GREENSBORO, N.C. – Several PGA TOUR golfers that are either North Carolina natives or residents, Harold Varner, III, Chesson Hadley, Kyle Reifers, Martin Laird, Johnson Wagner and Brendon de Jonge, will play next week’s Wyndham Championship, the tournament announced today. The 77th annual Wyndham Championship is set for Aug. 15-21, 2016 at Sedgefield Country Club.
These players join 2016 PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker, former Wyndham winner Brandt Snedeker, World No. 14 Patrick Reed, World No. 21 J.B. Holmes, World Golf Hall of Famer Ernie Els, Wake Forest alumnus Bill Haas, U.S. Open champions Webb Simpson, Retief Goosen, Graeme McDowell, Jim Furyk, Angel Cabrera and Lucas Glover, PGA Championship winners Jason Dufner and David Toms, Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama, Kevin Kisner, Kevin Na, William McGirt, former world No. 1 Luke Donald, Open Championship winners Justin Leonard and Stewart Cink, former Wyndham winners Ryan Moore, Camilo Villegas and Arjun Atwal, Scott Piercy, Harris English, Irish star Shane Lowry as well as Spanish stars Rafael Cabrera Bello and Jon Rahm in the field.
Varner is playing his first season on the PGA TOUR after an excellent Web.com Tour season in 2015. An East Carolina University alumnus, Varner now lives in Charlotte. He has four top-nine finishes this season and is 77th in FedExCup points and 165th in the Official World Golf Rankings after less than one full season on TOUR. Varner will make his first Wyndham Championship start.
Hadley, 29, is a Georgia Tech University alumnus and Raleigh, N.C. native and resident. He won the 2014 Puerto Rico Open and was named the 2013-14 PGA TOUR rookie of the year; he has three top-10 finishes this season. Hadley is making his fifth-consecutive Wyndham Championship appearance.
Reifers is a Wake Forest University alumnus living in Charlotte. He has five top-10 finishes in his second full season on TOUR. He is 49th in FedExCup points and 104th in the Official World Golf Rankings. Reifers will make his fifth Wyndham Championship start; he finished tied for 37th in 2012 for his best finish here.
Laird is a native of Glasgow, Scotland and a former Greensboro resident who now lives in Mooresville, N.C. He is a three-time PGA TOUR winner with three top-eight finishes this season. He will make third-consecutive Wyndham Championship start this year and his sixth overall; he finished tied for fourth in 2008 for his best finish here. He is 84th in FedExCup points and 143rd in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Wagner is a three-time PGA TOUR winner living in Charlotte. The Virginia Tech alumnus will make his seventh Wyndham Championship appearance this year. The top-125 players following the Wyndham Championship advance into the FedExCup Playoffs, and Wagner is currently 125th.
de Jonge is a native of Harare, Zimbabwe who lives in Charlotte and is affiliated with TPC Piper Glen. He made the FedExCup Playoffs in each of the last six seasons, but at 150th in the FedExCup point standings, he will need an excellent Wyndham Championship result to do the same this year. He is making his first Wyndham Championship start.
2008 Wyndham winner Carl Pettersson and World Golf Hall of Famer Vijay Singh have withdrawn from the field.
About the Wyndham Championship:
Contested annually on the Donald Ross-designed course at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., the Wyndham Championship was founded in 1938 and is the sixth-oldest event on the PGA TOUR excluding the Majors. Tickets are available at http://wyndhamchampionship.com or through the tournament office at (336) 379-1570. The tournament thanks title sponsor Wyndham Worldwide, presenting sponsor BB&T and Premier Partners, Cadillac, Harris Teeter, Lincoln Financial, McConnell Golf, Sunbrella®, Technology Concepts & Design, Inc. and VF Corporation for their continued support. Additional tournament information and sponsorship information are available at www.wyndhamchampionship.com. For more information about Wyndham Worldwide, please visit www.wyndhamworldwide.com. Stay connected with the Wyndham Championship through its social media channels, including the Wyndham Championship Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare, Flickr and YouTube.
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