for 30th for the tournament but more importantly sits one spot outside of the top-30 bubble. He will need to put something together Sunday if he wants to extend his season to East Lake.

Emiliano Grillo (No. 23, projected to No. 32): A rollercoaster front nine that included three birdies and three bogeys paired with a closing 36 was not the recipe Grillo was trying to cook up while trying to make it to the final Playoffs event. Sitting two spots back of the top-30 threshold, this year’s Charles Schwab Challenge winner will need something special to keep playing this season.

Sepp Straka (No. 24, projected to No. 33): Three rounds over par for the Georgia Bulldog has put him in a position outside of the cut line for the TOUR Championship. A win at the John Deere Classic helped get him here to Chicago but he will need more help Sunday to make it to Atlanta.

BIG MOVERS

Sam Burns (No. 30, projected to No. 19): Sam Burns altered two statements with his performance today. The first being that our early-week bubble boy coming into Chicago is on the bubble no longer, and the second being that Max Homa's solo takedown of the Olympia Fields course record is now matched, not even 24 hours later, by Sam Burns. Burns carded a bogey-free 62 to cement himself in Olympia Fields history and place himself well within grasp for the top-30 standings.

Sungjae Im (No. 28, projected to No. 20): Amid a cut-throat field of the TOUR's best, Im came in this week with little breathing room as he bordered the top-30 bubble for East Lake. He needed a consistent performance to secure his spot for next week, and so far he's been doing just that. He followed up his two 68s on Thursday and Friday with one more on Saturday, putting him at T11, five strokes back of the lead, and with slightly more breathing room in the FedExCup standings.