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This is an important week for Morgan Hoffmann and his inspirational attempt to continue his PGA TOUR career after being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. The Travelers Championship marks the final start of the medical extension he was granted after being diagnosed with the disease. The Oklahoma State alum returned to the TOUR earlier this year after spending two-and-a-half years away from competitive golf as he immersed himself in the world of alternative medicine and took a holistic approach to managing the disease, including moving to Costa Rica for a time. After returning to the TOUR, Hoffmann missed the cut at both the RBC Heritage and Wells Fargo Championship, leaving one start remaining on his medical extension. Hoffmann’s medical extension began in the 2018 season, so all his points earned since the start of that season are combined and compared to the FedExCup standings for that season. He was fully exempt for 2018 after finishing 81st in the previous year’s FedExCup but made only nine starts before stepping away from the game. Here’s a closer look at what Hoffmann faces this week in that final start of his medical extension. Hoffmann, who has earned 139.04 FedExCup points since the start of 2018, will be looking to surpass the 150th position in the 2018 FedExCup standings (266 points) to earn conditional TOUR status for the remainder of the season or No. 125 (383) to have full status for the remainder of the season. He is credited with all points earned since 2018, and judged against the 2018 FedExCup standings, because that is the season that was interrupted by injury. Hoffmann needs to earn 238.42 FedExCup points this week — equivalent to a two-way T2 or better — to remain fully exempt on TOUR for the remainder of the season. He needs 127.098 FedExCup points – a solo fourth or better — to remain conditionally exempt on TOUR and play out of the Nos. 126-150 category for the remainder of the season. Should Hoffmann fail to cross those thresholds this week, he will still have conditional Korn Ferry Tour status for the remainder of the season because he already has surpassed No. 200 in the 2018 FedExCup standings. Even if he does not earn any FedExCup points this week, he can play on the Korn Ferry Tour for the remainder of the season out of the category for Nos. 151-200 on the previous year’s FedExCup standings. He cannot qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals entry based solely on the FedExCup points he earned during his medical extension, however, because he already competed in the 2019 Finals while on this same extension. Hoffmann could qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, however, if after this week he earns enough points to finish among the top 75 on the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points Ranking. He also could play in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals this year if he earns more non-member FedExCup points than No. 200 in the FedExCup standings after the Wyndham Championship (points earned this week would count toward that total), though he will need to rely on sponsor exemptions and Monday qualifying for starts if he does not fulfill his extension this week. His TOUR status for next season will be determined based solely on his points accrued via this season, with no carryover from previous seasons. He has missed the cut in both of his PGA TOUR starts this season. He also can go to the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament to earn Korn Ferry Tour status for 2023. He is exempt into the second stage of Q-School by virtue of having made 100 combined cuts on the PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour. Hoffmann is scheduled to tee off at 8:15 a.m. ET Thursday alongside Bill Haas and Trey Mullinax.

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GREENSBORO, N.C. – Russell Henley planned to head back to the hotel on Saturday night and help his wife entertain their two young children. RELATED: Tee times moved up for final round | FedExCup update from Saturday He’d probably read to them before they go to bed. Shoot, the man who owns a three-stroke lead through three rounds of the Wyndham Championship might even change a dirty diaper or two. “They’ll wear you out,” Henley said, good-naturedly. How’s that for putting life in perspective? And it’s just what Henley figures he needs as he contemplates Sunday’s run at what would be his fourth PGA TOUR title. It will be a quick turnaround, with tournament officials opting to start off two tees with players in threesomes from 7-9:01 a.m. on Sunday to beat what approaching storms. And the field will face a different course at Sedgefield Country Club that absorbed heavy overnight rains. Henley plans to be ready, though. The lanky Georgian admits that he was a little tentative on Saturday. Nervous, even. And he never could quite get things going like he had in shooting rounds of 62 and 64 to grab the lead at the midway point of the tournament. In fact, until Henley made a 33-footer for eagle at the 15th hole, a third-straight score in red numbers on the normally generous Donald Ross layout was hardly a sure bet. He eventually closed with a three-putt bogey for a 69 that sent him home looking to clear his mind. “I’ve never had a four-shot lead, so just kind of dealing with all the thoughts that are not wanted in my head and just trying to focus on what I want to do,” Henley explained. “The first two days everything was obviously going my way and I was playing really well and scoring well, so that’s not going to happen every time. “These rounds are kind of what make and break really good tournaments, so I’m really thankful to be under par today.” Three other players have held the lead outright after each of the first three rounds this year – Sam Burns at The Genesis Invitational, Louis Oosthuizen at the Open Championship and Harris English at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. If Henley comes out on top Sunday, though, he would be the first of the four to go on to win. He would also be the first wire-to-wire winner at what is usually a volatile Wyndham Championship since Brandt Snedeker won his second title in 2018. Among those chasing Henley on a generally generous course that yielded a 59 to Snedeker in 2018 are Tyler McCumber, who is alone in second, and a pack of six tied at 11 under that includes the recent Olympic silver medalist who represented his wife’s homeland of Slovakia, Rory Sabbatini. Sabbatini came to Greensboro after celebrating in Bratislava and quickly got down to business. There is a sense of urgency this week because he’s doesn’t have his playing privileges locked up for the 2021-22 season – although he’s currently projected to move from No. 141 to 122 in the FedExCup. If he stays inside the top 125 come Sunday, he’ll keep his card and can save his career-money exemption for another rainy day. As an added bonus, Sabbatini would be headed for Liberty National and THE NORTHERN TRUST, the first FedExCup Playoffs event. “I do potentially have a flight reservation, but I don’t know which direction,” he said earlier in the week. Also among those tied for third is Kevin Kisner, a fan favorite and like Henley, a former Georgia Bulldog, who has finished tied for eighth, 10th and third in three of his last four starts at Sedgefield. He would have owned second alone, too, on Saturday had it not been for bogeys on his last two holes. The mission on Sunday is simple for the 37-year-old from Aiken, South Carolina. “Struck it nicely all day and gave myself a ton of chances,” Kisner said. “Two three-putts. Could have been really special. I gave myself chances all day, I don’t think I missed but two greens, the first and the last. Keep that up and try to get rid of those dumb bogeys.” McCumber is also a lock to make the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time in just his second year on TOUR. He’s found some momentum at Sedgefield, which he calls a “thinker’s course,” too, after missing the cut in his last six starts. “Golf doesn’t always give you the results you want,” said McCumber, who finished second at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship last fall. “You’ve got to stay in the process, and I feel like I’ve been doing that pretty well and getting rewarded for it through the first three rounds this week, so taking that momentum into tomorrow.” He won’t be the only one, though. There are 14 players within five shots of Henley’s lead, including Webb Simpson, the 2011 champ, who has finished tied for third or better in each of the last four years. The 70 he shot on Saturday ended a streak of 18 consecutive sub-par rounds at the Wyndham and included his first triple bogey at Sedgefield in 846 holes. He’s in a group of six tied at 10 under – that includes former major champions Adam Scott and Justin Rose — after chipping in for par on the final hole. “It was a perfect ending to a very weird day, very frustrating day,” said Simpson, who was headed to the range to work out a recurring miss-hit to the left. “I had the position to shoot 4, 5 under again and just didn’t get it done.” Don’t be surprised to see someone go even lower than that on Sunday as they race to the finish line.

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