Tight race for top 125 awaits at Wyndham Championship

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Geoff Ogilvy has intentionally ignored the FedExCup standings this week. Zac Blair may spend his birthday obsessing over them. Postseason berths and TOUR cards are at stake Sunday, the final day of the PGA TOUR’s regular season. The top 125 in the FedExCup standings will qualify for the Playoffs, and many players need to finish inside that number to retain their full playing privileges for next season. Sunday will see fingers furiously refreshing the live FedExCup projections, which seemingly shift with every shot. The final day of the PGA TOUR season is usually a stressful one, but this one seems especially tight. Nos. 125-129 in the projected FedExCup standings are tightly packed, and all five players will be on the course Sunday. David Hearn, who’s T70 at the Wyndham, has a tenuous grip on the 125th position. Sam Saunders (T33 at Wyndham), Shane Lowry (T9), J.T. Poston (T33) and J.J. Henry (T23) are all within seven points of him. They all can pass him with just a slight move up the leaderboard. This could set the stage for a record-setting Sunday at the Wyndham Championship. In the FedExCup era, there’s never been more than five players to move inside the top 125 in the season’s final week. “We’ll play golf tomorrow and you guys can tell me how I did,â€� said Ogilvy, who started the week at No. 125 in the FedExCup. “I’m not on Twitter or Facebook, so I stay away from that. I haven’t been watching Golf Channel intentionally, because it doesn’t do you any good to see yourself projected in and then projected out (of the top 125). There’s too many other factors, too many other players who can change it. “I understand why fans find it fascinating, but for me to shoot my lowest score I don’t need to be thinking about that.â€� Ogilvy is No. 123 in the projected standings, but still needs another good round Sunday to ensure his berth in the FedExCup Playoffs. His fate is in his own hands after an adrenaline-fueled finish to Friday’s round allowed him to make the Wyndham Championship’s cut. Another 66 has him in 23rd place at the Wyndham. Ogilvy’s postseason hopes seemed destined to end Friday when he stood four shots outside the cut line with seven holes remaining. He made birdie on five of those holes, though, and now is within reach of a top-10 finish that could vault him up the FedExCup standngs.  “When the moment came (Friday), it was do it or go home,” Ogilvy said. “I hit a few good shots and I got that feeling again. It was good memories. It’s the most satisfying golf to play. The highest pressure situations are the time I’ve had the most fun.” Ogilvy isn’t just focused on making the Playoffs, though. He knows his chances of making a run at the TOUR Championship are still alive. He has a good record at the Dell Technologies Championship, the second FedExCup Playoffs event, including two runners-up. “You can be right on the razor’s edge, one round away from going home tomorrow, and then have a chance to go to Atlanta,â€� Ogilvy said. “That’s the cool thing about the FedExCup.” You can’t win if you don’t get in, though, and that will be the focus in the Wyndham Championship’s final round. Blair is 124th in the projected standings, but can only sit and wait for the final result after missing Saturday’s 54-hole cut. Blair, who turns 27 on Sunday, is at the mercy of those other players. He started the week ranked 120th in the FedExCup, but he shot 73 on Saturday to miss the 54-hole cut by two shots. He made birdies on Nos. 14 and 15, but lipped out birdie putts of 13 and 6 feet on the next two holes. He took 36 strokes on the greens in the third round. He and his wife, Alicia, planned to celebrate his birthday Saturday with an ice-cream cake before what could be a stressful Sunday. “I always look,â€� Blair said of the FedExCup standings, “but right now it’s not looking great.â€� He could still qualify for next week’s THE NORTHERN TRUST, the first event of the FedExCup Playoffs, or have a week off before the Web.com Tour Finals. His destination depends on how several players contending at the Wyndham Championship fare in the final round. That includes Johnson Wagner, who’s summoned some improbable shots to vault into contention. He’s just the eighth player since 1983 to make both an eagle on a par-4 and an albatross in the same event. The albatross came in Friday’s second round, when he holed a 5-iron shot. He eagled Sedgefield’s other par-5, the 15th on Friday, playing the two par-5s in a total of five shots. Wagner started Saturday by holing a wedge shot from the first fairway. He shot a third-round 65 and is two shots behind leader Henrik Stenson. Wagner is projected to jump from 141st to 115th in the FedExCup standings. Wagner is one of six players in the top 10 who started the week outside the top 125 in the FedExCup standings. That includes 53-year-old Davis Love III, who needs win or finish solo second to crack the top 125. He won this tournament in 2015 and was on crutches this time last year while recovering from surgery on his left hip. Love III, who’s 209th in the FedExCup, is at 13-under 197, three shots behind Stenson. The final FedExCup standings won’t be determined until Sunday’s final putt drops, but that doesn’t mean players will be able to ignore them.  “I’m very aware of where I stand,â€� Saunders said. 

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