Bubble boys vault into the mix at Sedgefield

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Geoff Ogilvy’s season, and his TOUR card, were in danger. It was enough to inspire a clutch performance in the second round of the Wyndham Championship. He birdied five of his final seven holes Friday to shoot 66 and keep his FedExCup Playoffs hopes alive. He stands at 4-under 136 (70-66). Ogilvy, 40, owns eight PGA TOUR victories, including a major and three World Golf Championships, but he arrived at the Wyndham Championship clinging to the final spot in the postseason. He was just seven FedExCup points ahead of No. 126 Cameron Tringale; the top 125 earn spots in next week’s THE NORTHERN TRUST. A missed cut would’ve led to, “a pretty depressing plane ride home,â€� Ogilvy said. He likely would have missed the Playoffs and lost his full PGA TOUR status if he failed to make the weekend. That early departure seemed likely after he made bogey on Sedgefield Country Club’s second hole, his 11th of the day. It dropped him to 1 over par, four or five shots outside of the projected cut line with just seven holes remaining. The pressure induced his best play. “It was do it or go home,â€� Ogilvy said. “If I’m playing OK, I play better when there’s a bit of pressure.â€� His rally started with a 16-foot birdie putt at the third hole. He birdied the next three holes, as well. A fortuitous bounce off a cart path left him with just a pitching wedge into the par-5 fifth hole. He stuck his 102-yard approach shot at the eighth hole to 2 feet for another birdie before parring his final hole of the day. “It’s nice to feel it. Only people who play out here understand that coming down the last few holes on Friday for the cut line is almost as hard as coming down the last few holes Sunday,â€� said Ogilvy the 2006 U.S. Open champion. “It’s different. It’s nerves on a Sunday, but pressure on a Friday. You feel uncomfortable. I have two more cracks at it.” BACK AGAINST THE WALL There are two par-5s at Sedgefield Country Club. Johnson Wagner needed just five shots to play them Friday. An albatross and an eagle helped Wagner shoot 64 on Friday and vault into contention. “It was incredible,â€� Wagner said. “I was kind of struggling early, making some pars and just hit a perfect shot. … I was lucky today.â€� At No. 141 in the FedExCup, Wagner estimates that he needs a top-10 finish to crack the top 125 in the standings. He’ll enter the weekend three shots behind leader Henrik Stenson. Wagner used a 5-iron to hole his second shot on Sedgefield Country Club’s par-5 fifth hole. He eagled the other par-5, No. 15, when he hit a 3-iron to 29 feet and made the putt. Wagner has three albatrosses in competition (two on the PGA TOUR and one on the Web.com Tour), but does not have a hole-in-one in a tournament. Wagner is accustomed to this position. This is the fifth consecutive season he’s been outside the top 125 in the FedExCup standings after July 1. He’s kept his card in three of the previous four seasons. Eight of his 11 top-10s in the previous five seasons have come after July 1. “I like to make it really hard and challenging on myself,â€� Wagner said. “I like to be outside the number at the end of the year and have to play my best golf coming down the stretch.â€� WHAT AN HONOR Arnold Palmer’s alma mater, Wake Forest University, is just 35 minutes from Sedgefield Country Club, a course that he played during his historic PGA TOUR career. Palmer was honored Tuesday with a plaque on the Wall of Champions that sits behind Sedgefield’s ninth green. Palmer’s grandson, Sam Saunders, took part in Tuesday’s ceremony. Then he got to work. Saunders started the Wyndham Championship at No. 127 in the FedExCup. He’s trying to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time in his career. He’s off to a good start in that quest. Saunders, 30, followed Thursday’s 63 with a 2-under 68 on Friday. He’s missed just five greens in two days. He’s not thinking about a Playoffs berth and his PGA TOUR card, though. “The objective is to try to win a golf tournament,â€� Saunders said. His best PGA TOUR finish is a runner-up at the 2015 Puerto Rico Open, where he lost in a playoff.

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