There was new voice on the Golf Channel broadcast of the Wyndham Championship this past week. No your ears were not deceiving you. That was the voice of four-time PGA Tour winner Camilo Villegas, who was making his broadcasting debut in the analyst chair.

While it’s a job that requires time to learn and be truly good at, you can often tell right away whether or not guys are cut out for it. After just four days on the job, it sure seems as though Villegas could be very good at it if he wants to stick with it. Originally, he was unsure if he wanted to do it at all, balking at a suggestion by Golf Channel’s Steve Sands that he might give television a try.

Villegas has not put his playing career to bed just yet, but the insight and energy he brought to the booth, and the positive reaction he’s received from viewers, might be enough to persuade him to come back for more. Of course, there were plenty of rookie mistakes and learning on the fly, as this A+ clip of Villegas commentating without the microphone next to his mouth shows. Thankfully, his boy Sandsy, a pro’s pro in every sense of the phrase, swooped in to save the day:

 

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A post shared by Camilo Villegas (@camilovillegasofficial)

What makes this save extra impressive from Sands is that he wasn’t even looking at Villegas to see that the microphone wasn’t on properly. He could hear something was off in his headset, which is when you’ll notice his eyes darting to the right leading to the eventual glove save and a beauty. That’s a TV professional right there.

As you can see from the fist pump, too, TV is a team game. Another reason Villegas might want to hang around the booth a little more. When you mess up on the golf course, it’s all on you. Nobody is coming to save the day. When you mess up on TV, you’ve got teammates like Sandsy to pick you up. For now, though, it’s back to the real grind.

“What a week,” Villegas said on Instagram afterward. “Honoured and thankful to get a chance to call some shots for the first time next to Steve Sands and the whole crew that make a broadcast possible. The Wyndham Championship is a is a special event for me and nice to add this week to the memories. Golf Channel, thanks again for the opportunity. I hope the viewers enjoyed as much as I did…. Back to playing though.”

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It has largely been a season to forget for Charley Hoffman. Despite not having full status on the PGA Tour, the 46-year-old has managed to play in 25 events — he has been the beneficiary of several sponsor’s exemptions, including at this week’s Wyndham Championship. And yet he had made just 11 cuts, had no better than a T-14 finish (WM Phoenix Open) and started the week 156th in the FedEx Cup standings.

But on Sunday at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, there was a little bit of solace for Hoffman in the form of something he has never done previously in his 18 years on tour.

Making a two on the par-5 15th, holing out from 198 yards, was a nice treat during a roller-coaster final round for Hoffman, having started the day bogey/double-bogey, then making three birdies.

? ALBATROSS! ?@Hoffman_Charley makes a 2 on the 546-yard par-5 15th.

It's the first albatross in Hoffman's 30-year career on TOUR. pic.twitter.com/MsyZvTBStp

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 6, 2023

How remarkable is Hoffman’s accomplishment? Consider for a moment that the Wyndham is his 485th career start on the PGA Tour. During that time he has played 1,589 rounds, including Sunday. And he had never had an albatross … until now.

Indeed, the feat a rare one. Hoffman’s two was just the fourth from anyone during the 2023-23 PGA Tour season. By comparison, there have been 35 holes-in-one during the season.

Hoffman followed that up with three birdies to shoot a closing 68 and finish at 11-under for the tournament, in a tie for 12th place. Again, at least a little solace in closing out the season.

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For Lucas Glover, who shared the 18-under lead with fellow PGA Tour veteran Billy Horschel entering the final round of the Wyndham Championship, Sunday’s concern wasn’t about making money, but rather earning points. The $1.368 million first-place prize money payout given to the winner at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, would have been nice, although the 43-year-old already had made $29.1 million in his career. It was the 500 FedEx Cup points that were what was really needed.

Glover was on the outside of the top 70 bubble in the FedEx Cup standings (112th) with Wyndham the last chance to jump in and qualify for the Playoffs. A win would bump him to 49th.

And a win was what he got. A closing two-under 68, finished a few hours later than planned thanks to a weather delay, propelled him to a two-shot win over Russell Henley, who bogeyed his last three holes to help make it a little easier for Glover to claim his fifth career tour win.

Indeed, there was lots on the line in North Carolina. But if you’re mostly curious about the cash, here’s the prize money payouts from the $7.6 million purse for every player who made the cut in Greensboro.

