GREENSBORO, N.C. — Lucas Glover appeared to the sky and held again tears after profitable the Wyndham Championship on Sunday, sending him to the PGA Tour postseason with extra alternatives forward of him.
Justin Thomas fell to the bottom, surprised that his birdie chip hit the bottom of the pin and stayed out, leaving him out of the FedEx Cup playoffs by about the identical small margin that saved his ball out of the cup.
Such have been the vary of feelings at Sedgefield, the ultimate event earlier than the profitable postseason for the highest 70 gamers.
Glover is one in every of them, closing with a 2-under 68 for a two-shot victory over a faltering Russell Henley and Byeong Hun An. He began the week at No. 112, and the victory — his first in two years — moved him to No. 49. One other good week in Memphis, Tennessee, would set him up for the all of the signature $20 million occasions subsequent 12 months. The timing could not have been higher for the 43-year-old Glover. Sunday would have been the birthday of his late grandfather, who bought him into the sport and despatched him to the late Dick Harmon to hone the talents of a future U.S. Open champion.
“Tried not to consider it an excessive amount of till the tip there,” Glover mentioned. “Wish to suppose I had a leg up on everyone right this moment due to that. Nonetheless needed to do what I needed to do.”
What he did was maintain his poise amid a two-hour storm delay when he had 4 holes left and was locked in a battle with Henley. Glover completed with 4 pars, getting one good break when his tee shot on the 18th bounced off a cart pushed by safety and went into the tough, preserving it out of the bushes.
Thomas wanted yet one more birdie to get into the highest 70. His birdie chip checked and hopped in opposition to the bottom of the pin and stayed out. Standing behind the inexperienced, he noticed a video board undertaking him at No. 71. He missed by 9 FedEx Cup factors.
Now he has to attend three weeks to see if his worst season — that is the primary time Thomas has didn’t make the playoffs — will value him a choose for the U.S. Ryder Cup crew.
“I did all the things I might,” Thomas mentioned when he completed. “I do not need my season to be over.”
Glover now has 5 PGA Tour wins separated by 18 years, and there may not have been one other aside from deciding to change to an extended putter, a transfer impressed by Adam Scott. He had been battling the yips, and he made each essential putt at Sedgefield Nation Membership.
It was the second time in three years that Henley let one get away at Sedgefield. When play resumed, he took the lead with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 fifteenth, after which all the things went mistaken in a bogey-bogey-bogey end.
His mediocre tee shot on the par-3 sixteenth got here down the slope on the entrance of the inexperienced and took yet one more flip right into a deep divot gap. He chopped that out to 35 toes and made bogey. He despatched his tee shot on the seventeenth into the bushes, and his subsequent shot buried in a deep gap in thick tough. He needed to scramble for bogey. He shot 69.
“Simply by no means bought comfy, felt a bit of jittery on the market, simply by no means bought into a very good sync with my swing,” Henley mentioned. “Simply did not do a very good job of dealing with the restart.”
Henley tied for second with An (67). Billy Horschel, who shared the 54-hole lead with Glover, did not make a birdie till the ultimate gap. He shot 72 and completed alone in fourth.
Successful is what mattered extra to Glover, particularly having his two youngsters, Lucille and Lucas Jr., come out to the inexperienced. “Daddy, you received!” the son mentioned. His daughter was in tears.
“I am too outdated to be on the highway this a lot,” Glover mentioned. “I have been busting my hump to be with them, be with my spouse. I am so pleased.”
Thomas made a 15-foot eagle putt on the fifteenth gap, solely to catch a robust gust as storms have been transferring in on the par-3 sixteenth, sending his ball down the hill and resulting in bogey. He appeared to be in large hassle on the 18th when he pulled his tee shot onto the pine straw, blocked by bushes. However he hit a tough hook, twisting his physique 180 levels on affect, simply wanting the inexperienced.
The pitch took a number of hops and appeared like it will disappear into the opening till the bottom of the pin saved it out. He needed to accept a 68 and an extended three weeks of ready.
Zach Johnson will get six captain’s picks, and the query is whether or not Thomas has accomplished sufficient in his two earlier Ryder Cup appearances — or confirmed sufficient in a single week — to advantage a choose.
The seventieth and remaining spot went to Ben Griffin, who missed the lower. He completed 9 factors forward of Thomas. Scott closed with a 63 and missed the postseason for the primary time for the reason that FedEx Cup started in 2007.
That leaves Matt Kuchar as the one participant eligible for the playoffs yearly since 2007.
