Day: August 10, 2021

Horses for Courses: Wyndham ChampionshipHorses for Courses: Wyndham Championship

August 10, 2021| 14:30

The final of 50 events in the super-sized PGA TOUR season tees it up this week to determine the field of 125 for the FedExCup Playoffs. No more chances for conjecture, swing changes or “saving it for later” as the TOUR’s annual stop at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, NC, will determine who moves on and who heads home. This Donald Ross original was redone by Kris Spence in 2007 and the event was relocated here in 2008. The Wyndham Championship also moved to the final event on the TOUR calendar after the redesign. The end of the road pressure has been on the calendar since. RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks There’s good news and bad news for the full field of 156. Sedgefield annually plays as one of the easiest courses on TOUR and always competes for the easiest Par-70. The good news is everyone knows what it will take to win this week: low scores/birdies/eagles. The bad news is everyone who needs is on the bubble hasn’t exactly been doing that lately and will need to find it immediately. The formula in a shootout, which seems like every event TOUR event the last month, remains the same. The more fairways and GIR that are found the more chances for birdie putts and no-sweat pars. Rounds in the 60s will trump everything as the math suggests better than 5-under each day is needed to win. Hard to do that with a 70 or worse over the four days. Only five rounds worse than 70 were posted last year in the top 27 players, TOTAL. Champion Bermuda greens sit at 6,000 square feet and pitch, in Ross style, back to front, so leaving the ball below the hole is key. One of the reason scoring is always low is they’re in perfect shape and the course only plays 7,131 yards. Throw in rough at not even three inches and a shootout is on the cards. How low do you have to go? Well, the last five winners posted either 21 or 22-under. Webb Simpson posted 21-under here in 2019 and didn’t win. So did Ollie Schniederjans in 2017. The highest winning score on the podium the last three seasons is 18-under, accomplished twice. The $1.157 winner’s portion (500 FedExCup) of the $6.4 million total purse will go a long way to determining final FedExCup positioning for next week. Recent Event Winner Stats Recent Winners 2020 – Jim Herman (-21, 259) Posted 63 on Sunday to win by a shot. … Trailed by four after 54 holes. … Third round 61 boosted him from T36 to T5. … 63-61 weekend ties lowest 36 holes for a winner on TOUR. … Picks up third win at age 42 in 192nd event. … Played the Par-5 5th hole in SIX-UNDER for the week. … Holed 440 feet of putts. … Third winner in four years to hit the top three in GIR (1st). … Fifth consecutive winner top five (T4) SG: Approach the Green. … Made three eagles (T1) on the week. … Wins for the second consecutive season on TOUR…. Made only two of eight cuts entering the week with best being T33. … First visit to Sedgefield since T18 in 2015. Notables in the field this week: Co 36-hole and solo 54-hole leader Si Woo Kim (T3) was 18-under before and after 54 holes. … Kevin Kisner (T3), on his preferred surface of Bermuda, posted 64-65-64 the final three rounds. … Doc Redman (T3) led the field in fairways hit (49/56). … Nothing worse than 66 for 2011 champ Webb Simpson (T3) as he picks up his fourth consecutive podium. … Zach Johnson (T7) matched Herman’s 61 for lowest round of the week. … Harold Varner III (T7) shared the first round lead with 62. … Russell Henley (T9) was third in GIR and T8 Fairways. … Sungjae Im (T9) backed up his T6 on debut in 2019. … Denny McCarthy (T9) rolled in 25 birdies. … 2013 champ Patrick Reed (T9) added his first top 10 since his maiden TOUR win. … Defending champ JT Poston (MC) shouldn’t feel too bad as nobody has defended this title. … Lift, clean and replace was used all four rounds. … Herman joined Johnson and Shane Lowry (T23; not entered this week) as players entering the top 125 and qualifying for the FedExCup Playoffs. … Record for most outside to inside the top 125 at Sedgefield is five players (multiple times). … Top 30 players 10-under or better. … 28 bogey-free rounds. … Cut was 3-under 137. … 68.779 scoring average. 2019 – JT Poston (22-under, 258) Ties the tournament record on 22-under as he won by a shot. … Closed with 62, tying the tournament’s lowest final round. … First winner on TOUR since 1974 to win an event with NO BOGEYS on the card. … First TOUR victory at age 26 in his 77th start. … Joins Webb Simpson, Patrick Reed and Si Woo Kim as first-time winners here. … Becomes third North Carolina native to win since 2008. … First podium on TOUR. … Entered the week T29-MC-T11-MC on TOUR. … Previous two events here MC and T50. Notables in the field this week: Webb Simpson (2nd) led the field in Fairways. … Byeong-Hun An (3rd) led or co-led after every round thru 54 holes and was bogey free until Sunday. … 2016 champ Si Woo Kim (5th) added another podium to his record here. … Brice Garnett (T6) was the only player in the top 21 to post a round of 70 in the final round. … Brian Harman (T6) enjoyed his first top 10 since T3 here in 2013. … Sungjae Im (T6) opened with 62 on his debut. … Jason Kokrak (T6) closed 16-under after opening with 70. … Rory Sabbatini (T6) picked up his third top 10 here in his last seven starts. … Defending champion Brandt Snedeker (T39) was 10-under. … Adam Svensson (T31; not entered) posted 61, low round of the week. … Lift, clean and replace used in Rounds 1 and 2 as three inches of rain was in the forecast for the first two days. … Top 47 players 10-under or better. … 41 bogey-free rounds. … 68.175 scoring average. 2018 – Brandt Snedeker (21-under, 259) Shot a final round 65 to win by three and claim is second title at this EVENT (2007, Forest Oaks Country Club). … At the time posted the 10th 59 in PGATOUR history as he opened 11-under. … Wire-to-wire winner as he led by four after 18 and two after 36 holes. … Due to weather, he played 29 holes on Sunday. … Garners win No. 9 on TOUR in his 306th start at age 37. … Picked up his third top five in five years at Sedgefield. … Entered the week with two top 10 finishes in his last four TOUR events. … Has not won since. Notables in the field this week: CT Pan (T2) circled 25 birdies. … Webb Simpson (T2) closed with 62, tying the tournament record. … Brian Gay (T6) signed for 63-62 in the middle but 70 and 69 bookends slowed him. … 2009 winner Ryan Moore (T6) added his third top 10 paycheck. … Ryan Armour (T8) was T4 GIR and T10 Fairways. … Nick Taylor (T8) opened with 65 and closed with 63. … Defending champion Henrik Stenson (T20) posted 13-under. … ZERO players in the top 23 had rounds ABOVE 70. … There were just three rounds above 70 for the top 40 players. … 40 players were 10-under or better. … 29 bogey-free rounds. … 69.399 scoring average. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2020-2021 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. Horses for Courses Top golfers entered this week and other exceptions