Win: Lucas Glover, 260/-20, $1,368,000
T-2: Byeong Hun An, 262/-18, $676,400
T-2: Russell Henley, 262/-18, $676,400
4: Billy Horschel, 264/-16, $372,400
T-5: Michael Kim, 267/-13, $293,550
T-5: Webb Simpson, 267/-13, $293,550
T-7: Cam Davis, 268/-12, $223,060
T-7: JT Poston, 268/-12, $223,060
T-7: Adam Scott, 268/-12, $223,060
T-7: Adam Svensson, 268/-12, $223,060
T-7: Brendon Todd, 268/-12, $223,060
T-12: Charley Hoffman, 269/-11, $169,100
T-12: Justin Thomas, 269/-11, $169,100
T-14: Ludvig Aberg, 270/-10, $123,500
T-14: Sam Burns, 270/-10, $123,500
T-14: Eric Cole, 270/-10, $123,500
T-14: Nicolai Hojgaard, 270/-10, $123,500
T-14: Sungjae Im, 270/-10, $123,500
T-14: Stephan Jaeger, 270/-10, $123,500
T-14: Robert Streb, 270/-10, $123,500
21: Thomas Detry, 271/-9, $93,100
T-22: Ryan Brehm, 272/-8, $73,340
T-22: Luke Donald, 272/-8, $73,340
T-22: Taylor Moore, 272/-8, $73,340
T-22: Matti Schmid, 272/-8, $73,340
T-22: Davis Thompson, 272/-8, $73,340
T-27: Nick Hardy, 273/-7, $53,200
T-27: Nicholas Lindheim, 273/-7, $53,200
T-27: Andrew Putnam, 273/-7, $53,200
T-27: Chez Reavie, 273/-7, $53,200
T-27: Austin Smotherman, 273/-7, $53,200
T-27: Gary Woodland, 273/-7, $53,200
T-33: Harris English, 274/-6, $41,420
T-33: Chesson Hadley, 274/-6, $41,420
T-33: Si Woo Kim, 274/-6, $41,420
T-33: Kelly Kraft, 274/-6, $41,420
T-33: Andrew Novak, 274/-6, $41,420
T-38: Sam Bennett, 275/-5, $31,540
T-38: Tyler Duncan, 275/-5, $31,540
T-38: Matt Kuchar, 275/-5, $31,540
T-38: Alex Noren, 275/-5, $31,540
T-38: Sam Ryder, 275/-5, $31,540
T-38: Greyson Sigg, 275/-5, $31,540
T-38: J.J. Spaun, 275/-5, $31,540
T-45: Peter Kuest, 276/-4, $22,116
T-45: David Lipsky, 276/-4, $22,116
T-45: Scott Piercy, 276/-4, $22,116
T-45: Brandt Snedeker, 276/-4, $22,116
T-45: Matt Wallace, 276/-4, $22,116
T-45: Kyle Westmoreland, 276/-4, $22,116
T-51: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 277/-3, $18,164
T-51: Zecheng Dou, 277/-3, $18,164
T-51: Doug Ghim, 277/-3, $18,164
T-51: Nate Lashley, 277/-3, $18,164
T-51: Shane Lowry, 277/-3, $18,164
T-51: Max McGreevy, 277/-3, $18,164
T-51: Dylan Wu, 277/-3, $18,164
T-58: Martin Laird, 278/-2, $17,176
T-58: Troy Merritt, 278/-2, $17,176
T-58: Vincent Norrman, 278/-2, $17,176
T-58: Brandon Wu, 278/-2, $17,176
T-62: Matt NeSmith, 279/-1, $16,720
T-62: Scott Stallings, 279/-1, $16,720
T-64: Joel Dahmen, 280/E, $16,340
T-64: CT Pan, 280/E, $16,340
T-64: Adam Schenk, 280/E, $16,340
T-67: Michael Gligic, 281/+1, $15,884
T-67: Trey Mullinax, 281/+1, $15,884
T-67: Carson Young, 281/+1, $15,884
70: Wesley Bryan, 283/+3, $15,580
T-71: Jim Herman, 285/+5, $15,352
T-71: Richy Werenski, 285/+5, $15,352
73: Carl Yuan, 286/+6, $15,124

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“It’s been a long road, fighting something for 10 years.”

