Since the debut of the FedEx Cup Playoffs in 2007, only one player has reached the PGA TOUR’s postseason every year: Matt Kuchar.
That streak is in jeopardy this year.
Kuchar came to Sedgefield Country Club this week needing a victory in the Wyndham Championship to climb into the top 70 of the FedEx Cup standings and qualify for the playoffs in the PGA TOUR’s regular-season finale.
And at the end of the second round of the 85th annual Wyndham Championship, Matt Kuchar stood alone at the top of the leaderboard at 12-under par after back-to-back rounds of 64.
“I really don’t think much about (the streak),” Kuchar said. “Listen, I try to play well every week. … I was telling somebody yesterday, ‘I don’t focus on my point positioning, where I stand.’ I just don’t know how that helps you to play good golf. I think you show up each week, you go out with the idea of trying to play championship golf, trying to win tournaments. Focusing on the number of (FedEx) points you need seems like it only makes it tougher on yourself to play good golf.”
Kuchar, 46, definitely played good golf in the first two rounds, and he took a one-shot lead over Chad Ramey, Cameron Young and PGA TOUR rookie and Duke University alumnus Max Greyserman.
First-round leader Beau Hossler shot an even-par 70 and stayed at 10-under par, two shots off the lead.
Kuchar, a nine-time PGA TOUR winner, started the week No. 111 in the FedEx Cup points standings.
“It’s certainly been a frustrating year, but I feel like the bar’s been set high,” Kuchar said. “I feel like I played a lot of good golf, consistent golf for a long time. That makes poor golf that much more frustrating. I continue every week to expect to play good golf, and it’s not always gone that way. But it’s nice to see things kind of rounding into form. I hope it’s not too late. I hope I still have a chance to continue going.”
Kuchar made his move by keeping his tee shots in the fairways of Sedgefield’s Donald Ross-designed golf course. That’s a significant advantage during this rain-soaked week, as the players are playing with preferred lies.
“This Bermuda rough is nasty. I do not want any part of it,” Kuchar said. “When it’s dry, it’s no fun. When it’s wet, it’s really no fun. I stayed out of it a good bit, and I was able to get the golf ball in my hand, tee it up basically, and be able to try to be fairly aggressive with the iron shots.”
For the second consecutive round, a player flirted with matching Brandt Snedeker’s course-record 59.
A day after Hossler shot 60, Greyserman put together a 10-under round of his own.
“The sports psychologist will tell you focus on the shot at hand, blah-blah-blah, and all that stuff,” Greyserman said. “That’s what I’m trying to do, but obviously I know what I’m trying to accomplish: I’m trying to shoot 59. It was definitely in the back of my mind. I’m thinking about it a little bit. But when I am up to that ball, I’m focusing on the shot at hand.”
Greyserman needed to birdie the 18th hole for 59. But his tee shot landed in the left rough, and he scrambled to make par and preserve his 60.
“I don’t think it’s a surprise,” Greyserman said. “I’ve had some good finishes early in the year, and I played well last year on the Korn Ferry. It’s just putting the pieces together and getting comfortable out here versus early in the season. It’s kind of like a circus relative to the Korn Ferry Tour. There’s a lot more people in the galleries. There’s a lot going on, and fans are saying crazy things.”
Defending champion Lucas Glover made a hole-in-one on the par-3 12th hole, his sixth ace on the PGA TOUR. Glover shot rounds of 70 and 71, missing the cut. Joel Highsmith also made a hole-in-one at 12. It was his third of the season, a first on the PGA TOUR. Highsmith also missed the cut with rounds of 70 and 68.
Glover wasn’t alone on the wrong side of the line drawn at 4-under par. Former Wyndham Championship winners Snedeker, Webb Simpson, J.T. Poston, Camilo Villegas, Si-Woo Kim and Kevin Kisner all missed the cut. So, too, did fan favorites Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris, Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, Stewart Cink, Bill Haas and Chesson Hadley.
By Jeff Mills
Special to the Wyndham Championship
