North Carolina golf fans will have a chance to watch several of their hometown favorites on the PGA Tour — several finishing strong years — compete in next week’s Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro.
Raleigh native Ryan Gerald (UNC), Chapel Hill’s Ben Griffin (UNC) and Wake Forest’s Alex Smalley (Duke) and Raleigh native Webb Simpson (Wake Forest) have committed to the Tour’s regular-season finale.
The field also includes 21-year-old phenom Jackson Koivun, who lived in Chapel Hill while finishing high school, Duke’s Max Greyserman, and Wake Forest University products Cameron Young, Alex Fitzpatrick and Michael Brennan.
What about Wake Forest native Akshay Bhatia, No. 12 on the FedExCup points list? As of Thursday night, Wyndham officials hadn’t announced a commitment from him. But like many others, he could commit before Friday night’s deadline.
Hickory’s J.T. Poston (Western Carolina), the 2019 Wyndham winner, is also committed to play.
Many of the Triangle players are already a cinch to make the 70-player FedExCup Playoffs. Though by playing at Sedgefield, they could improve their positions to advance in the playoffs, in recent years, the majority of players in the top 30 have rested during Wyndham week.
All of the above except Fitzpatrick are playing in this week’s Rocket Classic in Detroit.
Defending Wyndham winner Young ranks No. 3 in the FedExCup standings. Of the Triangle natives, Gerard is No. 15, Smalley No. 25, Griffin No. 36 and Simpson No. 192.
Poston is No. 30, Koivun is 75, Brennan is 97 and Greyserman 102.
