Danny Wilett Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

LOOK: Big names who missed out in the FedEx Cup Playoffs standings — and lost their PGA Tour cards

Matt Smith — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 07:58:32 +0000

By Matt Smith
After 44 regular-season events, the PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoffs are finally here. While the likes of regulars such as Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth will be fighting it out over the next few weeks alongside relative newcomers Cameron Smith, Will Zalatoris and Viktor Hovland, there are a few notable absentees — for now and the foreseeable future.

Sunday’s finish at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, wrapped up the 2021-22 season, with the final points standings determining who keeps their PGA Tour cards and who is eligible for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. In the end just two players outside the top 125 at the start of the week — Wyndham winner Joohyung Kim and Max McGreevy — played their way inside the number, knocking out Austin Smotherman and Matt Wallace, while Rickie Fowler clung on by the skin of his teeth, despite missing the cut.

Beginning with Wallace, there will be some big names missing out in the playoffs and next season as a number of household figures lost their PGA Tours cards:

Luke Donald. Gregory Shamus

Matt Wallace (126)
Bumped by the narrowest of margins when Joohyung Kim won on Sunday.
Danny Willett (130)
The 2016 Masters champion.
Rory Sabbatini (141)
Slovakia’s Olympic silver medallist.
Bill Haas (154)
The 2011 Tour Championship.
Luke Donald (159)
Former world No. 1 and Team Europe Ryder Cup captain.
Brandt Snedeker (171)
Nine-time PGA Tour winner.
Jimmy Walker (190)
2016 PGA Championship winner.

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With the FedEx St Jude Championship beginning at TPC Southwind in Memphis on Thursday, here is a look at who will be fighting it out for the end-of-season plaudits and prizes.