Those were the words of 43-year-old Lucas Glover, following his fifth career win on Sunday at the Wyndham Championship, where he emerged from a two-hour rain delay to out-duel a desperately unlucky Russell Henley to stamp his trip to the FedExCup playoffs. He was talking about the putting yips, which have dogged him a decade and led to a switch to the long putter in June that carried him to victory in Greensboro. Surrounded by his two children — his daughter crying, his son repeating: “Dad, you won!” with something like incredulity — Glover fought back tears and seemed to value a very different destination almost more than the playoffs: Home.

“I’m too old to be away this much,” he said, and despite the fact that he’ll have at least one more week of travel ahead of him, the security he gained here will give him more time with the children at his sides.

From 2005 to 2023 ?@Lucas_Glover_ knows how to get it done. https://t.co/w0NltTG0G2 pic.twitter.com/hlvZ4OyNmV

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 7, 2023

In the end, after a week of frantic movement as players ricocheted up and down the projected rankings, Glover didn’t just win a trophy and the attendant $1.36 million prize, he was the only player who started the week outside the playoff cut line who managed to change his fortunes in Greensboro. Only the top 70 make the first playoff event next week in Memphis, and Glover, at 112th entering the week, wasn’t even near the bubble. Winning takes care of quite a bit, though, and Glover’s masterful performance ensured that he vaulted all the way to 49th. The casualty of his ascent, and the only player who fell out of the top 70 in Greensboro, was Austin Eckroat, who missed the cut and dropped from 70th to 74th.

In terms of the bubble, the story of the Wyndham Championship was a story of “almost”. First and most prominent, Justin Thomas engaged in a thrilling late battle to force his way into the playoffs and increase his viability as a Ryder Cup captain’s pick, and finished just one spot — and one stroke — shy of pulling it off.

“I know this game doesn’t owe you anything,” Thomas said Sunday, after his round but with the outcome still uncertain, “but I really felt like I fought hard enough to deserve it.”

One spot behind Thomas, Adam Scott watched one of golf’s most impressive streaks of longevity come to an end. Along with Matt Kuchar, he’s made every iteration of the FedExCup playoffs since they began in 2007. After struggling on Friday and Saturday relative to the field, the Australian put together a massive run on Sunday, shooting 63 to finish in a tie for fifth. Like Thomas, he was just a single shot from entering the top 70. Unlike Thomas, he seemed at ease with missing it; perhaps even a bit relieved.

“If it does end, I think it’s a good thing,” Scott said of his streak. “I think it gives me a good chance to look at what I need to do differently to be more competitive in whatever competition I’m playing in.”

Billy Horschel came into the final round tied for the lead with Glover, and was projected to advance to the playoffs despite a starting position of 116th. Unfortunately for him, he shot a two-over 72 when he needed his magic the most, and finishing solo fourth was only enough to elevate him to 90th in the standings.

Davis Thompson, Shane Lowry, and Michael Kim also came up short on the bubble, with Kim’s T-5 position giving him the best chance of the three until a Sunday 68 halted his momentum. On the other side of that equation, Ben Griffin and Beau Hossler held on to their precarious playoff positions despite missing the cut on Friday (Griffin, a cliffhanger of sorts, fell from 68th to 70th, barely ahead of Thomas), while Matt NeSmith, Vincent Norman, and JJ Spaun finished in the middle of the pack to keep bubble at bay and qualify for the playoffs.

After Thomas’ near heroics and the weather delay, it was Glover who emerged as the star of the show. On Saturday, he revealed that his putting had been so bad that if he didn’t find success with the long putter, he was considering trying it left-handed. The stats tell the dire story. Coming into the Wyndham, he was 180th in Strokes Gained: Putting. This week, he was 15th, and punctuated his win with a seven-footer to save par on the last hole. In all, since the switch, he’s notched four top-10 finishes, including the win this week, and only one missed cut.

To win on August 6 was especially poignant — it was his grandfather’s birthday, the man he called a “mentor and a hero” who got him involved with the game and played an instrumental role in his golf education. After he won, he met up with a group of family members, including three uncles, and pointed at the sky in tribute to his grandfather.

Glover still remembers when the yips started, a decade ago at the Colonial. There, on the 13th green, he made a four-putt that came “out of nowhere”. Since then, he’s been through stages where he shakes and seems to lose all function and coordination on the greens. He’s not afraid to call it the “yips”, and says that admitting his problem has been part of the solution. Adopting the long putter was a response to nothing else working, he needed to rewire his brain, and turn putting into a completely new exercise. The physics of the long putter were different enough that the mechanics of it felt like a whole new process.

