Akie Iwai goes low with 63 to lead Japan Classic

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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D.J. Trahan … Despite two wins early in his PGA TOUR career and generally modest success for a number of seasons, it cannot be easy to accept moonlighting on the Korn Ferry Tour while accepting opportunities to compete in a TOUR event with status merely as a former champion. Yet, he turned it into 14 starts last season, converting three of those into top 10s and another two into top 20s, including a T18 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, his third career top 20 in the tournament. Still, he wouldn’t escape his category until a T7 at the KFT Championship yielded the last TOUR card up for grabs. Back in business in the big leagues, he’s 91st in the FedExCup with a pair of top 25s. He’s also turning back the clock with his ball-striking as he’s eighth in total driving, 35th in GIR, T11 in proximity and 33rd in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. Sung Kang … He collected his first PGA TOUR victory at the AT&T Byron Nelson last year, but it’s only recently that he’s filed relatively consistent performances. Since the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open five months ago, he’s cashed six of seven times, thrice for a top 25. At Torrey Pines two weeks ago, he was in position to strike entering the final round, but faded to finish T16. His tee-to-green game has sustained him over time and it’s the reason why he finished T14 at Pebble Beach last year. For the week, he ranked T8 in fairways hit, led the field in greens in regulation, and even finished third in scrambling. Also placed T17 here in 2016. NOTE: Each of the last three golfers featured here is a product of nearby Stanford University. The Cardinal won the 2019 NCAA Men’s Championship. Patrick Rodgers … Before and after he missed about four months with hand and wrist soreness last year, he wasn’t flashing any form. That finally changed after the holiday hiatus as he’s opened 2020 with four consecutive cuts made with a T9 at the Farmers Insurance Open and a T16 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open as the nearest objects in the rear-view mirror. Textbook brilliant putting at Torrey Pines slotted him second in putting: birdies-or-better, but it was his tee-to-green precision at TPC Scottsdale that piggybacked the strong effort. Last week, he was third in total driving and T6 in greens hit. Finished T8 in his tournament debut at Pebble Beach in 2018. Maverick McNealy … It doesn’t seem like all that long ago that he was torn between life in the business world or life as a tournament professional. That’s because it wasn’t, but the 24-year-old has paid off the decision. After two solid seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour, he’s generated consistency as a PGA TOUR rookie thanks in no small part to the guidance of coach Butch Harmon and LPGA pro, Danielle Kang, who doubles as his girlfriend. McNealy laces up for his second crack at Pebble Beach having made eight straight cuts with a season-best solo 15th in his most recent at Torrey Pines. A bold but confident approach on the greens has him 10th in putting: birdies-or-better. Brandon Wu … Former college and Walker Cup teammate Isaiah Salinda also is in the field at Pebble Beach – and both were Stanford teammates with McNealy for two years – but Wu has had a little more success since turning professional last fall. He’s 3-for-3 on the PGA TOUR with a T17 at the Houston Open and a pair of T55s. Now exhausting his fourth sponsor exemption, his accuracy off the tee will serve him well as his education is tested at this level. He made news at Pebble Beach last summer when he was presented with his diploma after the conclusion of his final round of the U.S. Open in which he finished T35. Two weeks later, he successfully navigated Final Qualifying for The Open Championship to become the first amateur in 52 years to qualify for both Opens in the same year. Wu will turn 23 on Feb. 17. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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