The last chance for players to get inside the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings and make the playoffs is this weekend in the Wyndham Championship at the Donald Ross designed Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina. The tournament dates back to 1938 and was known for many years as the Greater Greensboro Open, the site of eight victories by the legendary Sam Snead including the last of his 82 PGA Tour wins in 1965 at the age of 52 years, 10 months, which is still the record for the oldest Tour event winner.
Sedgefield’s 7,131-yard layout plays to a par 70 and last year’s winner, Jim Herman, posted a score of 21 under par 259, the fifth straight year where the tournament was won with a score lower than 260. Herman picked up his third career Tour title after making birdies on his final four holes on Friday to make the cut on the number, then shooting 61 – 63 on the weekend to beat Billy Horschel by a stroke.
In last week’s WG – FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Abraham Ancer made a nice comeback to win with a birdie on the second playoff hole for his first PGA Tour title after third-round leader Harris English made a pair of double bogey on the back nine. At the Barracuda Championship, the alternate PGA Tour stop that uses the modified Stableford scoring system, Erik van Rooyen also became a first-time winner, finishing five points ahead of runner-up Andrew Putnam and moving from 139th to 78th in FedEx Cup points.
The big story at the Wyndham will focus on whether players currently outside the top 125 can get into the playoffs and those near the bubble mark can hold onto their positions. Most notably, Rickie Fowler is 130th in the standings, in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in his career, with Bo Hoag sitting in the precarious 125th spot.
Zalatoris, who can only make it into the playoffs by winning this week because he is not yet a Tour member, is at +2800…
Betting Odds
Former Wyndham, U.S. Open, and Players champion Webb Simpson, who collected his first PGA Tour win in the event, is the betting favorite with odds of +1000. He’s followed by late entry and Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama at +1400 and four-time 2021 runner up Louis Oosthuizen, who is still looking for his first win in the United States, at +1600.
Patrick Reed, who also made his PGA Tour breakthrough at the Wyndham, is at +2000 with Jason Kokraka and Brian Harman closely behind at +2200. Will Zalatoris, who can only make it into the playoffs by winning this week because he is not yet a Tour member, is at +2800 and Sungjae Im and Russell Henley have odds of +3000.
Other players of interest include Fowler at +5500, Matt Kuchar, who is at 124th in points with odds of +18000, and Bubba Watson, who is safely in the playoffs at 71st in points, is at +6500. Last year’s winner Jim Herman, who is again well out of the playoff picture at 171st in the standings, has odds of +15000 to pull a repeat.