Toward the end of his press conference, his Srixon hat pulled low over his head, a reporter asked about the most radical thing he had done in the last decade to fix his putting. Glover didn’t need to think long, and his answer was just one word:

“This.”

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If you want to understand the absurdity of Justin Thomas’ mad dash for the FedEx Cup Playoffs at the Wyndham Championship on Sunday, consider the fact that after making par on the 17th hole, but before teeing off on 18 — somewhere in his walk between holes — he slipped from 70th in the playoff standings to 71st. The former makes the playoffs, the latter does not.

If you want to understand the delirious drama of the day and the week, though, you only had to watch his second and third shots on the 18th hole. The former was a massive hook off the pine straw from 183 yards, through trees, the ball trying to run up the front of the green after Thomas’ tee shot found the left trees. The latter was a pitch from 34 yards that hit the hole and did everything but go in. The former saw him conclude his swing by spinning on one leg like a primo ballerina before dashing to the fairway to see the result. The latter concluded with him falling on his back, face stuck in a rictus of despair. Not long after he tapped in for his par, the weather horn blew, and you almost got the sense that Thomas invoked the storms himself.

The former:

Unreal ?@JustinThomas34 | @WyndhamChamp pic.twitter.com/0hhxRHAw5R

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 6, 2023

And the latter:

WOW!

An INCREDIBLE effort from @JustinThomas34 to try and keep his season alive!#FedExCup https://t.co/TOm1YQoG6q pic.twitter.com/ba64xcZLk5

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 6, 2023

After hours of uncertainty, the ending was anticlimactic: It didn’t happen. The players remaining on the course didn’t miss what they needed to miss, and he stayed right there in 71st place, one spot to the bad after finishing the tournament in a tie for 12th with a closing 68 leaving him one shot short. But to JT, we issue the following statement: Golf fans invite you to come back to the bubble any old time you want.

The post Out then in, in then out: Inside Justin Thomas’ crazy Sunday ride as FedEx Cup Playoffs bubble bursts appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

As Billy Horschel made his way to the interview area after a third-round 63 that left him tied for the lead at the Wyndham Championship, a nearby television monitor showed the CBS coverage, where a different interview with Horschel was playing — the infamous near-confessional after his opening 84 at the Memorial. With tears flowing, Horschel told reporters that his confidence was “the lowest it’s been in my entire career”.

That honesty and vulnerability guaranteed that his words would go viral, but what’s often lost in that interview is something else he said that looks more and more prophetic:
“It’s funny, as low as it feels, it feels like I’m not that far off at the same time. Which is insane to see when you see me shoot 84 today. … It wouldn’t make sense to a lot of people. But I don’t think I’m that far off.”

Two months later, Horschel has made good on those words in Greensboro and now has a chance to nab his first win of the season. He’ll play in the last group on Sunday at Sedgefield Country Club with Lucas Glover, also at 18 under following a scorching 62, and Russell Henley, who held the 36-hole lead and will chase from a shot behind following a 65. (On this course, 65 is somehow akin to running in place.)

Horschel switched from a Ping to Odyssey putter this week to get a better feel for his long putts and to try to cure a left miss, and currently leads the field in strokes gained/putting, which says it all. On Saturday, he made three birdie putts of 10 feet or longer.

When asked if there was anyone specific who helped him as he tried to change June’s tears into August’s triumph, Horschel dropped a surprising name: former West Ham United star Mark Noble, who played for the English Premier League side from 2004 to 2022. Known as “Mr West Ham,” Noble now serves as the club’s sporting director.

Horschel, a Florida alum who lives and breathes Gators American football, might seem to be an unlikely real football fan, but he’s been a diehard’s diehard for more than 15 years. It started when he saw the film “Green Street Hooligans”, a drama about West Ham supporters, and today he not only watches every match, but has the club’s crest on his bag. He calls, like many US fans, soccer “football”, and when he’s among UK company, he’ll even go so far as to use the term “American football” for the ‘other’ version of the game. (You have to imagine there are at least a few Gainesville tailgates that would kick him out for that kind of transgression.)

In 2021, after winning the WGC-Match Play, Horschel got a text from Noble — who knew he was a supporter — congratulating him on his victory. They struck up a friendship, and before long the two were playing together, and today they meet up when Horschel travels abroad. Through Noble, he’s got to know some of the club’s owners and players. And when Horschel had his low moment at the Memorial, Noble was one of the friends who reached out — and the first one Horschel thought of on Saturday when asked.

