More often than not, this regular-season-ending Wyndham Championship finds itself without a lot of name players — it’s mostly a bunch of “Bubble Boys” fighting for a spot in the upcoming FedEx Cup Playoffs.
This week is an exception.
Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, who was one of the playoff losers to Abraham Ancer last week at the WGC-St. Jude, is in the field and there are other “name” players with him.
World No. 7 Louie Oosthuizen has played a lot this season and is the highest-ranked player in the Wyndham field, the only player from the top 10 at Sedgefield this week. Patrick Reed has fallen out of the top 10 this season dropping all the way to No. 16 but that still makes him a big deal in this field as most of the big names from last week’s WGC event are resting up for the first round of the playoffs that start next week with the Northern Trust at Liberty National.
Another player who has tumbled in the rankings this season is Webb Simpson, who has fallen out of the top 10 and currently sits at No. 19 and is one of the favorites to win this week. Webbie needs a win. He won twice in 2020 (Phoenix, Heritage) but has no wins this season. Other than a T4 at the Sony last January, a T6 at WGC-Workday and a T9 at the Heritage, it’s been a pretty quiet year for him. He tied for 15th last week in Memphis.
Then there is the strange case of Will Zalatoris. Zalatoris is currently ranked 29th in the world but has ZERO FedEx Cup points. Why? Because he’s not a PGA Tour member. He’s still technically a Korn Ferry player in name only. He’s eighth on the Korn Ferry points list and gets his Tour card at the end of this season. He’s in this week’s field, still chasing that elusive victory that would automatically make him a Tour member.
Then there are the “Bubble Boys.”
Biggest name among them is Rickie Fowler. Rickie has shown signs of busting out of his long slump but he’s still a lowly 130 on the points list — on the outside of the magic 125 to make it to Liberty National. Same for Tommy Fleetwood — he’s 136th on that list.
Scott Piercy sits at No. 125 followed by Nate Lashley, Michael Thompson and Camilo Villegas (No. 129). They all need to show up with some game this week if they want to make it.
Robert MacIntyre from Scotland is staying in the U.S. He’s playing in Greensboro and obviously would love to win and gain PGA Tour status.
Truth be known, it’s a better field that they normally get for this season ender.
Play on!
