GREENSBORO, N.C. — The ramifications of missing the cut at the Wyndham Championship on Friday, for some, meant the start of the offseason.
Only the top 70 in the season-long FedEx Cup advance to the playoffs next week after 44 regular season events. For Ben Griffin, who entered the week at No. 68, and Austin Eckroat, the “Bubble Boy” at No. 70, they could read the writing on the wall as they struggled to the finish of their morning round in the same threesome.
“The last three holes we tried to determine how many hole-outs we both needed to make the cut, and none of us had a hole-out. I thought I had a good chance of a hole-out on 8,” Griffin said. “But we were joking around towards the end. There’s not much you can do with when you’re four or five out with a few holes to go except try to have fun out there.”
Hope is not completely lost for these two, who will have to sit and wait, hope and pray that they hang on to their precarious rankings. After 36 holes, Griffin still was projected to be Memphis bound at No. 70 while Eckroat is going to need more help as he’s projected to be No. 72.
In all, 74 players moved on to the weekend with a 36-hole total of 2-under 138, including two-time champion Brandt Snedeker, who birdied the final two holes to earn a weekend tee time at 3 under. However, Ben Taylor, Garrick Higgo, K.H. Lee, David Lingmerth, the four players who entered the week Nos. 71-74 in the FedExCup standings, missed the cut and have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Players near the #FedExCup Playoffs bubble (top 70) to make the cut @WyndhamChamp:
62. Sam Ryder (T52)
64. Stephen Jaeger (T8)
65. Matt NeSmith (T52)
66. Vincent Norrman (T52)
67. J.J. Spaun (T52)
69. Cam Davis (T21)
75. Davis Thompson (T12)
76. Shane Lowry (T40)
79. Justin… pic.twitter.com/V1bzSVxEUT— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 5, 2023
Here are some of the notable players this week that weren’t so lucky.
Hideki Matsuyama (5 over)
The Japanese star has been feast or famine at Sedgefield. He missed the cut with rounds of 71-74—145, the third straight time he’s left Greensboro early. But when he’s made the cut he’s finished T-11 in 2018, T-3 in 2016 and 15th in his tourney debut in 2013.
Matsuyama made a costly double bogey at the par-5 15th, his sixth hole of the day, and then really hit the skids coming home with four bogeys in his final five holes.
For the week, he lost three strokes to the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and struggled around the greens, too, ranking last in the field in SG: Around the Green. He was 5 for 12 in scrambling, athough let’s cut him some slack for his bunker escapades at 15 (see tweet below). His putter was the culprit on Thursday when he lost more than two strokes on the green while taking 34 swipes with the short stick.
Bunker troubles for Hideki Matsuyama Friday at the Wyndham Championship.pic.twitter.com/gLKKqEhqA3
— Golf Central (@GolfCentral) August 4, 2023
It was just the fourth missed cut for Matsuyama in 23 starts this season. He entered the week at No. 56 in the FedEx Cup standings, so, he’ll still advance to the playoffs but didn’t help his chances of finishing the season in the top 50.
Austin Eckroat (2 over)
He was the “Bubble Boy” heading into the week at No. 70. Make the cut and he likely would advance to the playoffs, but a pair of 71s didn’t get the job done.
“I’m kind of thinking my offseason starts right now,” he said afterwards.
Eckroat got off to a shaky start with a double bogey and a bogey on his first two holes on Friday and responded with six birdies on the day but a few too many mistakes.
“I only needed to shoot a few under to make the cut and just play solid golf, just made a couple early mistakes. Then you kind of have to put the pedal down, then you start making more mistakes,” he said. “Going into the day I probably only needed to shoot 3 under, it’s not like I needed to do anything special. I wasn’t really stressed about it or anything, just poor golf.”
It marked the third missed cut in his last four events. For the season, Eckroat made 27 starts, recording a second at the AT&T Byron Nelson among three top-10 finishes.
Ben Griffin (3 over)
Griffin is doomed to a weekend of hitting the refresh button on FedEx Cup point standings all weekend after shooting 70-73—143. It was Griffin’s 11th missed cut in 30 starts this season.
“It’s going to be probably a waiting game to see if I’m teeing it up next week, probably need some luck,” said Griffin, who recorded just one top-10 finish all season, a T-3 at the Bermuda Championship. “It’s not a scenario I want to be in, you would much rather be in control of your destiny. I’ll just have to wait. I’ll probably try to work on a few things this weekend, maybe Sunday, and we’ll see where the chips fall.”
Chris Kirk (4 over)
Kirk doesn’t have to worry about making the playoffs or even qualifying for the top 50, but his bid to get back to East Lake still has work to do. (He entered the week at No. 26 in the season-long standings.)
On Thursday, Kirk failed to make a birdie in shooting 73. One day later, he had three circles on the card but they were canceled out by four bogeys and posted 71. Kirk had made the cut at the Wyndham the last six times he played here, dating to a missed cut in 2011.
The winner of the Honda Classic in February, Kirk has cooled off a bit of late. He has missed five of his last seven cuts. He ranked 147th in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, losing more than three shots to the field.
Brian Stuard (even par)
The worst season of Stuard’s career is over. He made just seven cuts in 23 starts, missing 10 in a row between late February and early July and 13 of 15 to end the season. He entered the week at No. 195 in the FedEx Cup.
At the Wyndham, he made nine birdies but managed to shoot only even-par 140.
Zach Johnson (1 over)
The U.S. Ryder Cup Captain can focus on figuring out how who he’s going to pick for his team after shooting 67-72—139. Johnson missed the cut for just the second time in eight career starts at the Wyndham Championship.
Johnson struggled off the tee, hitting just 15 of 28 fairways and ranked 120th in SG: Off the Tee.
Akshay Bhatia (3 over)
The winner of the Barracuda Championship last month couldn’t keep the magic going this week at his home game. Bhatia, a native of Wake Forest, N.C., shot 72-71—143, and struggled with his putting (147 in SGP) and scrambling (3 of 10, T-146).
Playing primarily off sponsor exemptions and then in the special temporary member category before his win, Bhatia made 19 starts and 13 cuts this season while earning nearly $2 million – not bad for a 21-year-old who skipped college and turned pro at 18.
