Anonymous PGA golfer says there is one player on Tour who ‘everyone knows’ is ‘a cheater’

GREENSBORO, N.C. – K.J. Choi was drenched in sweat after a marathon session on the driving range at the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club on Monday. The range soon filled up with the heavily sponsored (Australian Ryan Ruffels) and the sponsorless (Brian Davis). There were PGA TOUR winners like Smylie Kaufman, who’d been trading texts with pal and PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas; three-time major champion Padraig Harrington; Chad Campbell; Vaughn Taylor; Andres Gonzales; Jason Bohn; and others. It was an unusually busy place for a Monday, and for good reason. Players who are south of the all-important line of demarcation on TOUR, the top 125 in the FedExCup, still have time for one last push. With a solid showing at the Wyndham, they could crack the top 125 and make it to the FedExCup playoffs lid-lifter, THE NORTHERN TRUST next week. Without it—well, it’s hello, Web.com Finals and/or time for some serious soul-searching. “It’s been one of those years, man,� said Kaufman, who at 135 in the FedExCup will have to play his way to New York next week. “I wish I could’ve done a lot of things different. If this week goes well, fine; if not, I’ll be ready and rested for the fall. But if I have a good week this week, who knows, I could be in the TOUR Championship before you know it.� At least Kaufman has job security. He won the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open last season, so he’s exempt on TOUR through the end of 2017-’18. Still, he has said it would be “inexcusable� to miss the playoffs this year, so he’s making his first start as a pro at Sedgefield. Crack the top 125 and players will not only earn a berth in the playoffs, they’ll remain fully exempt on TOUR next season (if they’re not already). Finish this week ranked Nos. 126-150 and they’ll be conditionally exempt. Nos. 126-200 in FedExCup points get into the four-week Web.com Tour Finals, starting with the Nationwide Children’s Championship, Aug. 31. Sam Saunders (127) dedicated a plaque in remembrance of his late grandfather Arnold Palmer at Sedgefield on Tuesday afternoon, then hung around to speak to the media in part about his own game. Saunders needs a good finish here, and he has reason for optimism. He finished T14 at the 2015 Wyndham, and enjoyed a much-needed break last week after a solid eighth-place finish at the Barracuda Championship in Reno—his sixth tournament in a row. “The game’s good,� he said. The 30-year-old from Atlantic Beach, Florida, knows how important it is to move up a few spots this week. Ultimately, though, he admits he has loftier aspirations. “These past few weeks, I’ve really been putting myself in position to where I can win a tournament,� Saunders said of the Barracuda and the RBC Canadian Open (T19) before that. Careers hang in the balance every week, but at the Wyndham that’s especially apparent. Kyle Stanley, who with Shawn Stefani was one of two who pushed into the top 125 at the Wyndham last year, kept going and got his first win since 2012 at the Quicken Loans National in July. The occasion saw Stanley openly weeping at his return to the TOUR’s upper echelon. Five fought their way into the playoffs at the Wyndham two years ago, just one did so in 2014, and no one achieved the feat in 2013. In the history of the FedExCup, no one outside the top 125 at the start of the Wyndham has made it all the way to the TOUR Championship. As usual, there are some big names among those on the outside looking in—or barely hanging on—this week at Sedgefield C.C., a Donald Ross track that dates to 1925. The Bubble Boy at 125 is Geoff Ogilvy, who won the 2006 U.S. Open but at 40 is using a one-time-only exemption (top 50 in career money) to play the TOUR. “I’m not done yet,� he said after his second-round 65 at the Quicken Loans National earlier this summer (T13). Ogilvy will be an assistant to International captain Nick Price at the biennial Presidents Cup at Liberty National, Sept. 28-Oct. 1, but to his point, he certainly doesn’t look done as a player himself. What’s more, he sounds far from worried going into this week. “Worst case scenario; finishing 126th or 127th is usually good for 13 or 14 events next year, as well as a few [sponsor’s] invites I can probably get,� Ogilvy told the Australian AP. Daniel Summerhays (124) was in contention to win the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, but shot a final-round 78 to finish T10. “I will be back,� he said. And he was. The affable Utahan Summerhays gave himself a chance at the Quicken Loans, only to falter again, this time shooting a final-round 74 to finish T17. Now he’s here at the Wyndham. Spencer Levin, T5 at the Quicken Loans, is also here, looking to move up from 159th. Ben Crane, a 54-hole co-leader at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, faded with a final-round 73 to tie for 10th. He comes to North Carolina looking to move up from 147th in the FedExCup. The players who are furthest down the points list have arguably the most on the line this week. Take Arjun Atwal, 44, who can still play on the Asian Tour by virtue of his victory at the 2014 Dubai Open. As a resident of Orlando, he’d rather play in America, but Atwal, who won the 2010 Wyndham as a Monday qualifier, has little so little status on TOUR he has had to rely on Monday-qualifying (FedEx St. Jude Classic) and sponsor invites (Quicken) this season. “It’s been hard to get into any kind of rhythm,� Atwal said at the Quicken, where he got off to a rousing start but ultimately faded to a T55 finish with rounds of 68-67-75-77. Languishing at 225th in the FedExCup, he would help his career immensely just by moving into the top 200. So would the highly touted Australian teen-ager Ruffels.  There are a handful of major winners in the Wyndham field: Hall of Famer Ernie Els (213) and fellow South African Retief Goosen (161) join Harrington (199), Monday qualifier Y.E. Yang (217), Graeme McDowell (131) and of course Ogilvy (125). Kaufman wouldn’t mind joining that group, but knows he’s got to get going if he wants to join major talents like them and spring break pals Spieth and Thomas. And so—Sedgefield. “I played in two FootJoy Invitationals here, junior events,� Kaufman said. “I finished probably around 20th both times, so not bad. Last time I was here, I was having college coaches watch me, so this will be a little different. I about killed the North Carolina coach, I remember. I hit a snap-hook off the tee.� Kaufman laughed. “He didn’t offer me a scholarship.� Amid the tense atmosphere at the Wyndham, such levity will be rare.