“He’s a West Ham legend,” Horschel said. “He actually texted me two days [after the Memorial meltdown]. He said: ‘Hey, sorry I’m two days late, but I couldn’t write this text because I was so emotional writing it.’

“We are very much wired very similar … he was like, ‘listen, there’s a lot of times I would come home, and I would cry because we were playing so bad, or I’d be doing everything I can to get the team to play at a higher level and it wasn’t happening.’

“Just him sharing that with me,” Horschel continued, “him telling me … how great of a player I am and a person I am. Just those little things. Even though I may know that about myself, it never hurts to hear that from people that you love a lot.”

Noble certainly wasn’t alone in reaching out. Horschel was inundated with support from friends and strangers alike, and today he credits that moment for helping him turn his game around.

“It was sort of like a release,” he said. “I don’t fully understand why it happened then and there, because I had shared some of that with my team and my family before leading up to that. But right then and there it just happened; from that moment I’ve been in a better head space, the game’s been going in the right direction since then.”

When told that it was a good advertisement for why men shouldn’t repress their emotions, Horschel went broader.

“I don’t think anyone should,” he said. “My wife, with her addiction to alcohol and mental health issues, I think learning more about that side of it. I’ve tried to tell people, I said: ‘Hey, just share it with somebody.’ It’s amazing how when you can just get it off your chest, you feel a little bit better about yourself that you’re sharing it with someone. And you never know what happens when you do share it with someone. They may be feeling the same thing you are, and they can relate. … I wish more people would be more open and more honest, but I know everyone’s not that way.”

A year before his press conference at the Memorial, in June 2022, Horschel won that tournament. It remains his last victory, but thanks to his openness, his willingness to work, and the help of a group of friends that includes an English soccer star, he’ll have a chance Sunday to revisit the Memorial in the best way possible.

The post Noble gesture: Wyndham co-leader Billy Horschel got back on track with help from West Ham? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It’s beach season. All across the globe, people are shoving their toes in the sand, ready to forget their troubles for a few sunny hours of rest and relaxation.

Well, except for Hideki Matsuyama.

The 2021 Masters champion found himself marooned on a much less pleasant patch of sand on Friday at the Wyndham Championship, when his ball buried in a bunker face inches below the lip. He was able to find a stance, but that backfired in spectacular fashion as his escape attempt ricocheted off the lip and back into his footprint … twice.

We've all been there. pic.twitter.com/7wLWQz1rjj

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 4, 2023

By the time Matsuyama finally broke free, he was facing his sixth shot with a good chunk of meat left on the bone. Worse yet, Matsuyama’s bunker disaster essentially sealed a missed cut at the PGA Tour’s final event of the regular season.

Matsuyama currently sits 56th in the FedEx Cup rankings, with the top 70 qualifying for next week’s FedEx St Jude Championship. He’s probably safe to make the playoffs, but Friday’s bunker meltdown puts a lot of pressure on Matsuyama if he wants to vault into the top 50 and qualify for the BMW Championship in two weeks’ time. If Matsuyama hopes to be in the mix at Olympia Fields, he should probably avoid the beach until the autumn.

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The way Billy Horschel sees it, he can’t lose. But deep down in his gut, he has to very badly want to be in Memphis, Tennessee, next week and not splashing around with his kids in the blue, warm waters of the Bahamas.

Horschel entered the week with only an outside chance to reach the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs — and the 2014 postseason champ still needs a solo second or better in the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina. But the 36-year-old is halfway to that goal after he shot a career-best 62 on Friday to be alone in second, one shot behind leader Russell Henley. The effort included holing out from 94 yards for eagle at Sedgefield Country Club’s eighth.

“I realised a couple months ago,” Horschel said, “there’s a really good chance I may not make the playoffs based off the way my game is going, so I was just more or less trying to focus on getting the game back in the right shape and getting some momentum going into the fall, which would hopefully carry over into ’24.

“I’m still in that same mindset. I have a trip planned with my kids and my wife to Abaco Club [in the Bahamas] next week if we don’t get in. It’s a win-win. So we’ll see what happens this weekend.”

Friday’s second round was an edgy, grinding, emotional trip for the golfers who are still battling to not only be among the top 70 in the standings who get into next week’s first week of the post-season in the FedEx St Jude Classic, but also keep their hopes alive of earning full-time status for next season. For the first time, only the top 50 after Memphis (heading into the BMW and Tour Championship) will keep their cards. The rest must battle in the autumn.

