It's over, but it's not over (right Kooch?)
Rai steps up when Greyserman stumbles in Greensboro to 'conclude' looooong day; G-Mac decongestant proves costly; Teenagers renew growing rivalry at U.S. Women's Am
Aaron Rai enjoys long day’s journey into night at Sedgefield (Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images)
It took more than 12 hours Sunday for the PGA Tour to conclude its regular season —and yet it didn’t officially end.
Thanks to Matt Kuchar, who deemed it too dark to finish the 18th hole at Sedgefield Country Club on Sunday evening, his score was yet to be counted as the Wyndham Championship finished in near darkness of a marathon day precipitated by ... well an abundance of precipitation that delayed the first round due to Tropical Storm Debby.
Kuchar’s final score won’t impact that outcome as England’s Aaron Rai prevailed to win his first PGA Tour event by shooting a final-round 64 that included a birdie on the final hole. That slammed the door on Max Greyserman, who had a four-shot lead with five holes to play after holing out for eagle on the 13th only to knock his subsequent tee shot on 14 off a cart path and out of bounds, leading to a quadruple bogey that wiped out his big lead in one fell swoop.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Nor can you make up the fact that after all of the golf over the past three days, not a single player moved into the top 70 that assures a place in the FedEx Cup playoffs which begin this week. France’s Victor Perez retained the 70th spot a week after finishing fourth in the Olympics.
Not too many people want to go to Memphis, Tennessee, at this time of the summer, but there are a slew of golfers who will be kicking themselves for not making it to TPC Southwind this week for the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first of three FedEx Cup playoff events that concludes with the Tour Championship in two weeks.
For the second year, the playoffs consist of just 70 players, pared down from 125 previously. After the Memphis event, the field will be whittled to the top 50 for the BMW Championship at Castle Pines in Colorado — all of whom will be exempt for the eight signature events in 2025. Aaron Rai booked his place in those with the win boost him to No. 25 from previously 53rd.
From there, the top 30 advance to the newly remodeled East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta for the Tour Championship — all of whom earning exemptions for three major championships next year — and the determination of the FedEx Cup champion.
Kuchar, in an interesting side note, had been the only player to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs in every year that it has been contested going back to 2007. He was in the running to make it again with a high finish but fell back during the final day and won’t qualify to play in Memphis.
All of which makes his final-hole decision that much more bizarre, especially after hurriedly driving on 18 while’s Rai’s group was still preparing to hit in the fairway. Kuchar missed them well wide left into the trees closer to the 10th fairway, where his marker spends the night before he heads out to finish by himself. He’s in a 10-way tie for 12th place, so the prize money difference is hardly consequential to a guy who is crossing $60 million in career PGA Tour earnings. His caddie might appreciate a better percentage but likely not the added night on the road and early wake-up call.
But so it is.
His overnight squat will take some of the heat off Greyserman, who after blowing his big lead on 14 bounced back with a birdie at the next hole to go back up by one. Only then he four-putted the par-3 16th (missing two 3-footers) to lose his lead and ultimately the tournament. He finished second two shots behind Rai.
“Played good enough to kind of run away with it,’’ Greyserman said. “Obviously stuff happens in golf that sometimes it's not meant to be sometimes. I'm just going to walk away that I played really, really good golf, executed really well, had probably a four —four- or five-shot lead, I don’t know — four-shot lead. I had a four-shot lead with five holes to go?
“If you're doing that in a PGA Tour event, you're doing something exceptionally well so that's what I'm going to walk away with. And also making that birdie right after making that 8, I'm going to walk away with that. On the next hole, pin was cut on a lot of slope. Didn't really hit terrible putts late in the day, lipped out, stuff happens. I'm just going to walk away with more confidence, look at the positive things and learn from the mistakes.’’
Rai, who also plays the DP World Tour, will get a ton of perks for the victory, including his first Masters invitation. He’s also in the season-opening Sentry and assured of a spot in the first two playoff events as he moved up to 25th in the standings.
“Truly a dream come true,” said Rai, who signed for a 72-hole total of 18-under 262. “An amazing achievement.
“Whether it’s me that wins or whether it’s someone else that wins, there’s a huge amount of work that goes into it and it’s an amazing journey that every single player is on. When that culminates in a victory whether that’s the first victory or multiple victories, it’s very special for whoever that it is. I think everyone who’s playing on the Tour can appreciate how difficult it is to win and how difficult it is to even get to this stage.”
Among those missing out on the playoffs is Lucas Glover, who won the Wyndham last year but missed the cut, denying him an opportunity to defend his FedEx St. Jude title.
Graeme McDowell fails drug test after taking decongestant during LIV Nashville event (Jason Butler/Getty Images)
Failed drug test e-Vicks G-Mac for a start
Graeme McDowell took responsibility for his LIV Golf League suspension over a banned substance that was in an over-the-counter medication he took, leading to an anti-doping policy violation.
McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Open champion, said in a social media post that he took a Vicks decongestant but didn’t check to make sure the ingredients are conforming.