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Players poised to move into the postseason FedExCup PlayoffsPlayers poised to move into the postseason FedExCup Playoffs

August 10, 2021| 14:00

Eleven months of competition culminates this weekend at the Wyndham Championship, the final event of the 2020-2021 PGA TOUR regular season. While several of the tournament favorites this week in Greensboro have long since locked up their spot in the postseason, for many, this presents the final opportunity to make a move to secure a berth at THE NORTHERN TRUST. RELATED LINKS: Twenty First Group | FedExCup Standings Last year, three players moved from outside the top-125 into the Playoffs with their performances at Sedgefield Country Club: Jim Herman, Zach Johnson and Shane Lowry. That was on par with the average to move into the top-125 the last six years, as 18 players have done it total in that span. The most movement we have seen in the final event of the season is five players, done on three different occasions (2008, 2009 and 2015). Twenty First Group predictive modeling says that 113 players have a 99.9% chance or greater of advancing to the postseason. There are 17 players with between a 20 and 80 percent chance of moving on – many of which begin this week behind the top-125 barrier. After running 10,000 simulations of this week’s Wyndham Championship, taking into account current player form, course fit and other key statistics, here are the five players with the best chance to make the leap from outside the top-125 into playoff position this weekend in North Carolina. Scott Piercy Current FedExCup Rank: 126 Top-125 Probability: 46.5% Currently just one spot out of the Playoffs, TFG projects that Scott Piercy has a better than 46 percent chance to qualify for his seventh consecutive PGA TOUR postseason. Just a week ago, Piercy sat in 144th in the points race, but a third place finish at the Barracuda Championship vaulted the veteran up the standings. It was his first top-ten finish on the TOUR in nearly 18 months. Piercy has some strong course history at Sedgefield, having made the cut in each of his last six starts in Greensboro. Since 2016, he has gained more than half-a-stroke on the field tee-to-green, per round, at this event. Piercy’s best Wyndham Championship finish was a tie for eighth place in 2010. Rickie Fowler Current FedExCup Rank: 130 Top-125 Probability: 39.1% Earlier this season, Rickie Fowler was granted a special exemption into the PGA Championship. While the decision was somewhat controversial at the time, Fowler made the most of the opportunity, finishing in a tie for eighth place at Kiawah Island. With murmurs about his exemption audible, Rickie posted his best worldwide finish in 17 months. While that week featured one type of pressure, this week will present a more omnipresent form of it. Currently five spots out of the top-125, Fowler has less than a forty percent chance of advancing to THE NORTHERN TRUST. Fowler has never missed the postseason in his PGA TOUR career, having qualified every year since 2010. A closing 65 at The Open Championship, followed by an opening 64 at the 3M Open, had Fowler backers excited for a late-season surge. But Rickie failed to break 70 in any of the last three rounds in Minnesota, and finished tied for 34th. Fowler’s only previous career start at this event was in 2016, when he finished tied for 22nd. Will he answer the bell once more? Tommy Fleetwood Current FedExCup Rank: 136 Top-125 Probability: 37.6% With top-ten finishes in more than 21 percent of his career starts on the PGA TOUR, Tommy Fleetwood has typically made the most of his stateside appearances during his career. But with one event left in the 2021 regular season, Fleetwood finds himself on the outside looking in at the FedExCup Playoffs. Fleetwood’s most significant statistical dip this season has come in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, where he’s dropped from 24th to 153rd. Now 35th in the Official World Golf Ranking, Fleetwood is averaging 7.2 yards less off the tee this season compared to last. Considering that, maybe Sedgefield is the perfect layout for a resurgent week for the Englishman: winners of the Wyndham Championship since 2010 rank about 14 percent lower in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee than the PGA TOUR average during that span. Justin Rose Current FedExCup Rank: 138 Top-125 Probability: 34.5% Less than two-and-a-half years removed from being the number one ranked player in the world, Justin Rose is in an unfamiliar spot this week at the Wyndham Championship. Currently 13 spots out of the Playoffs, Rose is down nearly 100 spots this season compared to last in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (from 69th to 167th). Despite that, Rose has played his best golf in some of the biggest spots of the year. His two top-ten finishes on the PGA TOUR this season have both come at major championships: at the Masters, where he held the outright 36-hole lead, and the PGA Championship, where he closed with 67 to vault into a tie for eighth. Needing a big week in North Carolina, can the 10-time TOUR winner find that form again? Nate Lashley Current FedExCup Rank: 127 Top-125 Probability: 29.9% When Nate Lashley missed the cut last week at the Barracuda Championship, it moved him outside the top-125 in the FedExCup points race for the first time since last September. Now on the outside looking in, Lashley will need to avoid a fourth straight missed cut in order to qualify for the postseason. Thankfully for Lashley, his win at the 2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic will keep him on TOUR for next season, regardless of how he plays in Greensboro. Lashley made his debut at the Wyndham Championship in 2020, opening with 66 before ultimately finishing 77th. He will try to recapture that opening round performance this week and move on to the postseason.