There were some big runs, including one from a guy who needed it very badly. Justin Thomas was one shot outside the cut after he bogeyed the eighth hole on Friday, but he rallied with four birdies over his last 10 holes to shoot 64 and climbed into a projected 74th spot in the standings. That’s still not good enough, but missing the cut would have given the 15-time tour winner no chance to make the playoffs and could have dashed his hopes of being a US captain’s pick for September’s Ryder Cup.

“I was going to give it the best I had and shoot as low as I could, whether that was 65 or 75 today,” Thomas said. “Fortunately for me it was a 65. I’m just going to go do the best I can and just give it everything I have this weekend because I don’t have much to lose.”

Heading into the week, Thomas needed at least a solo 18th finish, and he heads into the weekend T-21.

Of the players who entered the week in positions 60 through 70, six made the cut — Horschel, Sam Ryder, Matt NeSmith, Cam Davis, Vincent Norman and JJ Spaun. Those who didn’t reach the weekend were Mark Hubbard (currently projected at 60th), Sam Stevens (61st), Aaron Rai (62nd), Beau Hossler, and Ben Griffin (70th).

Griffin shot 70-73 to miss the cut, and as the last guy currently inside the bubble, he’s holding out only small hope his season isn’t over.

“I’ll probably practise this weekend and try to get ready for next week,” Griffin, 27, said. “If I don’t get in, obviously I’ll have quite the long time off. So, it’s kind of an interesting scenario I’m in. It’s not a scenario I want to be in, you would much rather be in control of your destiny. I’ll just have to wait.”

Playing alongside Griffin was Austin Eckroat, who entered the week at No. 70, missed the cut with a pair of 71s and has no chance for the playoffs with a current projection at No. 72.

The two good friends resorted to gallows humor down the stretch on Friday.

“The last three holes we tried to determine how many hole‑outs we both needed to make the cut, and none of us had a hole‑out,” Griffin, 27, said. “There’s not much you can do when you’re four or five out with a few holes to go except try to have fun out there.”

Of those who stood 71 to 80 in the standings and still figured to have a shot at getting into the playoffs, four made the weekend — Davis Thompson (with a current projection of 71st), Thomas, Matt Wallace (76th) and Shane Lowry (78th).

The post PGA Tour Bubble Boys: Horschel’s huge charge, JT stays alive and some youngsters take a fall appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Donald Ross fans, avert your eyes. An Englishman has taken aim at one of the legendary course architect’s North Carolina gems — Sedgefield Country Club, host of this week’s Wyndham Championship.

In a stunning turn of events, that Englishman’s name is not Tyrrell Hatton, a man who seems to have nothing nice to say about any venue on the PGA Tour schedule (except for TPC Sawgrass, of all places). It’s four-time DP World Tour winner Matt Wallace, who opened with a solid three-under 67 on Thursday, which has him in a tie for 16th and inched him a little closer to the projected top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings. It’s the type of start you’d think a player would be thrilled with in a make-or-break event.

Thrilled is the last word you’d use to describe how Wallace was feeling afterward, however. Two bogeys over his final three holes certainly played a role in that, but so did a few of the design features he felt contributed to those bogeys.

“A bit [annoyed] actually with the finish,” Wallace said. “Playing nicely. Yeah, just frustrated. I don’t like this golf course.”

Why is that, a reporter on site astutely followed up. Wallace was more than willing to go into detail.

“Because the run-offs are just absolutely ridiculous and this — it’s just not fun to play,” said Wallace. “Hit a shot out of the rough on the last and it landed on the front and runs backwards 40 yards. Like, it’s just not great.

“Yeah, I shouldn’t be in the rough,” he added. “But it’s difficult to hit the fairway all the time, especially like this. And then hit shots to the front and just — this is my third time playing. Every single time like, yeah, 83 per cent of the winners hit green in regulations pretty much, so a lot of green in regulations is key, but the penalty for miss — even on the par 3 down the hill, 12, you can’t go long because you can putt it off the green, so you play the smart play and you play it towards the front, the middle and, from 220 yards, I mean, it’s too severe, so they need to do something about it.”

