Weekly Tour Wrap Up #20th Aug

The regular PGA tour season has now come to a conclusion, with the Fed-Ex Cup play-offs starting next week, and whilst the Wyndham Championship wasn't the most exciting affair, its significance in Ryder Cup terms cannot be disputed.

There was no European Tour event this week, but, ironically, a European golfer made the headlines. One of the best ball strikers in the world moved a step closer to securing a Ryder Cup berth by winning for the first time in America since the 2008 Players Championship as the PGA Tour stopped in North Carolina.

Sumptuous Sergio prevails at the Wyndham

Spaniard Sergio Garcia won for the first time in more than four years on the PGA Tour at the Wyndham Championship, finishing two clear of Tim Clarke on 18-under-par at Sedgefield Country Club.

The victory has catapulted Garcia into the automatic qualification places for the European Ryder Cup team, with Englishman Ian Poulter  - who moved into the team after a top ten at last week's PGA Championship - currently relying on a captain’s pick.

 Garcia started the week with a solid three-under-par 70, but sat five off the lead set by Swede Carl Pettersson, a past winner at Sedgefield and a player high in confidence after a top five at the PGA Championship.

Pettersson led by one stroke from little-known American David Mathis and Clarke, who is back to his best after struggling for the best part of two years with an elbow injury. Journeyman Tom Gillis, in-form Scott Stallings and Troy Matteson all shot 64s to lie two back after round one.

American Jimmy Walker, fresh off a string showing at the PGA Championship, shot into the outright lead on 12-under-par after two rounds with a flawless second round 62. He led US Open Champion and defending Champion Webb Simpson, who returned a bogey-free 63, by one shot heading into the weekend.

Garcia recorded seven birdies and no bogeys in his second round,  matching Simpson's 63 to move up to ten-under-par and a tie for third alongside Clark (67), with Pettersson and Harris English a stroke behind after 36 holes.

At the other end of the leaderboard, Tim Herron tied the course record with a nine-under-par 61 to recover from an inauspicious opening 76 and make the cut. It was a different story for Gary Woodland, though. The American had a six-footer to make the cut when the sirens blew to suspend play on Friday evening, but he missed when play resumed the following morning.

Garcia moved to the front after 54 holes, mixing five birdies with one bogey for a Saturday 66 and a 14-under-par total with one round remaining. Clark retuned a second consecutive 67 to share second with 22-year-old American talent Bud Cauley (66) who managed to earn enough money in eight sponsor’s invitations last season to gain a PGA Tour card.

Pettersson and English were a shot further back in a tie for fourth on 12-under-par, alongside player-of-the-season contender and current occupant of second place in the Fed-Ex Cup standings Jason Dufner, who turned in 31 and came home in 32 for a 63.

Overnight leader Jimmy Walker slipped back to 11-under-par after a 71, with Webb Simpson a shot back on ten-under-par alongside six others, including Bill Haas, who had back-to-back eagles in round one.

The two sessions of round four

The fourth and final round was suspended on Sunday after the leaders had played five holes, with Garcia narrowly hanging on to his one-shot advantage.

He resumed play on Monday with an intimidating looking chasing pack, made more difficult by having so much time to contemplate the significance of victory.

Garcia parred his first five holes of the day before making birdie at the par 4 11^th hole. He would give that shot back at the next, however, and when he stood on the 13^th tee, he no longer had sole possession of the lead.

Tim Clark, who birdied the 8^th, joined him atop the leaderboard, as did former Players Champion Chad Campbell, who birdied 15, 16 and 17 to join the leaders before falling back with a bogey at 18.

Garcia didn’t let the pressure get to him, though, and birdied the 13^th after his 136-yard approach finished some 18 inches from the cup.

He parred 14, and added another at the par 5 15^th after an up and down from sand. At the next hole, his eight-iron approach to the 166-yard par 3 settled two feet away from the cup, before a fine six iron at the 17^th set-up his third consecutive birdie and his fourth in five holes.

Standing on the 18^th tee, he led by three from Clarke, who birdied 18 to set the clubhouse target on 16-under-par,  and four from playing partner Cauley, who started the day with a bogey but responded with birdies at eight, 13 and 15.

Kyle Stanley reminded everyone it was possible to blow a three-shot lead with one hole remaining at this year’s Farmers Insurance Open, and Garcia might have been thinking about that after driving into trees on 18.

He still hadn’t found the putting surface after three shots, but a deft chip to two feet from just off the green minimised the damage. Garcia would knock in the resulting putt for a bogey and a two-shot victory, one of the most significant of his career.

Ryder Cup watch

Garcia’s victory sets up a very interesting couple of weeks in terms of automatic European Ryder Cup qualification. Nine players – Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Justin Rose, Paul Lawrie, Peter Hanson, Graeme McDowell, Francesco Molinari and Garcia – are now confirmed.

Martin Kaymer is currently in the last automatic qualifying spot and can be pushed out at this week’s Johnnie Walker Championship, a tournament he isn’t taking part in. Nicolas Colsaerts – who finished in a tie for 7^th at the Wyndham - must finish in third place, whilst David Lynn and Rafa Cabrera-Bello need to win to usurp the German.

If Kaymer holds on, Jose Maria Olazabal will have to choose two from Poulter, Colsaerts, Padraig Harrington, Cabrera-Bellow and Alvaro Quiros (amongst others), with Poulter and Colsaerts expected to get the nod.

Next week, the European Tour heads to Gleaneagles for the Johnnie Walker Championship, and the PGA Tour’s Fed-Ex Cup play-offs start at Bethpage Black with The Barclays.