Last train to New York

GREENSBORO, N.C. – K.J. Choi was drenched in sweat after a marathon session on the driving range at the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club on Monday. The range soon filled up with the heavily sponsored (Australian Ryan Ruffels) and the sponsorless (Brian Davis). There were PGA TOUR winners like Smylie Kaufman, who’d been trading texts with pal and PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas; three-time major champion Padraig Harrington; Chad Campbell; Vaughn Taylor; Andres Gonzales; Jason Bohn; and others. It was an unusually busy place for a Monday, and for good reason. Players who are south of the all-important line of demarcation on TOUR, the top 125 in the FedExCup, still have time for one last push. With a solid showing at the Wyndham, they could crack the top 125 and make it to the FedExCup playoffs lid-lifter, THE NORTHERN TRUST next week. Without it—well, it’s hello, Web.com Finals and/or time for some serious soul-searching. “It’s been one of those years, man,� said Kaufman, who at 135 in the FedExCup will have to play his way to New York next week. “I wish I could’ve done a lot of things different. If this week goes well, fine; if not, I’ll be ready and rested for the fall. But if I have a good week this week, who knows, I could be in the TOUR Championship before you know it.� At least Kaufman has job security. He won the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open last season, so he’s exempt on TOUR through the end of 2017-’18. Still, he has said it would be “inexcusable� to miss the playoffs this year, so he’s making his first start as a pro at Sedgefield. Crack the top 125 and players will not only earn a berth in the playoffs, they’ll remain fully exempt on TOUR next season (if they’re not already). Finish this week ranked Nos. 126-150 and they’ll be conditionally exempt. Nos. 126-200 in FedExCup points get into the four-week Web.com Tour Finals, starting with the Nationwide Children’s Championship, Aug. 31. Sam Saunders (127) dedicated a plaque in remembrance of his late grandfather Arnold Palmer at Sedgefield on Tuesday afternoon, then hung around to speak to the media in part about his own game. Saunders needs a good finish here, and he has reason for optimism. He finished T14 at the 2015 Wyndham, and enjoyed a much-needed break last week after a solid eighth-place finish at the Barracuda Championship in Reno—his sixth tournament in a row. “The game’s good,� he said. The 30-year-old from Atlantic Beach, Florida, knows how important it is to move up a few spots this week. Ultimately, though, he admits he has loftier aspirations. “These past few weeks, I’ve really been putting myself in position to where I can win a tournament,� Saunders said of the Barracuda and the RBC Canadian Open (T19) before that. Careers hang in the balance every week, but at the Wyndham that’s especially apparent. Kyle Stanley, who with Shawn Stefani was one of two who pushed into the top 125 at the Wyndham last year, kept going and got his first win since 2012 at the Quicken Loans National in July. The occasion saw Stanley openly weeping at his return to the TOUR’s upper echelon. Five fought their way into the playoffs at the Wyndham two years ago, just one did so in 2014, and no one achieved the feat in 2013. In the history of the FedExCup, no one outside the top 125 at the start of the Wyndham has made it all the way to the TOUR Championship. As usual, there are some big names among those on the outside looking in—or barely hanging on—this week at Sedgefield C.C., a Donald Ross track that dates to 1925. The Bubble Boy at 125 is Geoff Ogilvy, who won the 2006 U.S. Open but at 40 is using a one-time-only exemption (top 50 in career money) to play the TOUR. “I’m not done yet,� he said after his second-round 65 at the Quicken Loans National earlier this summer (T13). Ogilvy will be an assistant to International captain Nick Price at the biennial Presidents Cup at Liberty National, Sept. 28-Oct. 1, but to his point, he certainly doesn’t look done as a player himself. What’s more, he sounds far from worried going into this week. “Worst case scenario; finishing 126th or 127th is usually good for 13 or 14 events next year, as well as a few [sponsor’s] invites I can probably get,� Ogilvy told the Australian AP. Daniel Summerhays (124) was in contention to win the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, but shot a final-round 78 to finish T10. “I will be back,� he said. And he was. The affable Utahan Summerhays gave himself a chance at the Quicken Loans, only to falter again, this time shooting a final-round 74 to finish T17. Now he’s here at the Wyndham. Spencer Levin, T5 at the Quicken Loans, is also here, looking to move up from 159th. Ben Crane, a 54-hole co-leader at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, faded with a final-round 73 to tie for 10th. He comes to North Carolina looking to move up from 147th in the FedExCup. The players who are furthest down the points list have arguably the most on the line this week. Take Arjun Atwal, 44, who can still play on the Asian Tour by virtue of his victory at the 2014 Dubai Open. As a resident of Orlando, he’d rather play in America, but Atwal, who won the 2010 Wyndham as a Monday qualifier, has little so little status on TOUR he has had to rely on Monday-qualifying (FedEx St. Jude Classic) and sponsor invites (Quicken) this season. “It’s been hard to get into any kind of rhythm,� Atwal said at the Quicken, where he got off to a rousing start but ultimately faded to a T55 finish with rounds of 68-67-75-77. Languishing at 225th in the FedExCup, he would help his career immensely just by moving into the top 200. So would the highly touted Australian teen-ager Ruffels.  There are a handful of major winners in the Wyndham field: Hall of Famer Ernie Els (213) and fellow South African Retief Goosen (161) join Harrington (199), Monday qualifier Y.E. Yang (217), Graeme McDowell (131) and of course Ogilvy (125). Kaufman wouldn’t mind joining that group, but knows he’s got to get going if he wants to join major talents like them and spring break pals Spieth and Thomas. And so—Sedgefield. “I played in two FootJoy Invitationals here, junior events,� Kaufman said. “I finished probably around 20th both times, so not bad. Last time I was here, I was having college coaches watch me, so this will be a little different. I about killed the North Carolina coach, I remember. I hit a snap-hook off the tee.� Kaufman laughed. “He didn’t offer me a scholarship.� Amid the tense atmosphere at the Wyndham, such levity will be rare.

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