Wallace, a notoriously fiery player, missed the cut in each of his previous two appearances at Sedgefield, each time needing a huge week in order to advance to the FedEx Cup Playoffs. So you can understand the frustration. Though, to that, some would say, “play better”.

In fairness to Ross, an all-time great, Wallace wants to like it. He’s trying.

“Just know that — I’m trying to like it, I’m trying to like it,” he said. “I think the most important person here this week with me is my psychologist and we’re trying to enjoy the tournament rather than what it produces. So great tournament, great sponsor. Just for me, if I didn’t have to come here, I wouldn’t, but I kind of need to.”

RELATED: Matt Wallace berates his caddie on camera

Wallace entered the week at 80th in the FedEx Cup standings, needing to jump 10 spots in order to make the Playoffs for the first time in his career. The Playoffs come with some serious job security for 2024, hence why Wallace not only needs to be here, but needs to play well here.

“I want to be here, I just don’t like the golf course,” Wallace said. “I want to be here, I want to play here and I want to play well. Maybe I shouldn’t say that. And hopefully if I win I’ll say something different at the end of the week, I absolutely love this golf course. But I know the way to play well around here, you’ve got to hit lots of greens and I felt like I’m doing that. You know, the putting was good today, which has been great.

“I just think the penalty is just really, really severe, especially with Bermuda grass, you know. It’s difficult to chip and play and I just think — yeah, just personally, my personal belief, my personal preference is if I play or design a golf course, I just have areas where it wouldn’t just carry on running away.”

Before the haters pounce, Wallace did make sure to acknowledge that he was being a little … well, we’ll let him take that one.

“I don’t know, maybe I’m just being me and being a bit bitchy, but yeah, it’s just how — it’s just how I see the golf course. Runoffs in the fairway, you can hit the fairway and they run into the rough. I mean, I don’t see that.”

Wallace is currently projected at 74th in the standings, on the outside looking in. The minimum finish he needs to have a chance to get into next week’s FedEx St Jude Championship is solo 14th. Based off of historical PGA Tour projections, however, a two-way tie for fourth or better would give him the best possible chance. So there’s much work to be done, both mentally and physically, for Wallace this week.

The post An Englishman not named Tyrrell Hatton takes aim at this week’s tour venue: ‘Not fun to play’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Adam Scott has a PGA Tour card locked up for 2024 no matter what happens at the Wyndham Championship. Exactly when he might be playing again, however, is up in the air depending on his fate this week at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The 43-year-old Australian is No. 81 on the FedEx Cup points list heading into the week, with only the top 70 qualifying for the Playoffs that begin next week in Memphis. Scott has to finish no worse than a two-way tie for T-9 to move on and more comfortably needs a three-way T-3 finish. Otherwise, for the first time since the advent of the FedEx Cup in 2007, Scott will be missing out on post-season action. Along with Matt Kuchar, Scott is one of just two players who have qualified for Playoffs all previous 16 seasons.

“At this point, you know, it is what it is,” says Scott, having been outside the top 70 bubble for much of the summer. “I feel like when I come out to play golf, I’m there to give it my best shot and if I make it, I make it. And if I don’t, I don’t.”

But with an opening-round five-under 65 that led the early scoring at Wyndham, Scott looks like he is plenty motivated to keep the streak alive.

Asked what his mindset is this week, Scott offered a simple but focused strategy.

“If I can be the low man every day, I’ll be just fine for winning the tournament and getting through to the playoffs,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ve got a few more good ones in me.”

Starting off the 10th tee and dodging the morning rain drops, Scott bogeyed the 11th hole, but bounced back with birdies on Nos. 12 and 13. Then came two more on the 15th and 17th holes.

“It’s that thing of how you start and getting under par early and feeling like you’re moving in the right direction is definitely a … definitely a settling feeling in a tournament,” Scott said. “When you’re a couple over early, you start finding the golf course much more difficult than it probably really is and hard to find that momentum. So those early birdies were good.”

Scott has come to terms with not making the Playoffs, which might actually free him up this week, too. “I’ve had a lot of years having a go at the FedEx Cup Playoffs, and all these kind of things come to an end at some point.”

If it did this year, though, it’s unclear when Scott might then play his next PGA Tour event. The Aussie often plays a sparse autumn schedule and without the need to earn any points during the Fall Series events this year to keep a card for 2024, Scott potentially might have played his last tour event for the year.

The post Here’s the mindset you have to take when you’re on the FedEx Cup bubble, says major champ Adam Scott … on the bubble appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.