GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA | Cameron Young had long since drained any drama out of who might win the Wyndham Championship Sunday at Sedgefield Country Club – his six-stroke victory over Mac Meissner was more lopsided than the final result – but what happened on the FedEx Cup bubble churned until the end.
Ultimately, only one player who started the week outside the top 70 moved into the group that will begin the FedEx Cup playoffs at Memphis this week – that would be Chris Kirk – while only one player, Ben An, dropped out.
But it was more volatile than the final standings suggest.
Davis Thompson knows all about it. He was inside the top 70 and on his way to Memphis until he three-putted the 18th green on Sunday to fall to No. 71.
“It sucks but it is what it is. Just got to move on and get ready for the fall,” said Thompson, who will now have one month off before his next potential tour start.
The beneficiary of Thompson’s 72nd hole bogey was Matti Schmid. He started the Wyndham Championship at No. 70 and finished there but he spent his Sunday playing whiplash golf.
Schmid was 5-over par through 11 holes in the final round and headed to a long break until he birdied the last three holes and, with Thompson’s help, landed the final spot in Memphis.
“I saw on 15 that I was on 72nd place, which I thought all right, this is not too far away, and then I made three birdies so probably I should look at it more often,” Schmid said.
For a moment, Mark Hubbard looked like the bubble star of the day. He shot 63 on Sunday and when he finished, Hubbard was inside the top 70. But he needed no worse than a two-way tie for second to advance and when Meissner finished solo second, Hubbard wound up T3 and on the outside looking in.
And he was OK with that.
“I’m so proud of myself [that] I played so well today. I really want more than anything in the whole world to just, to go home, which sounds crappy since everybody wants to be in my position and wants a chance to go to Memphis,” said Hubbard, who had a Sunday evening flight home to Reno, Nevada, already booked.
Cam Davis had a flight booked to Nashville Sunday evening and wasn’t sure where he would go from there.
“I’ve been on the cut line every year I feel like since I’ve been on tour, whether it’s for the 50 or for this. No, it’s too stressful to keep your eyes on it or try to follow too closely what’s going on,” Davis said. “I’m going to get a text message at the end of the day that tells me where I sit, and I’m flying to Nashville tonight and I’m either driving to Memphis from there or I’m flying home. Either way, we’ll find out.”
For Davis, who wound up 69th, it’s on to Memphis.
For Gary Woodland, who finished 72nd, it’s home for a long break before serving as a vice captain at the Ryder Cup.
“It stinks to not move on, but I’m excited for some rest, I need it,” Woodland said.
“Rest up, spend some quality time with the family, try to get a little healthier and then get ready for the Ryder Cup now. It was a good year in a lot of ways, but I have a long way to go in a lot of ways.”
Ron Green Jr.