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Torrey Pines specialist Jason Day is in danger of missing the U.S. Open at the iconic coastal venue and could leave next week’s PGA Championship, or this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson, at any stage for the birth of his fourth child. The Australian has always put family first and said wife Ellie is due in early June but hits full term on her pregnancy this Friday, leaving him on call for an early departure as he looks to recapture past success in Texas. The last time he missed a major – the 2012 Open Championship – was for the birth of Dash, the couple’s first child. “If I’m playing golf, whatever, it doesn’t matter. I just want to make sure that I see the birth of our fourth child … I could get a call this week or next week. Ellie’s two to three centimeters dilated and 15% effaced, and her belly has already dropped. In the next four weeks it can come,” Day said. “If it happens to be on Sunday at a major championship where I’m in contention, it happens. You got to do it. I’m not going to miss it because I’m in contention. It would be nice to win, but family is forever.” The former Dallas resident claimed the first of his 12 PGA TOUR wins at the 2010 AT&T Byron Nelson and has four top-10s from his five tournament appearances – the sort of success he desperately needs if he’s to find his way into the field for June’s U.S. Open. While the PGA Championship comes sooner, Day circled the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines on the calendar as soon as it was announced in 2014 – a year before he would win the first of his two Farmers Insurance Open’s at the San Diego venue. He had finished runner-up at Torrey just a few months earlier and having won a Junior World title there as a kid the former world No. 1 had always loved the venue. His passion grew over time, particularly as he watched Tiger Woods win time and time again on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, including his epic triumph at the 2008 U.S. Open. But despite finishing inside the top five in half of his 10 U.S. Open appearances, the 33-year-old is yet to be exempt for the tournament and at 62nd in the world rankings sits on the outside looking in as key qualifying dates approach. Day must find a way inside the world top 60 on either May 24 (after the PGA Championship) or June 7 (after the Memorial Tournament Presented by Nationwide) to qualify as he’s already stated he does not intend to join sectional qualifying in his hometown Columbus because of a sponsor conflict. “I haven’t even thought about missing a major championship in a very long time. I’m obviously on the border of missing (Torrey). I’ve got to play well in the next two weeks,” Day said. “Obviously I would love to play the Torrey Pines U.S. Open because I’ve had a lot of success around that golf course.” His 2021 has been far from stellar thus far and he suits up in Texas off two straight missed cuts and with just one top-10 (T7, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am). Day admits his confidence has taken a hit as distractions puncture his game and his once dominant putting prowess has waned. The 33-year-old has returned to work with former mental coach Jason Goldsmith, who was with him during his near year-long stint as world No. 1 in 2015-16, as he looks to rediscover some old swagger. First step is getting through the moments of doubt and finding love in the grind again. “I’m just trying to build that confidence. I feel like my game is starting to come around nicely and I’m starting to feel good about it,” Day said. “I know I’ve got to keep persisting. If I don’t do it, it’s not going to be enjoyable for me. If it’s not enjoyable for me, I may as well retire. I can’t play the way that I’m going and beat my head against a wall, essentially. “But, then on the other hand I’m like, ‘No, you can’t quit. You got to keep pushing, stay persistent, stay positive, patient, keep moving forward,’ and it’ll come back. Right now I’m trying to do that.”

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