GREENSBORO, NC – Playoff fever, can you feel it?
The last of 35 regular-season events on the PGA Tour will be a doubleheader of sorts, as the second round resumes at 6:45 a.m. ET, followed by 36 holes to complete the 72-hole tournament and determine the top 70 players in the season race for points that advance to the first playoff event in Memphis next week.
20 players had to complete their second round on Sunday morning before the cut was possible after 36 holes.
Matt Kuchar secured a one-stroke lead over three players with a 12-under-par 128-shot lead after shooting 64-under-par on Saturday at Sedgefield Country Club. Here are five things to know about the 2024 Wyndham Championship before Sunday.
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Kuchar sets the pace
Matt Kuchar needs a win to get into the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He’s looking to follow in Lucas Glover’s footsteps from last year and win to get in. Kuchar is the only player to make the playoffs every season since the FedEx Cup was introduced in 2007.
“It’s certainly been a frustrating year, but I feel like the bar has been set high,” Kuchar said. “I feel like I’ve played a lot of good, consistent golf for a long time. The bad golf is all the more frustrating. I think the expectations are high. So every week I continue to expect to play good golf, and that hasn’t always worked out that way, but it’s nice to see things kind of falling into place. Hopefully it’s not too late, I hope I still have a chance to keep going.”
Kuchar finished tied for third in the 3M Open and picked up where he left off, taking the lead after 36 holes with two 64s. How does he feel after Sunday’s marathon finish?
“I have some confidence knowing that a month or two ago I played 36 holes at Bear’s Club in the U.S. Open qualifier and won a medal there. I was able to walk 36 holes in the heat and humidity without any major problems,” he said. “I’m glad I grew up in Central Florida and know these things pretty well.”
Greyserman’s putting skills
The only putt Max Greyserman missed in his second round on Saturday was a 49-foot birdie putt at 18 for 59.
Inexplicably, he left it short.
But he managed putts of more than 57 meters during the round, including a birdie from 23 meters.
“Looked pretty good the whole time,” he said. “It was a pretty tricky putt over a hill, but there wasn’t much break. I was so far away I couldn’t even tell, but it looked pretty good.”
When Denny McCarthy, one of the best short-hitting players on Tour, heard about the long throw, he said it was more feet than all the putts he had made in his first two rounds. His caddy interjected, “He’s not lying.” (Well, to be fair, McCarthy made 99 feet, 9 inches, but he made his point.)
When Greyserman sank a 24-foot birdie on 17, he was 10 under par for the round and knew the course was a par 70 and he would finish under 60 with a birdie.
“The last four holes were very clear in my mind,” he said.
After just two birdies in his opening round, Greyserman shot his second 60 of the tournament and jumped into second place at 11 under par with 129 strokes, tied with Chad Ramey and Cameron Young.
Projected FedEx bubble
Ahead of Sunday’s 36-hole marathon, here are the players in contention to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
66. Brendon Todd (T-10)
67. Nick Dunlap (MC)
68. Emiliano Grillo (T-26)
69. Jhonattan Vegas (T-46)
70. Seamus Power (T-46)
71. Victor Perez (T-26)
72. Davis Riley (T-26)
73. Andrew Putnam (MC)
74. Kurt Kitayama (MC)
75. Lukas List (MC)
Whose bubble will burst?
Keith Mitchell summed up what it feels like to be on the outside looking in on the playoff situation this week at the Wyndham Championship.
“It’s really all or nothing,” he said. “I’m playing from behind, so to speak, and it’s not fun. You just have to give it your all and do your best.”
That’s exactly what he did on Saturday, shooting 64 to improve to 6 under par and keep his hopes alive. His projected score is 78. Asked if he felt a bit like a football team trailing by four points with two minutes to go, he said: “Maybe we’re down by nine points, maybe I have to shoot – get two points and shoot a field goal, you never know.”
Davis Riley, who is projected to finish 72nd, completed the first piece of the puzzle with a solid score of 66 points and made the cut.
“It’s definitely a big round,” he said. “It’s very hot out here and it was honestly one of the toughest rounds of golf I’ve ever played. I haven’t been at my best the last few days and I’ve been grinding out there. Yes, I’m exhausted. To play on the weekend and hopefully get a playoff spot would be great.”
Among those certain to miss the cut are Andrew Putnam, who needed three putts from 25 feet on the final hole, Kurt Kitayama, Luke List and defending champion Lucas Glover.
Aces as wild
On Saturday there were not one, but two aces. Both were scored on the 189-yard par 3 12th hole.
First, Lucas Glover recorded the sixth hole-in-one of his career on Tour (which is the ninth-most since the Tour began collecting hole-by-hole data in 1983).
Joe Highsmith followed, becoming the first player to record three hole-in-ones in a single season since the Tour began tracking hole-by-hole data in 1983; other hole-in-ones this season: The American Express (R2/No. 13), Rocket Mortgage Classic (R2/No. 5).
“Yeah, it was super cool. I hit the 6-iron and it was a pretty perfect number and I knew if I pulled it way to the right I’d have a little backstop over there. It worked out perfectly,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Matt Kuchar’s winning streak in the FedEx Cup Playoff won’t end without a fight and the aces were wild at the 2024 Wyndham Championship
