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GREENSBORO, N.C. – Ryan Moore didn’t exactly come to the Wyndham Championship with visions of playing his way into the FedExCup Playoffs. He was ranked No. 183 on the eligibility list, after all. Not that he’d done the math – Moore maintains he was “just trying to find a little form” this week — but only a finish of second or better would lift him into the all-exempt 125 category and send him into the Playoffs. “I’m trying to do whatever I can this week,” Moore explained. “I’m just trying to gain some confidence going into next season, to be honest.” Mission accomplished, then, at least through the first two rounds. Moore is tied for the lead with Brandon Wu, Sungjae Im and Tom Kim entering the weekend at Sedgefield Country Club. He’s currently projected No. 68 in the FedExCup and could become just the third player to ride a victory at the Wyndham Championship into the top 125. Davis Love III was the first to do so when he moved from No. 186 to 76th in winning the tournament for the third time in 2015. Jim Herman also booked a trip to the Playoffs with his 2020 victory, jumping from 192nd to No. 54. Moore has also won the Sam Snead Cup, capturing the PGA TOUR’s Regular Season finale in 2009, the first of his five victories. He’s battled a chronically bad back of late, though, and he’s been particularly affected this year, missing nearly four months of competition. Doctors have finally identified the problem – Moore has chronic deterioration in a costovertebral joint that connects the rib to the spine. It won’t require surgery, but Moore will need to set aside six to eight weeks of treatment. “I basically just keep spraining it over and over and over again, which you can imagine doesn’t feel great twisting and swinging a golf club as hard as I can,” he said. “I’ll just try to finish out the year and deal with it and then hopefully have some time coming up here to do it.” Moore has missed as many cuts as he’s made this year, but the former NCAA and U.S. Amateur champ has yet to post a top-10 finish. His best is a tie for 24th at the John Deere Classic, a shotmaker’s course like Sedgefield where Moore tied for second last year. Moore’s rounds of 65 and 66 were a study in contrast. He drove it well on Thursday and had three approach shots on his second nine that nestled within a foot of the hole. Friday, though, was a little more “scrappy,” but he managed to scramble well and save par when it counted. “A day like today easily could have been even or so; instead, kept my momentum and ended up at 4 under,” he said. The 39-year-old Moore has never been a big hitter, and he says there are fewer and fewer courses he feels that he can be competitive on. Sedgefield, though, is one where he has a comfort zone – posting six top 10s and a scoring average of 68.25. “This one still remains like more of a shotmaker’s golf course, blind tee shots a lot and shorter and tougher angles,” Moore said. “So, they’re just harder fairways to hit at times and they’re not holes that you can just send it down there as far as you possibly can every single hole, so I think that helps me. It’s more of a position golf course and you don’t have to hit it far around here.” Max McGreevy came to Greensboro having missed the cut in six of his last seven starts. He’s found a comfort zone at Sedgefield, though, where he once played in an AJGA event. The 67 McGreevy fired in the second round of the Wyndham Championship put him in the hunt at 5 under. He’s also projected inside the top 125, moving four spots to No. 122. “I know it’s a stressful week, but I know my game’s been in the right direction the last couple weeks,” he said. “… Just my fiancée and I and our dog this week. It’s just kind of relaxing in a sense, just getting out here, taking care of business and going back and relaxing with them.” That said, McGreevy joked that his future wife should probably have taken his phone away from him the last few days. “I’m pretty bad about checking a lot,” he said. “I already deleted the PGA TOUR app this week and Twitter and all that stuff. Honestly, I’ll look at it a little bit, but at the same time I can only play my game, can’t take care of what everybody else does. “If I play like I did today the next two days, I know I’ll be in good shape.” NOTES: Charlie Hoffman’s streak of making the FedExCup Playoffs every year of its existence is still alive – but he faces an uphill battle. He’s 4 under after matching rounds of 68 but he was projected 146th and likely needs to finish fourth or better to get inside the top 125. … Adam Scott, who is tied at 2 under, and Matt Kuchar (who is 51st and not playing this week) are the other two who have played in the Playoffs every year since the program began in 2007. Scott came into the Wyndham Championship ranked No. 73. … Rickie Fowler shot even par and will miss the cut. While he is exempt for the 2022-23 season, he is in danger of missing the Playoffs for the second straight year. He came in ranked No. 123 and was projected 127th. … Justin Lower shot 4 under on his second nine holes Friday to keep his Playoff hopes alive. Lower, who came into the week ranked No. 128 and projects at 131, shot 66 and made the cut on the number at 2 under. He likely needs to finish 37th or better to play in Memphis next week. … Webb Simpson, who won the Wyndham Championship in 2011, withdrew during the weather delay. The recently named Presidents Cup assistant captain, who has never missed the Playoffs when he was eligible, entered the tournament ranked No. 117 and is projected No. 123. … Martin Trainer moved up nine spots to No. 126 thanks to his second straight round of 67. He likely needs to finish tied for 18th to retain his exempt status and make the Playoffs. PLAYOFFS BUBBLE WATCH Here are the players who were projected to move in and out of the top 125 at the end of Thursday’s first round at Sedgefield Country Club. PROJECTED IN Ryan Moore (No. 183, Projected No. 68): Moore made the biggest move of the day with his round of 66. Max McGreevy (No. 126, Projected No. 122): The rookie birdied his 17th hole of the day to move inside the top 125. Brian Stuard (No. 137, Projected No. 124): Stuard has now shot consecutive rounds in the 60s for the first time since the Valspar Championship. PROJECTED OUT Rickie Fowler (No. 123, Projected No. 127): Fowler bogeyed three of his first four holes but played his next 14 in 4 under to shoot 69. Still, he is 2 over for the tournament and likely to miss the cut. Matt Wallace (No. 124, Projected No. 128): Wallace had an adventurous back nine, making four birdies, four bogeys and just one par. Austin Smotherman (No. 125, Projected No. 129): He was 4 over for the day and 1 under for the tournament through 15 holes when play was called due to darkness. The current projected cut includes 65 players at 2 under or better and 88 players at 1 under or better. Four players can affect the cut on Saturday, including Smotherman, Bo Hoag (3 under through 16), Chris Gotterup (2 under through 17) and Joshua Creel (even through 17).

