Golf

Shane Lowry ditches trip plans after making FedEx Cup playoffs

Jim Herman emerged as the victor at Wyndham Championship in Greensboro

Shane Lowry will need to move into the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings if he is to reach the second playoff event. Photo: Chris Keane/Getty Images

Mon Aug 17 2020 - 06:38

A final round of 67 to secure a tied-23rd finish was enough to move Shane Lowry into the top 125 on the FedEx Cup standings, thereby securing his place at this week’s first playoff event at TPC Boston and forcing him to change his plans.

As Jim Herman capped off a superb weekend of play with a final round 63 to get to 21 under and take the Wyndham Championship title at Sedgefield County Club, Lowry’s play moved him up to 122nd in the standings and booked his place for this week’s big money Northern Trust where Graeme McDowell (113th in the standings) and Rory McIlroy (8th) will complete the Irish contingent.

Lowry – who started the week at 131st in the standings – said on Saturday that he had a trip to Rhode Island planned with some friends for this coming weekend if he didn’t make it into the top 125 but those plans will have to be shelved now after five birdies and two bogeys in his closing round saw him finish at 12 under par.

“I’ve actually got a little trip planned with some friends in Rhode Island next week,” Lowry said on Saturday. “Not that it’s a win-win, but at least I have something to look forward to if that doesn’t happen. We will play some golf, but not much.”

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But it turns out the 2019 British Open winner will be playing some higher stakes golf next week when he tees it up in the $9.5 million event in Boston.

After the Northern Trust the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings will move on to the BMW Championship before the top 30 go to the Tour Championship at East Lake.

Séamus Power’s final round of 66 saw him finish in a tie for 27th at 10 under par but wasn’t enough to move him inside the top 125 meaning he will miss out on the lucrative playoffs.

At the top of the leaderboard Herman, who started the day tied for fifth after carding a nine under 61 in Saturday’s action, kept his hot streak going, firing two birdies and an eagle in the first five holes of the final round.

“Obviously you don’t expect 61 or 63 on a regular basis, but when you need it, there was nowhere else to go but deep,” said Herman, as he picked up his third PGA Tour win in a little over four years. “Best golf I’ve played in my life obviously.”

Runner-up Billy Horschel, who carded a five under par 65, saw victory slip through his fingers after bogeying on 16 and missing a birdie putt on 17, ultimately sparing Herman from a playoff after a near-miss putt for birdie on 18.

“I thought if I just played it just outside right edge a ball, ball and a half, hit it with - kept the speed up on it, I thought it would make it in,” said Horschel. “It was disappointing because I had two good looks the last couple holes and just wasn’t able to convert.”

The 42-year-old Herman, who didn’t pick up his first PGA win until he was 38, said “you’ve got to play like everything’s on the line” on the Tour.

“Outside of a few wins by the old guys in their 40s, it’s a young man’s game, so it’s nice to compete and show you can do it,” he said.

Kim Si-woo, the leader heading into the final round after making a hole in one on Saturday, finished tied for third at 18 under after carding a level par 70, along with Americans Kevin Kisner (64), Doc Redman (68) and 2012 US Open champ Webb Simpson (65).

Collated final scores & totals in the USPGA Tour Wyndham Championship, Sedgefield CC, Greensboro, North Carolina, United States of America (USA unless stated, par 70):

259 Jim Herman 66 69 61 63

260 Billy Horschel 66 64 65 65

262 Doc Redman 67 64 63 68, Kevin Kisner 69 64 65 64, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 65 65 62 70, Webb Simpson 66 66 65 65

263 Zach Johnson 70 67 61 65, Harold Varner III 62 69 67 65

264 Denny McCarthy 67 68 66 63, Russell Henley 68 68 63 65, Sungjae Im (Kor) 69 64 66 65, Patrick Reed 65 68 67 64

265 Sam Burns 67 68 65 65, Tyler Duncan 68 64 66 67

266 Bud Cauley 66 68 67 65, Jason Kokrak 69 63 67 67, Rob Oppenheim 66 66 62 72, Mark Hubbard 67 65 64 70, Cameron Davis (Aus) 71 65 65 65

267 Peter Malnati 68 65 64 70, Christopher Baker 71 63 68 65, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 69 65 66 67

268 Shane Lowry (Irl) 68 63 70 67, Harris English 64 67 68 69

269 Talor Gooch 65 65 68 71, Ryan Armour 73 64 65 67

270 Brian Harman 65 71 67 67, Will Gordon 68 69 64 69, Tom Hoge 62 68 72 68, Séamus Power (Irl) 68 69 67 66

271 Roger Sloan (Can) 62 70 68 71, Jason Dufner 69 65 67 70, Wesley Bryan 65 70 70 66, Adam Long 68 65 71 67, Paul Casey (Eng) 67 66 69 69, Ryan Brehm 64 69 72 66

272 Kristoffer Ventura (Nor) 69 68 63 72, Vincent Whaley 71 66 66 69, Matt Jones (Aus) 68 67 72 65, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa) 71 64 69 68, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 67 67 67 71

273 Scott Brown 66 71 68 68, Matthew NeSmith 69 67 70 67, Scott Stallings 70 66 70 67, Andrew Landry 66 65 71 71, Bol Hoag 66 68 67 72, Matthias Schwab (Aut) 67 69 68 69, Hank Lebioda 65 71 68 69, Joaquin Niemann (Chi) 70 66 65 72, Brandt Snedeker 70 67 65 71

274 Adam Schenk 67 67 67 73, Brian Stuard 70 66 69 69, Kramer Hickok 69 67 65 73, Chris Kirk 66 69 68 71, Davis Love III 69 67 71 67, Chesson Hadley 65 69 70 70, Tom Lewis (Eng) 67 68 70 69, Patton Kizzire 66 67 73 68

275 Ben Martin 71 66 70 68, Henrik Norlander (Swe) 67 68 71 69, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) 69 64 68 74, Matt Every 68 67 70 70, Michael Gligic (Can) 67 69 67 72, Troy Merritt 67 69 71 68, Josh Teater 67 70 67 71

276 Luke List 68 67 66 75, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 67 70 72 67, Patrick Rodgers 70 66 67 73

277 Brinson Paolini 71 66 66 74, Cheng-Tsung Pan (Tai) 68 64 76 69, Scott Piercy 68 66 74 69

278 Russell Knox (Sco) 73 64 72 69, Jordan Spieth 70 67 70 71

281 Peter Uihlein 71 65 70 75, Austin Cook 69 67 69 76, Sebastian Munoz (Col) 67 67 73 74

286 Nate Lashley 66 69 77 74