Typically, 36-hole final days in big-time championship golf mean two golfers duking it out for a title, mono a mono.
But this Sunday on the PGA Tour, not only will roughly 69 golfers be battling for a place atop the regular season-ending Wyndham Championship leaderboard, but many will be duking it out for places in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which begin next week in Memphis.
In fact, a few players are in the thick of both competitions.
The opening round of the Wyndham Championship was washed out Thursday by heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Debby. Play didn’t begin until 9:50 a.m. ET on Friday, meaning nearly half the field didn’t even complete the first round that day. Some golfers played as many as 26 holes Saturday finishing both the first and second rounds, but then a few didn’t even finish the second round Saturday. Play was suspended at 8:20 p.m.
What does that leave us with? After 20 golfers finish up the second round and the Tour administers a cut — which should see about 70 players at four under or better— the third round will get started at 7:50 a.m., kicking off a marathon PGA Tour Sunday.
Players will go off in threesomes from split tees and they’ll keep going for 36 holes without repairing between the third and fourth rounds. On the CBS broadcast Saturday evening, Jim Nnatz said the PGA Tour was estimating the final group would need to begin the final round around 3:10 p.m. to get the whole tournament in.
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“What about the playoff?” Nantz joked.
Even if there doesn’t end up being extra golf on what’s going to be an epic Sunday on the PGA Tour, it may feel like it for several players, including the leader, Matt Kuchar.
Kuchar was part of the early/late wave who finished just as the horn blew and made four birdies on his second nine to post his second-straight 64 and lead by one over three golfers at 12 under. That’s exactly the position he needs this week.
Kuchar is the only player to participate in all 17 editions of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, but entering the week ranked 111th in the season-long standings, he needs a win to extend the streak to 18.
He’s trying to keep that far away from the front of his mind.
“I really don’t think much about it. Listen, I try to play well every week,” Kuchar said Saturday night. “Certainly not worked out, glad it’s worked out this 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 whatever points you need seems like only makes it tougher on yourself to play good golf.”
It’s the second straight event Kuchar has been in contention after he held the lead late during the final round of the 3M Championship the week before the Olympics.
But Sunday will be a different animal. Luckily, this won’t be the first time Kuchar has played 36 this year. The 46-year-old had to qualify for the U.S. Open earlier this summer the old-fashioned way, going through final qualifying on “Golf’s Longest Day” at The Bear’s Club for 36 holes.
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“I’ve got some built-in confidence knowing that a month or two ago when I was down at the U.S. Open qualifying,” he said. “Able to walk 36 in the heat and humidity without too much problem. This place has a few more hills, but I still feel good about my health, my fitness, ability to try to go in this heat and humidity. Glad I grew up in central Florida and know this stuff pretty well. Tonight you try to hydrate as best as you can to make tomorrow a little easier.”
Assuming all goes as planned and there are no more delays, some players may end up playing as many as 39 holes on Sunday. And even for those not at the top of the leaderboard, the stakes will be just as high.
Only the top 70 in the standings after Sunday will advance to Memphis and while Kuchar is currently the only player projected to move into next week’s field, there are plenty more just outside the bubble.
With Kuchar moving in, last week’s Olympic darling, Victor Perez is projected to be the one man moving out. Perez was 71st in the standings to begin the week, but moved into the bubble position when the Tour removed the late Grayson Murray from the standings.
Perez was moving in and out all afternoon Saturday. He made three birdies on the front nine to climb into the projected top 70 but then made back-to-back 6s on the back to fall to 71st. He birdied 17 and had nine feet for another as darkness started falling on 18, but missed it. As things stand now, he needs to make up two shots and finish T15 or better to move on.
Joining Perez at five under is Davis Riley, a winner on the PGA Tour this season, but still finds himself projected 72nd.
“It’s always in the back of your mind somewhere,” Riley said of the standing. “But at the same time, I’ve got enough to occupy my mind with out there trying to hit golf shots and stay hydrated and stay cool and all that stuff.
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“Yeah, get there to get a playoff berth and have a chance to make it to East Lake would be pretty special.”
Riley also needs to finish in the top 15 with how things stand.
Chad Ramey, who’s tied for second, like Kuchar needs to win.
One shot further back is Beau Hossler who needs a top-3.
Then there’s Keith Mitchell who’s tied for 19th, but likely also needs something like a top-3 to move on to Memphis. He likened Sunday to a two-minute drill in football.
“We might be down 9, I might need to throw— go for 2 and kick a field goal, you never know,” Mitchell joked.
Safe to say, Sunday could be the longest “two-minute” drill of all time.
