There's Big Bucks, Tour Cards, And Much More On The Line This Week At The Wyndham Championship
Darren Carroll. Getty Images.BIG week here on the PGA Tour. Tons on the line for the final regular season event of the year. We're talking PGA Tour cards for next year, FedEx Cup playoff spots, Ryder Cup points, and end-of-season prize payouts all up for grabs this week at Sedgefield Country Club.
For those who aren't aware, the Top 125 FedEx Cup point leaders advance to the Playoffs, a 3-event blitz ending at East Lake in Atlanta. Those who make the playoffs secure their Tour cards for the 2021-22 season. So you've got a whole bundle of players right around that Top 125 number who will be grinding out every shot til the very end on Sunday, whether they have a shot at winning the tournament or not. A finish in 27th could be the difference between keeping their card or not. Sneaky one of the best afternoons of the year as those guys sweat it out. Names that are right around that bubble:
Now, not all of those players are in danger of losing their cards. Guys in italics in the graphic like Fowler, Kuchar, and Rose each have one-time exemptions to keep their Tour cards by way of being in the Top 50 on the all-time money list. Molinari is in the clear due to his Open Championship win a few years back. But there's still a lot of pride on the line for these guys, and the lesser names are fighting for their careers.
Plus the Comcast Business Top 10 is a bonus pool of $10M up for grabs for the top 10 finishers in the regular season standings. The current standings there:
Jim Herman won this event last year. Every so often that guy pops up and wins a tournament out of nowhere, and then transforms back into Jim Herman and misses cut after cut. One of the weirder characters on Tour.
2020 Leaderboard
Recent Champions
The Course
Sedgefield CC is a Donald Ross design in Greensboro, NC measuring 7,131 yards and is played as a par 70 on Tour. Don't let that 18th hole above fool you. That'll be a par 4 this week. Donald Ross designs are typically classic parkland style golf courses. There's three on Tour. Detroit Golf Club, East Lake, and here. East Lake is probably the best course comp considering it's also in the southeast.
This course in particular isn't terribly long. It rewards accuracy off the tee and gives players of virtually every style a chance to win this week. Nobody going out there this week should feel disadvantaged for this last push of the regular season. Bermudagrass and fast greens are the MO of the course, but this is historically a birdiefest every year. Put some red numbers on the card or get left behind.
Best Hole - 18th Hole, 507 Yard Par 4
Sedgefield doesn't really have a signature hole per se, but this is a good opportunity to highlight what might turn out to be the most important hole of a few of these guys' seasons. We're going to see some huge shots on this hole that can vastly change the trajectory of some careers, both on Friday while fighting to make the cut and on Sunday.
It's obviously a long par 4 at 507 yards, and the tee shot takes you downhill. Jim Herman on the 72nd hole last year will demonstrate:
From there you're hitting off a downhill lie to an uphill green, which is a recipe for some unpredictability coming in. Bunkers short on each side of the green and a couple tough corners for them to place pins… should be fun.
The Weather
It is disgustingly hot and muggy here in the Mid-Atlantic and it should be ever worse down in Greensboro. That 92 is for sure gonna feel like 100. Thunderstorms could throw some of the weekend for a loop too. Something to keep an eye on.
TV Coverage
Thursday: Golf Channel 3-6 PM ET
Friday: Golf Channel 3-6 PM ET
Saturday: Golf Channel 1-3 PM, CBS 3-6 PM ET
Sunday: Golf Channel 1-3 PM, CBS 3-6 PM ET
The Trophy
Chris Keane. Getty Images.This is a complete mail-in job by Wyndham. They pretty much sent an intern down to the trophy store at lunch with $50 and told him to pick something out and get the logo thrown on there. And the kid picked out the most generic trophy in the building. No pizzazz. No local flair. Boooooring. 3/10
The Field
However, Webb's play of recent isn't as inspiring as I would hope it would be going into an event like this. He's fallen in the world rankings after every start since mid-April (now 19th) and has had a nagging neck injury bog him down a bit. I'm going to look another direction here.
I'm gonna roll with Will Zalatoris at +2800. He's among the guys who has a lot on the line. For some stupid reason, the PGA Tour doesn't allow players without full status to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs unless they have a W. Despite awesome results all season that have him at 26th in the standings and otherwise in good position for a spot at East Lake, he doesn't have that dub. This is his last chance to get it. He fits the profile of a ball-striker who should have success here and this is far from the strongest field of the season. There's a lot of guys with motives that are well short of winning this week per se - he's the guy with the singular objective. Win. And at +2800, I'm taking my chances.
Other Plays
Louis Oosthuizen To Win +1400 - He's just so damn close every week. Starting to become a Tony Finau FOMO pick type of situation. Little sprinkle here.
Kevin Streelman To Win +4000 - Thrives on short courses. Always a stud at Pebble Beach. Banking on it translating here.
Kevin Kisner To Win +4500 - Same story as Webb and Streelman. Southeast golf course maven.
Russell Henley Top 5 +800 - Sneaky solid season and tends to putt well on Bermuda
Nate Lashley Top 10 +2200 - His one Tour win came on a Donald Ross (Detroit in 2019) and he's a fringe playoff guy
Should be a lot of drama out there…. enjoy the Wyndham.