Who can win the Masters, and who has absolutely no shot

The Regular Season wraps up at the Wyndham Championship with no shortage of drama set to unfold around the top 125 on the FedExCup Eligibility Points List as players jockey for their place in the FedExCup Playoffs. Kevin Kisner returns to defend after winning a six-man playoff a year ago. FIELD NOTES: Will Zalatoris will be the highest-ranked player in the field at Sedgefield Country Club… Past FedExCup champions Billy Horschel and Justin Rose are also in the field… Four of the six players from last year’s playoff are returning to action at the Wyndham Championship – Kisner, Adam Scott, Roger Sloan, and Si Woo Kim, who won the 2016 Wyndham… 2019 Wyndham winner J.T. Poston returns to action; Poston recently picked up his second career win at the John Deere Classic… Other notables include East Carolina alum Harold Varner III, U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Davis Love III (who won his third Wyndham Championship in 2015 at age 51), past PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year Sungjae Im, and European major champs Danny Willett and Shane Lowry … William McGirt is playing in his final start of his Major Medical Extension… Sponsor exemptions include former college stars Chris Gotterup and Cole Hammer, along with former No.1-ranked amateur Trent Phillips of the University of Georgia. Gotterup, seventh in this year’s class of PGA TOUR U graduates, has made the cut in four of six PGA TOUR starts as a pro, highlighted by a T4 at the John Deere Classic. He’s already clinched his spot in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals and now has his PGA TOUR card for 2023 in sight after making the cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Hammer, best known for qualifying for the 2015 U.S. Open at the age of 15, was fifth in this year’s PGA TOUR U Ranking presented by Velocity Global. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: Sedgefield Country Club (Ross), par 70, 7,131 yards. The TOUR tees it up at a Donald Ross venue for the second week in a row, with Detroit Golf Club also a Ross design. Opened in the 1920s, Sedgefield has Ross’ typical small and undulating greens, although prior to last season is had yielded five straight winning totals of 20 under or lower. Sedgefield was restored to the original Ross design in 2007 but lengthened to accommodate the PGA TOUR. It has hosted each Wyndham Championship since 2008. STORYLINES: The Wyndham Championship marks the FedExCup Regular Season finale before the three-event FedExCup Playoffs get underway… Former Wyndham Championship winner Webb Simpson is seeking his second win at Sedgefield after several close calls. He has finished no worse than seventh in the last five Wyndhams, including two runners-up and two third-place finishes… Could there be another Chesson Hadley moment this season? Hadley was on the outside-looking-in a year ago, but fired a final-round 62 and moved to No.125… Sungjae Im and Billy Horschel have a chance to move into the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 with a good finish… The Wyndham Championship will mark the final television broadcast of long-time analyst and nine-time TOUR winner Sir Nick Faldo…Players also will be looking to crack the top 200 in the FedExCup Eligibility Points List to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. 72-HOLE RECORD: 258, Henrik Stenson (2017), JT Poston (2019) 18-HOLE RECORD: 59, Brandt Snedeker (1st round, 2018). LAST TIME: Kevin Kisner emerged from a dramatic six-man playoff to capture his fourth PGA TOUR title after a birdie on the second extra hole. Kisner began the day four shots off the lead and shot a final-round 66, which included birdies on Nos. 16 and 17. Kisner had lost in five TOUR playoffs previously, including three in 2015. Kevin Na, Branden Grace, Si Woo Kim, Adam Scott, and Roger Sloan were the others in the playoff. Scott had the best chance to win in the first playoff hole, but his 4-foot birdie try slid by. It was the third six-man playoff on the PGA TOUR, and first since 2001. Fifty-four-hole leader Russell Henley was amongst the group who finished at T7, one shot out of the playoff. He reached 17 under after making the turn but bogeyed four of his final eight holes, including No. 18, to drop out of contention. Chesson Hadley fired a final-round 62 (the round of the day, which included the first hole-in-one of his life) and moved from No.132 to No.125 in the FedExCup standings, earning the final spot in the FedExCup Playoffs by a single FedExCup point. HOW TO FOLLOW (All times ET) Television: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Phil Mickelson was 11 shots worse than his previous round at Quail Hollow. Bryson DeChambeau made an 8 on his 16th hole and headed straight for the exit. RELATED: Leaderboard | Rory McIlroy makes move at Wells Fargo Championship Turns out nothing was as bad as it seemed Friday in the Wells Fargo Championship. Morning gusts gave way to a relentless wind in the afternoon and had just about everyone trying to finish without too much damage. Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland had a 2-under 69 in the morning and shared the 36-hole lead with Matt Wallace (67) and Patrick Rodgers (68). No one in the afternoon could catch them at 6-under 136. Rory McIlroy will be playing on the weekend for the first time in two months. He shot a 66, and by the end of the day, that was good for a tie for fifth, two shots out of the lead. As for Mickelson? Never mind that he followed a 64 with a 75, losing a little focus at the end when different swing thoughts entered his head on holes with water, the wrong kind of ripple effect. “I’m excited to be in contention heading into the weekend, and I know I’m playing well,” Mickelson said. DeChambeau had reason to leave. Two balls in the water on the par-5 seventh led to his triple bogey and sent him to a 74. He was just inside the top 100 when he left without speaking. And then the wind arrived, the scores shot up and he made the cut on the number at 2-over 144. “The hardest conditions I’ve played in a while,” Justin Thomas said after a 73 that included a three-putt double bogey on the par-3 13th. His downhill putt from 18 feet caught a gust so strong it stopped 4 feet short. “Even the downwind holes were hard,” said Carlos Ortiz of Mexico, who has lived in Texas the last 12 years where he described typical conditions as “windy or windier.” Being used to it doesn’t make it easy, though Ortiz managed a 68, the best score in the afternoon. That left him in the group at 4-under 138. Mickelson was in the group another shot behind, determined to put an end to a drought so severe that he hasn’t finished among the top 20 in nine months. Everything felt and looked so easy when he opened with a 64. This was more of a challenge, particularly late in the round, and Mickelson felt his focus lapsing again. He hit into the water on the 14th while deciding whether to hit a draw or a cut (he still managed par; his wedge game is still among the best). After a good tee shot on the par-5 16th, Mickelson wasn’t quite sure what to do with his next one. He pulled it well right of the green, and his high flop shot landed too far and went over the edge. He chipped poorly to about 12 feet and turned what looked to be a sure birdie into a bad bogey. Two holes later, he found the water on the par-5 17th for a double bogey. “The back nine, I just wasn’t sharp,” Mickelson said. “I think an example of what I’ve been talking about is on 17, we’re standing over the ball and I’m changing my mind and I’m changing the shot, moving the clubhead a little bit. Instead of backing away and kind of refocusing, I just hit it and I’m not really aware of what I’m doing. So I’ve got to fix that.” In his mind, he threw away two shots on both the 15th and 17th holes, the difference of a score at par. “I just can’t keep doing that,” Mickelson said. “I’m optimistic for the weekend, though. McIlroy started the second round outside the projected cut line. He has not made it to the weekend since Bay Hill two months ago, which is factual and lacking context. That amounts to only three tournaments — missed cuts at THE PLAYERS Championship and Masters, not advancing from his group at WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. He turned it around quickly, starting with one of his few bad drives. This one on the 14th sailed well to the right of the bunkers, gallery, everything but the mansions just outside the property. He tried to land his wedge anywhere near the green, and just his good fortune, it trundled onto the putting surface and stopped a foot away. That sent him to five birdies over his next eight holes, and right in the mix. “That was probably the catalyst to going on a nice little run,” McIlroy said. Woodland was all smiles. He missed the cut badly last week at Innisbrook, called Butch Harmon and decided to go back to his previous coaches, Harmon and Pete Cowen. It didn’t take long for him to feel better. His hip isn’t bothering him and his swing feels great. Woodland still hasn’t figured out the final stretch, Nos. 16-18, playing them in 3 over through two rounds. But he likes where he’s headed. “I’ve seen some shots this week that I just haven’t seen in a long time,” he said. “The golf swing feels so much better. Confidence has gone way up, which I did not have really in the last year. … It’s exciting right now.” Not so excited was Jon Rahm. He made a late charge until finishing with two bogeys for a 70 to miss the cut for the first time in 11 months.

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