FedEx standings at stake at Wyndham
IN: News | US PGA | Wyndham Championship (2008) | Preview | by Bruce Young | 12 Aug 2008
This week’s Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, provides one last opportunity for PGA Tour players to either gain access to or enhance their position in the FedEx Cup standings before the opening event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs at next week’s Barclay’s event.
The leading 144 players on the FedEx Cup table at the completion of this week’s event will play next week at the Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York. From there the FedEx Cup heads to the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston where the leading 120 players are eligible, followed by the BMW Championship in St Louis at which 70 players will compete without a cut and finally, the Tour Championship where the leading 30 players will vie for the leading players FedEx Cup winner’s US$10 million first place cheque in addition to a purse specific to that tournament.
A total of US$35 million is to be handed out in bonus pool prizemoney during the FedEx Cup finals and therefore a big week this week could be worth a lot of money over the next few weeks.
This week’s event at the Donald Ross designed, Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro also has one other important function in that it offers players vying for one of Paul Azinger’s final four picks for the US Cup yet another opportunity to impress the US Captain.
The US Team’s top eight places are already cemented but Azinger’s reasoning in naming the final four players on September 2nd was to ensure he had the most inform team at Valhalla Golf Club on September 19th. The next three weeks therefore could open a Ryder Cup door for several players.
The Sedgefield Country Club plays host to this event for this event the first time since Al Geiberger defeated Lee Trevino to win in 1976. The course has been revamped in recent years by Chris Spence, a noted Donald Ross devotee who has retained much of the classic Ross design in the layout originally built in 1925.
The Wyndham Championship has a history dating back to 1938 when Sam Snead won the first of his eight Greensboro titles stretching over a period from 1938 to 1965.
The defending champion Brandt Snedeker is a player who will be keen to emulate his success of twelve months ago and if he was to do so then he might just enter Azinger’s calculations.
Another in that category is David Toms who appears to be playing his way back into form of late and although perhaps outside Azinger’s current considerations, a big three weeks could sway the captain’s mind. Toms has not played this event since finishing 4th in 2004 but clearly, he is on a mission.
Vijay Singh starts as the favourite and even though disappointing last week at the PGA Championship, his win the previous week at the Bridgestone and his world ranking of 4, make him a logical choice to contend. Singh has not played this event since 1999 but, despite his form being somewhat of a roller coaster at present, he could do well.
Ken Duke has played this event just once when finishing 51st in 2004 but he has developed into such a good player of late that he could be in for a good week. He has recorded five top twenties in his last six starts, including when runner up at the US Bank Championship and 4th at the Buick Open. Duke could very easily win his first PGA Tour event this week.
Carl Petterson played well enough at the recent US Open to finish 6th and has done reasonably well since including when 11th at the Canadian Open. The Swede has played this event well on one or two occasions and could be a good long-shot chance.
The Australasian challenge is headed by Peter Lonard who although a little inconsistent of late seems to be on the verge of something much better. Lonard has made the cut in all four visits to this event and has a very good 6th place at the recent Bridgestone to indicate his readiness.
Nathan Green, Mathew Goggin, John Senden, Nick Flanagan, Jason Day, Gavin Coles, Mark Hensby, Steve Allan, Brett Rumford, Matt Jones, Andrew Buckle, David Lutterus, and New Zealand amateur Danny Lee are other Australasians in the field.
18 year old Lee earns a start as a result of his great week last week in Michigan where he won the Western Amateur Championship and has a chance to test his skills against a PGA Tour field.