RANK (LAST RANK): NAME, POINTS
1 (1): Scottie Scheffler, 3,555.98
2 (2): Cameron Smith, 2,335.00
3 (3): Sam Burns, 2,275.01
4 (4): Xander Schauffele, 2,153.34
5 (5): Patrick Cantlay, 2,108.15
6 (6): Rory McIlroy, 2,103.88
7 (7): Tony Finau, 1,912.13
8 (8): Justin Thomas, 1,783.06
9 (9): Cameron Young, 1,773.67
10 (15): Sungjae Im, 1,732.50
11 (10): Hideki Matsuyama, 1,697.24
12 (11): Will Zalatoris, 1,680.10
13 (12): Max Homa, 1,625.29
14 (13): Matt Fitzpatrick, 1,595.94
15 (14): Jordan Spieth, 1,574.23
16 (16): Jon Rahm, 1,449.23
17 (17): Tom Hoge, 1,424.42
18 (18): Billy Horschel, 1,403.22
19 (19): Viktor Hovland, 1,313.89
20 (20): Joaquin Niemann, 1,227.54
21 (21): JT Poston, 1,146.04
22 (22): Collin Morikawa, 1,088.94
23 (23): Davis Riley, 1,044.94
24 (24): Seamus Power, 990.479
25 (25): JJ Spaun, 985.084
26 (26): Cameron Tringale, 956.873
27 (33): Aaron Wise, 951.704
28 (27): Shane Lowry, 941.627
29 (28): Luke List, 937.82
30 (34): Corey Conners, 936.303
31 (29): Maverick McNealy, 935.57
32 (41): Russell Henley, 934.409
33 (30): Keegan Bradley, 924.949
34 (NR): Joohyung Kim, 917
35 (31): Sepp Straka, 909.303
36 (32): Kevin Kisner, 906.236
37 (37): Keith Mitchell, 888.263
38 (35): Mito Pereira, 888.155
39 (36): Sahith Theegala, 886.087
40 (38): KH Lee, 852.899
41 (42): Scott Stallings, 851.78
42 (39): Denny McCarthy, 842.178
43 (40): Kurt Kitayama, 838.627
44 (43): Lucas Herbert, 796.457
45 (44): Sebastián Muñoz, 794.608
46 (45): Mackenzie Hughes, 782.679
47 (46): Tommy Fleetwood, 766.407
48 (47): Si Woo Kim, 750.729
49 (58): Tyrrell Hatton, 748.883
50 (48): Adam Hadwin, 720.713
51 (49): Chez Reavie, 715.028
52 (50): Chris Kirk, 706.519
53 (54): Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 698.067
54 (51): Matt Kuchar, 695.997
55 (53): Brian Harman, 693.711
56 (52): Emiliano Grillo, 691.242
57 (55): Brendan Steele, 688.734
58 (56): Harold Varner III, 682.077
59 (57): Alex Noren, 681.096
60 (62): Taylor Pendrith, 663.153
61 (63): Alex Smalley, 657.665
62 (59): Marc Leishman, 656.356
63 (70): Anirban Lahiri, 642.125
64 (60): Troy Merritt, 638.559
65 (76): Taylor Moore, 623.023
66 (61): Cam Davis, 614.099
67 (111): John Huh, 611.949
68 (66): Brendon Todd, 592.131
69 (64): Lanto Griffin, 592.114
70 (65): Trey Mullinax, 589.859
71 (78): Brandon Wu, 586.079
72 (72): Matthew NeSmith, 575.991
73 (67): Gary Woodland, 573.366
74 (68): Beau Hossler, 571.657
75 (69): Chad Ramey, 567.789
76 (71): Adam Long, 563.622
77 (73): Adam Scott, 550.606
78 (74): Daniel Berger, 528.939
79 (75): Wyndham Clark, 527.197
80 (77): Joel Dahmen, 524.244
81 (81): Patrick Rodgers, 516.631
82 (86): Russell Knox, 514.094
83 (79): Kevin Streelman, 509.064
84 (80): Mark Hubbard, 507.807
85 (85): David Lipsky, 504.539
86 (87): Peter Malnati, 500.658
87 (89): Andrew Putnam, 498.16
88 (83): Aaron Rai, 491.325
89 (82): Danny Lee, 490.481
90 (84): Adam Svensson, 483.31
91 (94): Stephan Jaeger, 480.011
92 (88): CT Pan, 472.605
93 (90): Adam Schenk, 460.953
94 (92): Justin Rose, 457.918
95 (91): Hayden Buckley, 455.782
96 (93): Vince Whaley, 438.098
97 (95): Jhonattan Vegas, 427.643
98 (96): Nate Lashley, 426.516
99 (97): Lee Hodges, 424.268
100 (98): Martin Laird, 420.653
101 (99): Sam Ryder, 411.783
102 (108): Scott Piercy, 410.307
103 (100): Michael Thompson, 406.278
104 (109): Callum Tarren, 404.962
105 (126): Max McGreevy, 404.357
106 (121): Chesson Hadley, 403.776
107 (101): Dylan Frittelli, 400.679
108 (104): James Hahn, 399.567
109 (102): Greyson Sigg, 396.81
110 (103): Ryan Palmer, 391.192
111 (105): Nick Watney, 387.434
112 (110): Robert Streb, 385.345
113 (106): Jason Day, 384.805
114 (107): Doug Ghim, 384.687
115 (116): Stewart Cink, 376.103
116 (119): Kevin Tway, 361.331
117 (112): Ryan Brehm, 359.199
118 (113): Tyler Duncan, 354.934
119 (114): Matthias Schwab, 352.546
120 (115): Patton Kizzire, 350.841
121 (118): Lucas Glover, 348.881
122 (117): Webb Simpson, 346.19
123 (120): Nick Taylor, 333.548
124 (122): Kramer Hickok, 328.084
125 (123): Rickie Fowler, 323.797