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There are 23 rookies enduring (embracing?) the learning curve on the PGA TOUR this season, but gamers aren’t exempt from a similar experience. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO launched for the 2015 PLAYERS, which means that it’s beginning its third full season this fall. It also means that it’s that time of year when new gamers are learning the ropes. The most common question right now is how to select players. Not that those gamers are aware, but the better question is when to select your players. If you’re navigating the platform at FantasyGolf.PGATOUR.com on Mondays and not familiar with where to go, you’re going to need to be aware of the process of turning over tournaments. You can choose golfers as far in advance as you’d like on the “My Roster” page. Simply click on “SELECT TOURNAMENT” in the upper right. When you do, three events populate a pop-up. (When you click on “More>>,” a slide-out of the entire season appears.) However, the actual field for every tournament isn’t loaded until sometime on Tuesdays. So, if you beat it, you run the risk of inserting a golfer who either didn’t commit or who committed but has since withdrawn. If this happens to you, you should receive an alert indicating that one or more of your golfers is not scheduled to compete. I tweet all field changes after the published field is released. You do not need to register for Twitter to read my public tweets. As the PGA TOUR travels north to South Korea for THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, set a reminder that the tournament is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 18. That’s 4 p.m. on the West Coast and 1 p.m. in Hawaii. Adjust accordingly. Despite my multiple notices last week, not to mention all of the other resources at your fingertips to indicate tee times, there were still gamers who either forgot about the location of the CIMB Classic or failed to read for top-of-mind awareness. It’s not as damaging in the One & Done, but if you’re chasing Segment and season-long prizes in the Roster game, it could cost you. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO My roster for THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES (in alphabetical order): Paul Casey Jason Day Tony Finau Russell Henley Marc Leishman Justin Thomas You’ll find my starters in Expert Picks. Others to consider for each category (in alphabetical order): Scoring: Brian Harman; Anirban Lahiri; Luke List; Pat Perez; Patrick Reed; Xander Schauffele; Ollie Schniederjans; Cameron Smith Driving: n/a Approach: n/a Short: n/a Power Rankings Wild Card Patrick Reed … After four straight trips to the CIMB Classic, he was a surprising DNP last week even though he’s logged only one top 25, so it’s refreshing to see him back in action on Jeju Island. His love for travel is documented, but inconsistent ball-striking kept him from populating the Power Rankings. That said, his short game is so good that it barely matters. You may recall persistent attention to a regression in his greenside game early in 2017. It was reflective in his results. Well, it’s important to update that he went from ranking 178th in scrambling at the conclusion of THE PLAYERS to finishing the season 41st. The improvement was directly proportional to an uptick in overall form. Since scrambling is of value at Nine Bridges, he should remain on his current trajectory. Draws Adam Scott … Forgive his fizzling finish to the 2016-17 season as it coincided with the birth of his second child. All that means is that he’s slipped through the side door and into this week’s field. That presents opportunity in DFS. Starting anew in South Korea, the Aussie is determined to reconnect with the kind of electric ball-striking that yielded consecutive victories early in 2016. Lucas Glover … He possesses one of the lowest ball flights in the field and he’s one of the best ball-strikers of his generation. That combination alone makes him an easy fit at Nine Bridges. The bonus is his form upon arrival. A T7 in Malaysia was his second top 15 in his last three starts. Simply no need to overthink him in any format. Plug him in with confidence. Ian Poulter … Low ball flight, a course that won’t overwhelm him and more than enough inspiring form for months is all the reason DFSers need to buy. Byeong Hun An (DFS) Chad Campbell (all) Graham DeLaet (DFS) Brian Harman (DFS) Robert Streb (DFS) Nick Taylor (DFS) Fades Charl Schwartzel … Relatively speaking, of course. Because he makes most cuts, he’s usually insurance in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, but with no cut and no ShotLink this week, the focus is on overall production. That’s where we lose him. His last top 10 anywhere was a co-runner-up in Memphis in mid-June. Thomas Pieters … If not for a third-round 77 at TPC Kuala Lumpur, he’d have performed above his projection. As it was, he finished a forgettable T44, his fifth result outside the top 40 in five starts. Perhaps this is who he is, though, a mammoth talent who will emerge enough