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Webb Simpson continues his passion for junior golfWebb Simpson continues his passion for junior golf

August 10, 2021| 13:30

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Webb Simpson counts the 2012 U.S. Open and 2018 PLAYERS Championship among his seven PGA TOUR victories. He’s played on three Presidents Cups and a trio of Ryder Cups, as well. But that doesn’t mean the 36-year-old doesn’t remember being a teenager growing up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and wondering whether he’d ever be good enough to play the game he loved at the highest level. Or horror upon horrors, what he’d do if he couldn’t. Simpson hasn’t forgotten the many battles he had with crosstown rival Brendon Todd, who moved to nearby Cary when he was 11 and won the state high school title three times, either. Or the time he beat Todd in the championship match of the 1999 N.C. Junior Boys. Both went on to play college golf – Todd at Georgia, Simpson at Wake Forest – and are still pushing each other to excel, only now it’s on the PGA TOUR. Those memories are literally everywhere, and Simpson wanted to find a way to make more for the teenagers to come. That’s why he’s hosted the Webb Simpson Challenge for the last 12 years. And why he was only too happy to serve as honorary chairman of the U.S. Junior Amateur when it was played in July at the Country Club of North Carolina where Simpson has a second home. “I had such an amazing childhood of junior golf, just guys older than me letting me come play with them, and I think that’s part of the reason I developed at the rate I did, because I was always challenged by guys who were older, more experienced, better players,” Simpson says. “So, it just felt like a fun way for me to give back. “I love being around kind of the youth of the game who are passionate about golf. They want to get better. They might want to play college golf or even at the professional level.” But the Webb Simpson Challenge is more than competition. Much more. The way the seven-time TOUR winner, who is playing in the Wyndham Championship this week, sees it, the goal is to combine faith, fun and golf – essentially a hybrid of a camp and a golf tournament. This year’s event was held June 27-29 in Southern Pines. The competition is held at two of the area’s great old Donald Ross courses, Mid-Pines and the legendary Pine Needles, which will host its fourth U.S. Women’s Open next year. The teens stay at the Inn at Mid-Pines. The Webb Simpson Challenge is open to rising ninth grade boys through seniors in high school. On the high side, there have been about 90 participants. This year’s group was 49. What Simpson calls the “secret sauce” of the event are the nearly two dozen NCAA Division I and II golfers who come to hang out with the teenagers and act as small group leaders. All are part of the College Golf Fellowship, and many have previously attended the Challenge. “So now that I’m 36, these kids kind of look up to them more than me because they’re only a few years older and they’re these great college golfers,” Simpson says. “We’ve had guys pretty much every year, the top 10 of college golf rankings come. “And I think these juniors, we have a lot of repeats. They have so much fun doing it. Also, obviously the faith component, we tell them about our faith. And we’re very upfront about it on our website. So, it’s no surprise or anything. The parents know what they’re getting into. But most people have given us great feedback. One of those “repeats” is Stephen Franken, who has four top-10s on the Korn Ferry Tour this year. He came to the camp as a junior, then volunteered as a small group leader while he was playing golf for N.C. State. Franken came back again this year and spoke this year. Among the others giving their testimony were Peter Fountain, who won the ACC Tournament this year as a sophomore at the University of North Carolina, and William Kane, who was Simpson’s caddie for his first two years on TOUR and now works for the College Golf Fellowship. “We want to give these junior golfers access, not only to college golfers and what to expect, how to choose a college, what should be important to them, but also pro golf,” said Simpson, who attended the first two days of the event and did a clinic for the teenagers. “We really want to expose them to what they might be getting into with golf in the future.” Simpson has long had an association with Pinehurst and Southern Pines. As he was growing up, his parents owned several houses in the area, including three different ones at CCNC, where he now brings his own family of seven a couple of times a month. Once Simpson got his license, he’d drive down on the weekends, taking day trips to play golf or staying overnight when his parents were there. One of his fondest memories is of the 2007 Southern Amateur that he won on CCNC’s Dogwood Course with his late father on the bag. So, the memories are strong in the Sandhills, and with the Webb Simpson Challenge, he has come full circle. He calls the event “one of my favorite weekends of the year.” “There’s an energy about it I think that’s really fun,” Simpson says. “And it brings some nostalgia, and it brings memories back. Some of my favorite memories in golf, even though I’ve been a pro now for 13 years is junior golf going to two-day tournaments with my dad, or even in the amateur golf, playing some of these great courses that amateurs get to play before turning pro. “So, it doesn’t feel like work for me, it feels fun. And I’ve gotten a lot from them as well.”