The following players missed out on the FedEx Cup Playoffs
126 (124): Matt Wallace, 315.82
127 (125): Austin Smotherman, 314.597
128 (128): Justin Lower, 311.472
129 (136): Doc Redman, 303.929
130 (127): Danny Willett, 303.5
131 (131): Kelly Kraft, 288.816
132 (129): Nick Hardy, 288.28
133 (130): Cameron Champ, 287.5
134 (137): Brian Stuard, 284.837
135 (132): Michael Gligic, 283.301
136 (138): Harry Higgs, 272.45
137 (133): Francesco Molinari, 272.347
138 (135): Martin Trainer, 270.293
139 (134): Erik van Rooyen, 268.764
140 (142): Zach Johnson, 245.515
141 (140): Rory Sabbatini, 243.723
142 (139): Hank Lebioda, 241.485
143 (158): Cameron Percy, 239.808
144 (145): Henrik Norlander, 234.9
145 (141): Andrew Novak, 233.341
146 (143): Garrick Higgo, 228.696
147 (144): Brice Garnett, 227.967
148 (146): Jonathan Byrd, 223.135
149 (147): Austin Cook, 212.938
150 (148): Charley Hoffman, 207.235
151 (149): Bubba Watson, 199.056
152 (150): Ben Martin, 196.8
153 (154): Satoshi Kodaira, 196.622
154 (151): Bill Haas, 194.007
155 (152): Andrew Landry, 191.25
156 (153): Ryan Armour, 186.287
157 (155): Dylan Wu, 175.228
158 (156): Chase Seiffert, 173.138
159 (159): Luke Donald, 169.854
160 (157): Paul Barjon, 168.257
161 (176): Richy Werenski, 163.345
162 (160): Sung Kang, 162.982
163 (161): Joseph Bramlett, 161.895
164 (167): Vaughn Taylor, 158.217
165 (162): Scott Gutschewski, 158.187
166 (163): Seth Reeves, 151.581
167 (164): Roger Sloan, 150.818
168 (169): Ben Kohles, 146.029
169 (165): Sean O’Hair, 145.542
170 (166): William McGirt, 144.179
171 (168): Brandt Snedeker, 140.732
172 (170): Kevin Chappell, 138.946
173 (171): Curtis Thompson, 135.85
174 (183): Ryan Moore, 129.657
175 (172): Seung-Yul Noh, 128.025
176 (173): Camilo Villegas, 126.887
177 (174): Jim Knous, 125.242
178 (197): Kiradech Aphibarnrat, 121.699
179 (175): Tyler McCumber, 113.05
180 (179): Scott Brown, 111.449
181 (177): Brandon Hagy, 105.9
182 (178): Tommy Gainey, 105.45
183 (186): Bo Hoag, 97.58
184 (180): Aaron Baddeley, 95.749
185 (181): David Skinns, 94.155
186 (182): Harris English, 91.427
187 (184): Brian Gay, 90.321
188 (185): Wesley Bryan, 90.056
189 (187): Michael Kim, 83.626
190 (188): Jimmy Walker, 82.903
191 (193): Jared Wolfe, 81.36
192 (189): Bronson Burgoon, 80.3
193 (190): Kyle Stanley, 80.232
194 (191): David Lingmerth, 80.069
195 (192): Robert Garrigus, 78.902
196 (194): Dawie van der Walt, 78.096
197 (195): Jim Herman, 76.468
198 (196): Grayson Murray, 70.302
199 (198): Bo Van Pelt, 69.038
200 (199): Jason Dufner, 58.757
201 (200): Jonas Blixt, 49.679
202 (201): Joshua Creel, 47.871
203 (202): Chris Stroud, 44.252
204 (205): Brett Drewitt, 42.317
205 (203): Mark Hensby, 39.611
206 (204): Ricky Barnes, 39.086
207 (206): Greg Chalmers, 32.112
208 (207): David Hearn, 28.215
209 (208): Fabián Gómez, 19.772
210 (209): DA Points, 12.805
211 (210): Padraig Harrington, 11.957
212 (211): Jim Furyk, 11.75
213 (212): Johnson Wagner, 11.7
214 (213): Tiger Woods, 11.333
215 (214): DJ Trahan, 11.012
216 (215): Ben Crane, 10.189
217 (216): JJ Henry, 9.306
218 (217): Derek Ernst, 9.213
219 (218): Sangmoon Bae, 8.567
220 (219): Arjun Atwal, 5.289
T-221 (T-220): Paul Goydos, 4.9
T-221 (T-220): George McNeill, 4.9
223 (222): Richard Johnson, 4.605
224 (223): John Merrick, 3.62
225 (224): Omar Uresti, 3.5
226 (225): Davis Love III, 3.4
227 (226): John Senden, 3.3
228 (227): Jay Haas, 2.75
229 (228): Brian Davis, 2.738
230 (229): Kevin Stadler, 2.489
231 (230): Ryuji Imada, 2.3
231 (231): Matt Every, 1.867

The post LOOK: Big names who missed out in the FedEx Cup Playoffs standings — and lost their PGA Tour cards appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The LIV Golf wrinkle impacting the FedEx Cup Playoffs chances of Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and others

Golf Digest Middle East — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 05:24:10 +0000

Rickie Fowler. Kevin C Cox

By Joel Beall
Normally deducing who is on the FedEx Cup Playoffs bubble is easy. Take a look at the players near the cutline of No. 125 and boom, there’s your bubble. But this year, like so many other facets in professional golf, analysing the confines of Who Is In and Who Is Out is far from simple.

