Saturday 6 September 2014 18:46, UK
Phil Mickelson will miss the FedEx Cup play-offs finale for the first time in his career after withdrawing from the BMW Championship in Denver after the second round.
Mickelson carded a six-over-par 76 to sit 14 shots off the lead and tied for 63rd in the 69-man field heading into the weekend.
The five-time major winner would have needed to finish fourth or higher to have any chance of qualifying for next week's Tour Championship.
"My primary goal is to rest and prepare for the Ryder Cup," Mickelson said in a statement on pgatour.com.
"Without a chance to contend at the Tour Championship, the most important thing for me now is to prepare for the Ryder Cup."
Mickelson's Ryder Cup team-mate Keegan Bradley, one of Tom Watson's wild card selections, also withdrew before the start of the third round.
Bradley was apparently uncomfortable with an "embedded ball situation" he encountered during the first round, feeling he may have unwittingley broken a rule despite being cleared by an official at the time.
He is now projected to drop to 34th in the FedExCup standings, which would rule him out of next week's Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Bradley said: "I just feel withdrawing is the right thing to do to protect the field in the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship next week.
"It's eating me alive. I didn't call my fellow competitors for help in the first place and that bothers me. I know the official approved the drop but I just can't be absolutely sure it was the right spot."