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Expert Picks: Wyndham ChampionshipExpert Picks: Wyndham Championship

August 10, 2021| 13:03

How it works: Each week, our experts from PGATOUR.COM will make their selections in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. Each lineup consists of four starters and two bench players that can be rotated after each round. Adding to the challenge is that every golfer can be used only three times per each of four Segments. The first fantasy golf game to utilize live ShotLink data, PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf allows you to see scores update live during competition. Aside from the experts below, Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton breaks down the field at this year’s Wyndham Championship in this week’s edition of the Power Rankings. For more fantasy, check out Rookie Watch, Qualifiers and Reshuffle. THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN OUR EXPERTS? The PGA TOUR Experts league is once again open to the public. You can play our free fantasy game and see how you measure up against our experts below. Joining the league is simple. Just click here to sign up or log in. Once you create your team, click the “Leagues” tab and search for “PGA TOUR Experts.” After that? Pick your players and start talking smack. Want to represent the fans against our experts? SEASON SEGMENT

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$30,000 in beer? How cup snakes are bringing baseball fans back together$30,000 in beer? How cup snakes are bringing baseball fans back together

August 10, 2021| 12:56

A summer of stacking beer cups from coast to coast has shown the resilience of sports fans.

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Should New York Jets be concerned by Zach Wilson’s early hiccups?Should New York Jets be concerned by Zach Wilson’s early hiccups?

August 10, 2021| 12:00

Sure, the Jets’ first-round quarterback will gain valuable experience this season, but he doesn’t have a veteran backup to push him or be a safety net.

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Rebuilt Las Vegas Raiders defensive line searching for success, identityRebuilt Las Vegas Raiders defensive line searching for success, identity

August 10, 2021| 11:30

The Raiders hope offseason acquisitions such as Yannick Ngakoue and the maturation of younger players can add oomph to a pass-rush that needs it.

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Eagles want these four things from their QB; how does Jalen Hurts stack up?Eagles want these four things from their QB; how does Jalen Hurts stack up?

August 10, 2021| 11:30

Philadelphia’s projected starter has the leadership skills and ability to create plays, but there are other areas the signal-caller needs to sharpen.

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Arizona Cardinals’ Chase Edmonds and James Conner are RB1 and RB1AArizona Cardinals’ Chase Edmonds and James Conner are RB1 and RB1A

August 10, 2021| 11:30

While they will share the backfield this season, each will bring a unique skillset and body type to the Cardinals’ offense.

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Should New York Jets be concerned by Zach Wilson’s early hiccups?Should New York Jets be concerned by Zach Wilson’s early hiccups?

August 10, 2021| 11:30

Sure, the Jets’ first-round quarterback will gain valuable experience this season, but he doesn’t have a veteran backup to push him or be a safety net.

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