USA TODAY International Edition
Last shot for FedExCup Playoffs
2018-19 PGA Tour cards also on line in Wyndham
Their points totals have them on edge.
The odds are against them. History is a hazard.
For many players in the field for the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, crunchtime has arrived, for this is the last tournament where players can secure a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs and earn PGA Tour cards for next season.
The top 125 from the FedExCup standings at the end of the weekend move on to the lucrative postseason, where $35 million in bonus money and four tournaments each sporting $8 million purses await.
If one doesn’t finish in the top 125, a scramble for playing status for next season ensues. Players finishing from 126 to 200 in the standings could go to the Web.com Finals to try to secure a PGA Tour card for next season. If one doesn’t earn a card at the Web.com Finals or chooses not to go to the finals, those who rank 126-150 have conditional status for next season, which limits opportunities to play.
In other words, a lot is on the line this week in Greensboro.
“I can’t really worry about what other guys are doing because it’s easy to get caught up in the points and the leaderboard,” said Martin Piller, who is No. 124 in the standings. He’s a six-time winner on the Web.com Tour but is still seeking his first PGA Tour title. “I just have to execute. That’s all I can try and do. Hopefully I can make the week a really boring week of good golf.”
This week, however, will be anything but boring with the potential of so many moving parts. Of the players ranked 100180, 75 are in the field, including every player from 122 to 132.
Among those on the outs right now are 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia (131st) and 2011 FedExCup champion Bill Haas (150th). They are among 13 players who have qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs in each season since its debut in 2007.
Garcia also has another Cup on his mind — the Ryder Cup. Garcia, a warrior in previous biennial clashes between Europe and the USA, will likely need a captain’s pick to make the European squad for this year’s matches in Paris. But since winning the Singapore Open in January on the Asian Tour, he has just four top-10 finishes worldwide and has missed seven of his last 11 cuts.
Last season in the Wyndham, only four players moved from outside the 125 into a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs — Martin Flores (139 to 118), Rory Sabbatini (148 to 122), Harold Varner III (138 to 123) and J.J. Henry (134 to 125). The most players in one season to make such a move is five.
Robert Garrigus, who is 127th in the standings, has been in this position before. In 2010, if he had missed the cut in the Children’s Miracle Network Classic, he would have lost his card. He didn’t miss the cut. Instead, he won the tournament, his lone PGA Tour title.
“It’s a relaxed mind-set for me because I have few things going for me,” he said. “I have a good category for 126 to 150. … I could actually see my kids next year if I don’t get my card back. I have the Web.com stuff. And I have past champions status. Still, I know it’s a big week, I know what I have to do, but I’ve done it before.”
Harris English, who is 132nd, has not missed the Playoffs in each of his previous six seasons. The two-time winner on the tour said, “I kind of like have a little pressure facing me.
“It’s a big week. This game is unlike any other; you can turn it around any week. I feel like my game is coming around. If I don’t get it done this week, I still have the Web.com Finals to get it done.
“If you play good golf over a stretch, you’re going to have good chances to win, and I feel that coming. I don’t have the urgency this week.
“If it happens, it happens.”