A dramatic Sunday at the Wyndham Championship, the final event of the regular season, saw Sedgefield Country Club become a stage for soaring celebrations and crushing disappointment as players battled for the final FedExCup Playoff places.
One man who will be reeling in those celebrations is Michael Brennan, who produced a brilliant five-in-a-row birdie streak on the front nine to pull away from the pack, securing his second win in two years and more importantly, a spot in next weeks FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Brennan entered this week 105th in the FedEx Cup standings after a disappointing year, but his Sunday heroics see him with a chance of big money in the lucrative post season.
Brennan shared the lead with Beau Hossler at 16-under heading into Sunday’s final round, with the pair in the final group and both knowing that only a victory would secure their place in the FedExCup Playoffs.
Hossler drew first blood with a birdie and an eagle at the third and fifth before Brennan came charging – making birdies at holes four through eight to take a three stroke lead over Hossler heading into the back nine.
Hossler struggled to find his rhythm but fought back to within two shots heading down the 18th, giving himself a glimmer of hope. Brennan held his nerve, rolling in a birdie on the par-4 closing hole while Hossler could only manage par, sealing a dramatic victory for Brennan and crushing Hossler’s hopes in the process.
Hossler missed out on the playoffs by two places as he climbed to 72nd from 122nd. His solo second finish at 19-under wasn’t enough to get the job done.
Brennan’s tally of 22-under will surely give him some confidence ahead of next week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind.
“I don’t want to be done playing golf,” Brennan said. “Unfortunately, I’ve had a couple of tough Sundays. Outside of that, I had been playing really solid. This is my sixth week in a row. I’m perfectly happy running on fumes next week.”
“I’ve been playing good for a couple weeks. It’s just great to get another opportunity playing against some of the best players in the world. I didn’t want to go home and sit on my couch when I’m playing good golf,” he added.
Rookie Jackson Koivun squeezes into the playoffs, finishing 70th in the standings, as the young prodigy matches a record held by Tiger Woods for the fewest starts needed to qualify for the postseason. Koivun can thank his win at the 3M Open for that.
“It’s pretty cool,” he admitted. “Obviously whenever you’re in the record books with Tiger it’s a good name to get acquainted with. I mean, obviously I wanted to make the Playoffs, and I knew that was a farfetched goal.”
“If I told myself back in June that I would be sitting at 70 and waiting it out in Greensboro, I think I’d be pretty happy,” he added.
Missing out on a place in the postseason was Brooks Koepka. The five-time major champion needed a fourth-place finish to sneak into the FedExCup Playoffs, but a familiar struggle with the putter saw him finish T67. Koepka endured a difficult season, recording just one top-10 finish. Koepka offered a brutally honest assessment of his season
“It’s just all on the greens. I don’t know what the deal is, got zero confidence,” Koepka said. “There’s going to be a lot of changes here soon.”
“I think it’s pretty pathetic that I can’t get through (to the postseason),” he said. “To be in the prime of your career and be as good as I think I am, I think that’s very pathetic, disappointing. Just need to go home and completely reevaluate everything.”
The first of the three legged progressive-cut playoff events begins next weekend, with the top-50 for the weekend making into the second stage.
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