This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
The fun thing about the Wyndham Championship is of course that it's two tournaments in one – the tournament to see who finishes first on the week and the tournament to see who finishes in the top-125 on the season. And candidly, whenever J.T. Poston's name came up the past couple of years, it was strictly in relation to the top-125.
Not anymore.
The 26-year-old Poston became the 14th first-time winner on the PGA Tour this season, playing a flawless four days of golf to win the Wyndham in his home state of North Carolina by a stroke over heavily favored Webb Simpson.
And by flawless, we mean it: Poston was the first golfer in 45 years to play 72 holes without a bogey, since Lee Trevino in the 1974 Zurich Classic. He finished with a career-best 8-under 62.
Poston is a fairly decent golfer – he actually was well inside the top-125 this year at 83rd – but there was no indication that a win for him was on the horizon. His previous high finish was a tie for fourth at the 2017 Shriners. Of course, most first-time winners come out of nowhere; even first-timers Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa were big surprises, no so much that they won but that they won so soon.
Poston thus moves to 27th in the FedEx cup point standings, and if he could hang on to make the Tour Championship, that would give him some perks that not even a
The fun thing about the Wyndham Championship is of course that it's two tournaments in one – the tournament to see who finishes first on the week and the tournament to see who finishes in the top-125 on the season. And candidly, whenever J.T. Poston's name came up the past couple of years, it was strictly in relation to the top-125.
Not anymore.
The 26-year-old Poston became the 14th first-time winner on the PGA Tour this season, playing a flawless four days of golf to win the Wyndham in his home state of North Carolina by a stroke over heavily favored Webb Simpson.
And by flawless, we mean it: Poston was the first golfer in 45 years to play 72 holes without a bogey, since Lee Trevino in the 1974 Zurich Classic. He finished with a career-best 8-under 62.
Poston is a fairly decent golfer – he actually was well inside the top-125 this year at 83rd – but there was no indication that a win for him was on the horizon. His previous high finish was a tie for fourth at the 2017 Shriners. Of course, most first-time winners come out of nowhere; even first-timers Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa were big surprises, no so much that they won but that they won so soon.
Poston thus moves to 27th in the FedEx cup point standings, and if he could hang on to make the Tour Championship, that would give him some perks that not even a PGA Tour victory does.
That's all fine and good for James Tyree Poston, but we have a lot to talk about this week so we must move on.
Webb Simpson/Presidents Cup
Simpson made a late charge to secure solo second. He won a boatload of cash via the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 thing that nobody cares about. The real significance of Simpson's high finish is that he pretty much locked up a spot on the Presidents Cup team, making Tiger Woods' decision on his four captain's picks that much harder.
Simpson is now sixth in those point standings, and the top-eight get automatic berths when the qualifying period ends in only two weeks after the BMW Championship. Woods does not have to name his four captain's picks for a while – isn't it odd that there has been no announced date? – but no matter whom Woods picks, multiple golfers will be unhappy.
Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Cantlay are seventh and eighth and not secure in automatic qualifying. Other names that Woods no doubt is considering are Gary Woodland (ninth in points), Tony Finau (10th), Rickie Fowler (11th), Woods himself (12th), Phil Mickelson 14th, Patrick Reed (17th) and even Jordan Spieth (29th). And what about Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa?
We know Woods likes DeChambeau. We also know it's hard to envision a team without Fowler, Reed, Mickelson or even Spieth. There aren't enough spots. As bad as Spieth has been playing, Mickelson has been worse. Might it be time for Phil to slide over into a nonplaying assistant captain's role?
Of course, it doesn't really matter who is on the team, because the United States should win easily over the Internationals. But that doesn't mean leaving some bold-faced names off the squad won't be big news.
(Separately, it's odd that qualifying ends in August because the Presidents Cup is in December, and as we all know, four months is quite a long time for golf games to rise or go sideways.)
