With the Olympics providing a week off for all but an elite segment of the PGA Tour, this week’s Wyndham Championship is shaping up to have its best list of names in years coming to Sedgefield Country Club.
But there’s one name the Tour and Wyndham organizers don’t want to attend — Tropical Storm Debby.
Yet Debby (soon expected to gain the Hurricane monicker) is forecasted to make its presence felt, perhaps dumping several inches of rain on the course and possibly, wreaking havoc on the tournament.
Debby is expected to have terrible timing for the Wyndham. Rain is forecast to arrive Tuesday and remain through Sunday’s scheduled final round. Weather.com forecasts one-quarter inch Wednesday, then a half-inch on both Thursday and Friday — the first two tournament rounds — with winds of 12-14 mph.
So if that forecast holds true, accumulated water shouldn’t be a problem. But what if the storm stalls over the area? Local meteorologists have pointed out that slow-moving tropical storms have been known to drop more than 10 inches of rain on the Triad.
Another potential issue is lightning, which would suspend play while in the area.
Though elite stars such as PGA Tour Olympians such as Scottie Scheffler, Xavier Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg and Rory McIlroy won’t be here, the field will include stars such as Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose; popular contenders Shane Lowry and Will Zalatoris; and emerging players Akshay Bhatia and Robert MacIntrye.
Sungjae Im is the top player in the FedEx standings at No. 9, with 14 of the top 40 expected.
