Making the playoffs and maintaining playing privileges have been the emphasis at the Wyndham Championship since the annual Greensboro tournament moved to its position as the final regular-season PGA Tour event.
And that won’t change this year with only the top 70 players in the FedExCup standings after Sunday’s conclusion invited to the playoffs, which travel through Memphis and St. Louis before the annual showdown at East Lake.
But while the likes of Jordan Spieth (55) and Shane Lowry (60) grind to keep or improve their positions and Keegan Bradley (72) Brooks Koepka (86) and Michael Brennan (105) hope to play their way into the top 70, a few younger stars will be relaxed, using Sedgefield as a playoff tuneup.
For example, take Wake Forest product Alex Fitzpatrick. A year ago, he was living with his parents in England, worried about his future. Now, he has a home in Florida and has made recent trips to New York to visit his girlfriend.
Since winning the Zurich Classic with older brother Matt in March, Fitzpatrick has been allowed to enjoy life, knowing he has an exemption through 2027. The pressure off his shoulders, he’s moved up through the standings.
“Yeah, it’s a trajectory that five months ago I didn’t see happening,” said the 27-year-old Fitzgerald. “I felt like my game was in a good spot, but obviously it’s one of the craziest things that I could ever imagine happened. I’m very thankful that I have great people around me and a lot of good guidance and advice. If you would have told me five months ago, I’d have told you, you were the biggestst liar I ever met, but here we are.”
This week, Fitzpatrick begins play at No. 19 on the FedExCup list with at least two, and possibly, all three playoff events, in his hip pocket.
Since winning the Zurich Classic with older brother Matt in March, Fitzpatrick has been allowed to enjoy life, knowing he has an exemption through 2027. The pressure off his shoulders, he’s moved up through the standings.
“If you want me to be honest, I think this might be one of the most relaxed times I think I’ve been around on the golf course,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think this is all a bonus for me and it’s all been very surreal for me.”
How about Jackson Koivun, the 21-year-old phenom who won two weeks ago in Minnesota? Koivin now has a similar exemption. Though he sits on the FedExCup bubble at No. 70, he’s more or less playing with house money at Sedgefield.
Before winning the 3M Open, Koivun faced the likelihood of a press-packed fall fighting for a PGA Tour spot next year. Now, he’s moved to Florida and trying to find ways to spend time with friends off the golf course. This week, he went to a “Spiderman” movie.
In addition to the victory in Minnesota, Koivun was named SEC Athlete of the Year and his name has been linked to a possible President Cup berth. There’s no indication of high pressure. He enjoys an ideal type of fame. Still able to stroll the streets without interruption — unless, according to him, he’s walking through an airport with his golf clubs.
“Yeah, I definitely hear it and I appreciate all the kind words people have to say about me. I know there’s a lot of flutter about certain teams and things I might be able to accomplish,” Koivun told reporters Wednesday. “But at the end of the day I like to tell myself good golf takes care of everything, so I can just kind of tune that out and just go enjoy being out here on the PGA Tour.”
Though wins at Sedgefield have lifted a burden off the shoulders of recent winners such as Aaron Rai, Lucas Glover and last year’s champion Cameron Young, don’t rule out the advantages enjoyed by carefree young guns, some of them playing before friends and relatives.
Some of those young guns are playing well entering the tournament, include Young, who finished second at the British Open after firing 63 Sunday. and tied for eight last week at the Rocket Classic. He could join Sam Snead on a short list of back-to-back Greensboro winners.
Then there’s Gerard, a Raleigh native and UNC graduate. Gerard tied for ninth at the British Open and joined Young in eighth at Rocket. And Ben Griffin of Chapel Hill and UNC, who missed the Rocket cut, but has three top 21 finishes in the last seven weeks.
