Last chance for FedEx playoffs at Wyndham

The PGA Tour heads to North Carolina for the Wyndham Championship. It’s the last chance for players to make the FedEx Cup playoffs and others will have the Ryder Cup on their minds.

A strong field has assembled to do battle for the Wyndham Championship at the historic, Donald Ross designed Sedgefield Country Club. Jimmy Walker starts after his fine USPGA Championship victory and Jim Furyk tees it up following his incredible 58 in the Travelers Championship. Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed, Rafa Cabrera Bello and Danny Lee all start a week after representing their countries in the Olympic Games.

There will, of course, be a focus on the star players in the field. But another agenda will be followed by many in the field. With this being the last chance to make it into the first of the FedEx Cup playoffs, the heat is on those around the bubble – the top 125 after the Wyndham will make it into The Barclays. There are only 11 players ranked between 91 and 190 on the points list who aren’t playing this week so there are many potential permutations. South Korea’s Whee Kim is currently in 125th spot with Scott Stallings, Kyle Stanley and Nick Taylor hot on his heels.

Retief Goosen is looking to climb up from 140th spot and his countryman Ernie Els is also outside the qualifying mark at number 162.

Ernie Els swing sequence:

This is one of the oldest tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule. It was first contested in 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open and Sam Snead was the winner, Snead won the tournament seven further times, lastly in 1965. Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros and Sandy Lyle have all been winners.

In last year’s championship, Davis Love III was something of a surprise victor. He fired a 64 in the final round to pass Jason Gore and become the third oldest winner in PGA Tour history.

Love III doesn’t play this week but he will keep an eye on members and possible members of his Ryder Cup team. Rickie Fowler is currently just outside an automatic qualifying spot and will hope to improve his chances of selection with a good showing here.

It’s going to be warm and humid this week and thunderstorms could be a factor at any stage through the tournament.

Venue: Sedgefield CC, Greensboro, North Carolina Date: Aug 18-21 Course stats: par 70, 7,127 yards Purse: $5,600,000 Winner: $1,008,000 Defending Champion: Davis Love III (-17)

TV Coverage: Thursday 18 – Sky Sports 4 from 8pm Friday 19 – Sky Sports 4 from 8pm Saturday 20 – Sky Sports 4 from 8pm Sunday 21 – Sky Sports 4 from 8pm

Player watch:

Jim Furyk – He’s back in action after his incredible 58 in the final round of the Travelers. A win here and he would make a great case for his Ryder Cup selection.

Ryan Moore – He’s a streaky player and he comes into this event on the back of a victory last week in the John Deere Classic. He’s won before at Sedgefield – back in 2009.

Patrick Reed – Another former winner at Sedgefield, Reed has been on steady form with top-15 finishes in his last four events.

Key hole: 18th. At 507 yards, this is a demanding closing par 4. The second shot is played uphill but generally it will be from a downhill lie. The large green is guarded by four bunkers and par is a good score here.