RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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There are two simultaneous battles happening at the Wyndham Championship -- the chase for the win and the chase for one of the 70 spots in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
For some like Beau Hossler, they are one in the same. The former Texas star entered the week 122nd in the FedEx Cup standings, meaning his only path to the field in Memphis next week at the St. Jude Championship is to win in Greensboro. Through two rounds of play, Hossler has done exactly that in giving himself a chance at his first career PGA Tour win, backing up his round of 61 on Thursday with a solid 3-under 67 in tougher conditions on Friday afternoon.
Hossler began his day on the back nine and got off to a rocky start with back-to-back bogeys to open his round. He turned things around in the middle of his first nine with three birdies in his next five holes, including a bonus on the 16th on a putt he'd given up on halfway to the cup.
The putt and the reaction 😅👏 Beau Hossler didn't like it at first, but gets a nice surprise at the very end pic.twitter.com/gVSgmu0irN
If it's going to be that kind of week for Hossler, he could find himself lifting a PGA Tour trophy for the first time and add at least one more event to his 2026 schedule. He'll take a one shot lead into the weekend at 12 under, but Hossler will have to fend off a chase pack that includes 13 players within three shots of the lead.
Many of those, including impressive rookie Ben James and a fellow former Longhorn Doug Ghim, are in the same boat as Hossler where their only chance of reaching the PGA Tour's postseason is to win this week. That should set up a fascinating weekend where those at the top remain ultra-aggressive all the way through Sunday, and the player who can toe that line between aggression and recklessness will be the one who comes out on top.
T2. Ben James, Jordan Smith (-11) T4. Doug Ghim, Max Greyserman, Sahith Theegala, Alex Noren, David Skinns, Alex Smalley, Matti Schmid, Rico Hoey, Michael Brennan, Billy Horschel (-9) T14. Tom Kim, Jackson Suber, Eric Cole and four others (-8) T21. Brooks Koepka and four others (-7)
James is trying to match Jackson Koivun with a win in his rookie season. He had a tough weekend after taking a 36-hole lead in his first career start at the Canadian Open, but the former Virginia star is hoping to learn some lessons and apply them quickly to earn his way into the playoffs and grab his first career trophy.
Smith is a very different kind of rookie. The 33-year-old Englishman made the leap from the DP World Tour to the PGA Tour full time this year and has seen that pay off in a big way. He's still looking for his first win, but he has seven top 25s this season and began the week 68th in the FedEx Cup standings. All he needs to do is stay the course on the weekend to make it to Memphis, and perhaps he can take advantage of the others at the top of the leaderboard's desperation to get the win.
The large group at 9 under is headlined by Theegala, who cooled off a bit on Friday with a 69, and Brennan, another hopeful young star trying to win his way into Memphis. Theegala, Noren, Smalley and Schmid are the only players in this group of 10 who began the week inside the top 70, which should mean the rest keep the pedal firmly down knowing what's required to make the weekend.
A bit further back are some names we've seen pop up on leaderboards a few times this season. Cole had a hot streak earlier this summer and is showing good form again this week, Kim picked up a win a few weeks back in Scotland and Suber has made a late season charge but needs to get much closer to the lead to make it to Memphis.
Then there's Koepka, who entered the week 86th in the standings and will need to catch fire on the weekend to make the playoffs in his first season back on the PGA Tour.
Jackson Koivun entered the week on the bubble in 70th place, but despite making the cut and sitting in T39th entering the weekend, he's slipped back to 71st and has work to do. The star rookie will either need to climb a few spots up the leaderboard on the weekend to make up the 2.22 points needed to catch Steven Fisk -- who began the week in 69th but missed the cut -- or have someone already inside the top 70 win to avoid getting leapfrogged.
There is still plenty to be decided this weekend among those that made the cut, but with a few players who began the week hanging around the bubble missing the cut -- including Fisk, Mac Meissner and Johnny Keefer -- we now know some players whose seasons will end in Greensboro.
It got dicey late on Friday for a handful of the biggest names in the field this week. Cameron Young needed to mount a charge after a disappointing 71 on Thursday and was able to produce a late flurry of birdies to get himself into the weekend on the number at 3 under.
THAT CLOSE TO GOING IN 😦👀 Cameron Young clips the flagstick then scares the hole from 151 out pic.twitter.com/Wu93ZJd6Wm
Jordan Spieth's adventures continued and he too needed a miraculous 24-foot par save on his last hole after spraying a tee shot well right into the trees and having to chip out.
One hole left. Par to likely make the cut. With -190 odds to play the weekend, Jordan Spieth punches out of the trees and drains the do-or-die 24-foot par putt @WyndhamChamp . (Odds via @DKSports ) pic.twitter.com/sBuDfg7hmu
Neither Young nor Spieth were at risk of missing out on the first playoff event, but neither wanted to head to Memphis on a sour note. Young is effectively a lock for the Tour Championship at No. 3 in the standings, but he didn't want a Friday exit as the defending champion in Greensboro. Spieth, meanwhile, began the week 55th and tried to solidify his spot in the top 50 to make it to the second event at the BMW Championship.
Then there are those fighting for their playoff lives like Keegan Bradley and Andrew Putnam, both of whom clawed their way to 3 under to stay alive at 73rd and 74th in the projected standings respectively.
It is wide op...
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