to rattle mainstream cages long-term while at the same time disappoint weekly gamers. As we continue to digest his profile, we’re benefited in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO because we’re not going to exhaust all three of his starts in Segment 1. For that reason and with no cut at Nine Bridges, park this contrarian on your bench. Daniel Berger … He was a surprising non-factor in his third spin through the FedExCup Playoffs, so there’s reason to approach him with caution. The wunderkind can be a frustrating own if you’re not in for the long haul. However, he sets up just like Pieters. Consider stowing him on your bench based on cachet alone. Gary Woodland … If ShotLink was in use at Nine Bridges, he’d battle for a spot on your roster. This isn’t to say that there isn’t merit to chase the leaderboard finish (and bonus points that go with it), but for as solid as he’s been since the birth of his child, he’s still without a top-15 finish in seven straight starts. Co-led the field in greens hit at TPC Kuala Lumpur but settled for a T28. Branden Grace Emiliano Grillo Adam Hadwin J.B. Holmes Charles Howell III Kevin Na Seung-Yul Noh Jhonattan Vegas Notables WDs Patrick Cantlay … It’s not nonsense to draw a parallel between his selective scheduling and the drip-drip of news released of Tiger Woods’ recovery from back surgeries. Both are so compelling in their respective contexts. Cantlay has been nothing short of fantastic as he’s ascended rapidly through the ranks. His ownership percentages in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO should rival some of the game’s most popular and decorated talents this season. Jason Dufner … Given the angle that projects success at Nine Bridges, he’d have been a likely contender as a tee-to-green force. Opened his season finishing fifth-from-last in the 78-man CIMB Classic. Mackenzie Hughes … What a difference a year and a victory makes. He was a fresh-faced rookie at this time in 2016, so he didn’t qualify for either stop in Asia. (No current rookies are eligible for THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES.) A month later, he prevailed at The RSM Classic and secured fully exempt status through 2018-19. It’s good to have options. Russell Knox … Remains in a funk. His T63 at the CIMB Classic extended his drought without a top 25 to seven consecutive starts. In the process, he’s drifted outside the top 60 in the Official World Golf Ranking, so the grind is on to qualify for all of the majors and World Golf Championships in 2018. He’s currently eligible for none. Ernie Els … Celebrates his 48th birthday on Tuesday, Oct. 17. Burning a career earnings exemption this season, but his fantasy value is all but gone. Power Rankings Recap – CIMB Classic Power Ranking Golfer Result 1 Justin Thomas T17 2 Brendan Steele T13 3 Paul Casey T7 4 Hideki Matsuyama T5 5 Kevin Na T44 6 Xander Schauffele T3 7 Scott Piercy T63 8 Rafa Cabrera Bello T10 9 Chez Reavie T17 10 James Hahn T28 11 Ian Poulter T58 12 Gary Woodland T28 13 Charl Schwartzel T48 14 Keegan Bradley 2nd 15 Thomas Pieters T44 Wild Card Bud Cauley 67th Sleepers Recap – CIMB Classic Golfer Result Gavin Kyle Green T61 Charles Howell III T51 Sung Kang T3 Cameron Smith T5 Richy Werenski T63 Birthdays among active golfers on the PGA TOUR October 17… Ernie Els (48) October 18 … none October 19 … Louis Oosthuizen (35) October 20 … none October 21 … none October 22 … none October 23 … none  

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Round 4 of the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession takes place Sunday from Bradenton, Florida. Collin Morikawa holds the 54-hole lead with Billy Horschel, Brooks Koepka, Webb Simpson, Rory McIlroy and more stars in contention. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 12 p.m.-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday, 2:30 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 12 p.m.-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel). Sunday, 2:30 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Groups). Saturday-Sunday, 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (Featured Groups), 2:30 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). TOURCast: Get shot-by-shot info in real time with shot tracks and video with TOURCast. TOUR Pulse: Get the PGA TOUR app to utilize TOUR Pulse, which provides users the ability to experience a mix of content, such as video highlights, written hole summaries and stat graphics on every player after every hole they complete. FEATURED GROUPS 9:40 a.m. ET: Xander Schauffele, Marc Leishman 9:50 a.m. ET: Adam Scott, Jon Rahm MUST READS Morikawa leads by two Fast learners figuring out The Concession Ancer in contention with familiar caddie Tiger Woods recovering from single-car accident Sports world sends best wishes to Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan discusses Tiger Woods’ accident Five things about The Concession TOUR Insider: Predictions for the Florida Swing CALL OF THE DAY

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