By John Brasier
Though the list of elite and marketable players is modest, the field for this week’s Wyndham Championship can probably thank the PGA Tour’s cut to 70 for the upcoming FedExCup Playoffs for strengthening the field at Sedgefield Country Club.
Two-time PGA champion Justin Thomas, who has struggled this year, will be here, though without big-name buddies Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler. Thomas needs to make the cut — the rest depends on how others fare — to make it to the playoffs.
The commitment list was finalized after Friday’s second round of the 3M Open in Minnesota. The points list will be updated following the final round.
Due to his 6-2-1 Ryder Cup and 10-3-2 Presidents Cup records, Thomas is also considered by many as a candidate to receive a captain’s pick from Zach Johnson for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Johnson, No. 150 in the points standings, is entered at Sedgefield.
Shane Lowry, the 2019 British Open champ, and Billy Horschel, the 2014 FedExCup winner, are in the same boat and will also be here. Other major champions coming here who are currently outside the top 70 include Johnson, Adam Scott, Davis Love III, Webb Simpson and Hideki Matsuyama.
Simpson, a two-time Wyndham champion, is No. 168 on the points list. All those numbers will be updated Sunday,
Thomas (No. 80) missed the cut in Memphis and Lowry (No. 79) did not play and won’t move up.
The FedEx effect can seen in the following numbers: none of the top 17 players in the points standings are coming to Greensboro. No. 14 Tom Kim, the defending champion, withdrew due to an ankle injury suffered at the British Open.
But 13 of the top 40 and 21 of the top 50 are in the Wyndham field. Taking it a little further, 29 of the 30 PGA Tour players — No. 52 Hayden Buckley is the exception — ranked between 51 and 80 on the points list have entered the Wyndham.
“This field illustrates the new points priorities very clearly,” said Mark Brazil, the tournament’s executive director. “A lot of guys are working to get into the top 70 and make the playoffs, and a lot are working to stay in the top 50 or make it into the top 50 after the first playoff event to be eligible for the designated events next season.”
The top 70 after the Wyndham, will play in the playoff’s first stage in Memphis, Tennessee, with the top 50 in the points standings move on to the second stage outside Chicago. On the final weekend of August, the top 30 in the points race earn a spot in the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.
Stars such as Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McElroy — the top three in the points standings — already seem sure bets to advance to East Lake. The FedExCup bonus pool is $56.6 million, with the East Lake winner (head starts are given according to the points standings) earning $21.5 million.
Wyndham tickets must be purchased online in advance — no tickets will be sold on site. Corporate hospitality boxes and chalets are sold out.
The PGA Tour cut the playoffs from 125 to 70 this year to allow for larger individual payouts, generally seen as a way to reward top players who didn’t leave for the LIV Tour.
Plus, the top 125 from past years included several LIV Tour players no longer eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs.
