It's finally here, what is perhaps one of the more exciting events of the PGA Tour regular season: The 2021 Wyndham Championship, played at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro,
North Carolina.
So much is on the line this week and the tournament itself, historic. It marks the end of the PGA Tour regular season and at the same time, the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
GLORY'S LAST SHOT
The PGA used to use to motto "Glory's Last Shot" to describe the PGA Championship, but I really think it applies more to this tournament.
The Wyndham Championship is the last regular season event of the PGA Tour, before the FedEx Cup Playoffs kick off. Because of this, the tournament is always on golfers' lists. For some, it's one last chance to make it into the FedEx Cup Playoffs. For others, it's one last chance to retain their Tour card. The competition is always fierce and everyone wants to be dialed in this week.
To get into the FedEx Cup Playoffs, golfers must be ranked 125th or higher in the standings come the end of the tournament. This year, there are a few notables in the field who are below the 125: Rickie Fowler, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari, Camilo Villegas, Jason Dufner, Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald. It's worth noting that, at least for the European players, their low positions doesn't necessarily reflect poor performance in PGA events, rather a lack of them.
And then there's the interesting case of Will Zalatoris, the young golfer who dazzled us all with his second place finish at the Masters this year and top-10 finishes at both the US Open, PGA Championship and WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational last week. Despite being ranked 29th in the world, Zalatoris is only a Special Temporary Member on the PGA Tour, thus making him ineligible for the playoffs unless he wins this week.
It's always interesting to see the projections around the 125th place cutoff ebb and flow as players' scores change; honestly its almost as suspenseful as who's going to win.
THE SITE OF HISTORY
Although it may seem like a lesser tournament in terms of prize money, the Wyndham Championship is home to much history and prestige.
In 1961, Charlie Sifford played the tournament, becoming the first African-American to play in a PGA Tour event in the Southern US.
In 2015, it was the site of David Love III's historic win, where he became the oldest golfer to win on the PGA Tour in the senior era, at age 51.
In 2018, it was the site of Brandt Snedeker's first round score of 59; only the 11th in tour history. He would go on to win that week by three strokes.
Sedgefield Country Club has been the host of different variations of the tournament since its inception. The course itself was designed by Donald Ross and first opened in 1926. For the Wyndham Championship, it plays as a par 70, measuring 7,127 yards in length
WHO DO WE THINK WILL WIN?
It's always tough to make picks for this tournamnet because of what's at stake. Some golfers only need a good performance to push through into the playoffs, while others will need an outright win. Keeping all that in mind, here are our picks to win:
1) Justin Rose
2) Tommy Fleetwood
3) Louis Oosthuizen
I think that Rose and Fleetwood will be more driven to succeed this week since they are under the 125th place barrier. Here's hoping they can do it! Louis is Louis, simply put, he will win at some point. He sits comfortably at 8th in the FedEx Cup Rankings, the highest in the field this week.
Stay tuned for our Weekend Update to see how things fared during the first two rounds!
-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews
Our top pick Justin Rose needs a good finish this week to advance to the FedEx Cup Playoffs (image: Sky Sports)
No comments:
Post a Comment