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Byeong-Hun An
An is a very accomplished golfer. He won the 2009 U.S. Amateur as a 17-year-old. He was the European Tour Rookie of the Year in 2015, when he won the Tour's signature event, the BMW PGA Championship. An is now completing his third full season on the PGA Tour, but something's been missing. Yes, he hasn't won, and Sunday was his best chance ever, entering the final round with the lead. But it's more. It's hard to pinpoint, but we have expected more from someone of his pedigree. He's 57th in points now and he was a good-but-not-great 42nd last year. He's made it as high as 24th in the OWGR, but quickly fell back. An is now 48th, even with his solo third at the Wyndham. He'll probably get a win sooner or later – though being a really terrible putter hurts – but he turns 28 next month. Something's missing.
Viktor Hovland
It doesn't seem right that Hovland will not be in the FedEx Cup playoffs, that he has to go to the Korn Ferry playoffs to earn his card for next season. He surely is one of the top-125 – and far better than that. Hovland finished solo fourth at the Wyndham, his best finish among a series of good finishes since turning pro. He'll surely have no trouble getting through the KF playoffs, but unless he wins them, his position may make getting into some fields next season a bit harder. Of course, if Hovland wins the playoffs – and he has to be the favorite – he won't be affected by any reshuffle.
Paul Casey
There was a bit of a debate on Twitter about Casey's August schedule. He played the Wyndham but is sitting out the first playoff event, this week's Northern Trust. We thought that was odd, even wrong, but he had a lot of defenders. We can't imagine why a golfer trying to be the best would choose Casey's route, which seemed like a cash grab; he was hoping to move up the Wyndham Rewards list for extra bonus money. He chose to play in the easier field, to sit out the harder field. Of course, Casey could've played both, but that would potentially mean six straight weeks of action, and we understand not wanting to do that. For the record, it appears Casey's plan backfired, at least so far. He went the wrong way on the Sunday leaderboard, dropping from a tie for fifth to a tie for 13th. He began the week eighth in the Wyndham Rewards and stayed exactly there.
The FedEx Cup playoffs
Top-125
Two golfers moved into the top-125 at the Wyndham, which is under the average of 2.7 over the first 12 years of the playoffs. Patton Kizzire tied for 13th to vault from 129th to 118th. Andrew Landry tied for 19th to move from 132nd to 123rd. Of course, when two move in, two move out. Stunningly, Alex Noren didn't make it with his tie for 60th. He's was 125th at the start of the week – so he was having a terrible year for someone who began the year 19th in the world rankings. Likewise, Robert Streb fell from 124th to 128th. The shocker is Noren, and now you have to wonder what he'll do – will someone with so many worldwide accomplishments go to the Korn Ferry finals?
Top-150
Technically, golfers in the top-150 in the point standings keep their cards. But they have conditional status and that's usually a tough road to travel. That said, being inside the top-150 is a whole lot better than the alternative. Johnson Wagner, Harris English and Josh Teater all moved inside the top-150 at the Wyndham, while Jonathan Byrd, Stephan Jaeger and Scott Langley all fell out.
Others
Now for some other golfers of note, with little of it good news for them. Zach Johnson still has his card thanks to his 2015 win at the Open Championship, but he will miss the playoffs for the first time, ending 154th in points. At 43, it's a long way to the Champions Tour. … Daniel Berger wound up 131st in points and could go to the KF playoffs, though he likely will receive a medical exemption because he missed the entire 2018 portion of the season rehabbing a wrist injury. To us, it seems wrong to give an exemption to someone who ended up playing 20 events – that should be enough time to get into the top-125. … Bill Haas wound up 140th in points. He hasn't been the same after being a passenger in a fatal car accident at the 2018 Genesis Open. But he's also 37 years old and that could be the more critical factor. … Martin Kaymer finished 150th, and his five-year-exemption for winning the 2014 U.S. Open is over. He played only 14 tournaments, so the PGA Tour could even decide to strip him of conditional status. … Beau Hossler, Ollie Schniederjans and Sam Saunders all lost their cards. … Pat Perez hung on by the skin of his teeth, falling from 122nd to 125th. … Jimmy Walker and Jason Dufner were well outside the top-125 and will miss the playoffs. But both keep their cards, Walker for winning the 2016 PGA Championship (the gift that keeps on giving) and Dufner for winning the 2017 Memorial (which came with a three-year exemption).