The complexity lies in LIV Golf, for those who have moved to the fledgling Saudi-backed circuit are A) under indefinite suspension from the PGA Tour or B) have renounced their PGA Tour membership. The upshot from the latter group — which includes the likes of Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed and Kevin Na — has already been calculated, as they have been removed from the FedEx Cup standings. The former group, however, remains listed in the post-season race. While the PGA Tour has yet to officially state how these players will be handled, sources tell Golf Digest the LIV Golf members currently on the FedEx Cup list are expected to be skipped over and replaced. Currently, that means 10 players inside the top 125 — Talor Gooch, Abraham Ancer, Charles Howell III, Matt Jones, Brooks Koepka, Jason Kokrak, Carlos Ortiz, Pat Perez, Hudson Swafford and Matthew Wolff — aren’t eligible for the playoffs, meaning the real FedEx Cup line is likely in the No. 134-136 range. (Perez, for example, is currently No. 121 but is in danger of falling outside No. 125).

Wrinkles remain. Until now, the PGA Tour has not suspended LIV Golf members until they have teed it up in a LIV event. But LIV Golf has also used the first two events to announce future signees, with Reed and Bryson DeChambeau announced in London and Paul Casey announced in Portland. The reason this matters is that, should LIV Golf follow the same cadence at Trump Bedminster this week, more players will be announced in the following days, but the next LIV Golf event won’t be held until the first week of September … the week after the conclusion of the tour’s season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta. Meaning the PGA Tour would have to break from its precedent of waiting to suspend a player, or a future LIV Golf member would get to compete in the postseason.

Keeping all this in mind, here are the following big names currently on the FedEx Cup bubble.

Webb Simpson

Currently at No. 125, Simpson should be safe and has the Wyndham Championship coming up, where he has a win and nine top 10s in 13 career starts and loves the event so much he named one of his daughter’s after it. Though it’s jarring to see Simpson this low — he’s just two seasons removed from a two-win campaign — it’s a position mostly predicated off the complications from suffering a herniated disc in his neck.

Jason Day

It appeared the former PGA champ was on the verge of a comeback when contending at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier in the year. That performance at Torrey Pines proved to be an aberration, as Day has just one finish inside the top 20 in 10 individual starts since (although he did log a T-10 at the team-centric Zurich Classic). At No. 127 Day should be OK in making it to the post-season, but even if he misses the FedEx Cup, the Aussie remains tour exempt through the 2024 season thanks to his Players Championship win in 2016.

Rickie Fowler

Fowler logged a T-3 at the CJ Cup in the autumn. Since, zero top-20 finishes in 17 starts. With the slump stretching into its third season it’s fair to wonder if what Fowler’s experiencing is really a “slump” or a new normal. Needs a good showing at this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic to move safely off the bubble.

Danny Willett

The Englishman’s Masters exemption runs out in two weeks. That he even finds himself with a shot to keep his card is thanks to a T-7 at the 3M Open, his first individual top 10 on tour in 16 months. Willett has missed the playoffs the past two seasons, and at No. 137 desperately needs to make the cut in Detroit this week.

Francesco Molinari

The 2018 Open champ is not in the Rocket Mortgage Classic field, meaning any hopes he has of reaching the playoffs (currently No. 142) are based on a strong display at the regular-season finale at Sedgefield Country Club.

Harry Higgs

The fan favourite has been struggling mightily, entering the week 169th in scoring and 184th in strokes gained. His FedEx Cup position is slightly better (147th), but Higgs needs a top 10 this week or the next to secure his card for 2023.

Cameron Champ

Champ logged a win in each of the three previous seasons. But while he leads the tour in distance he sits 149th in the FedEx Cup, with a T-16 at last week’s 3M Open breaking a streak of five missed cuts in a row. Thanks to the aforementioned victories Champ is not in danger of losing his card, his status secured through 2024.

Zach Johnson

At No. 155, the 2023 Ryder Cup captain will need something special over the final two weeks to keep his card. Has had past success at the Wyndham with two top 10s in his last four starts.

The post The LIV Golf wrinkle impacting the FedEx Cup Playoffs chances of Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and others appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.