GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) 鈥� Beau Hossler made an 11-foot birdie putt on his final hole Friday for a 3-under 67 that gave him a one-stroke lead in the Wyndham Championship, which might have been the least consequential development in the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season.
Hossler has never won on the PGA Tour and needs nothing short of victory at Sedgefield Country Club to be among the top 70 in the FedEx Cup who advance to the postseason.
He was at 12-under 128 and led by one shot over Ben James 鈥� who had the 36-hole lead in the Canadian Open and finished out of the top 50 鈥� and Jordan Smith of England.
The first step was making the 36-hole cut, and there was plenty of drama. Keegan Bradley, who is at No. 72 in the FedEx Cup, was well outside the projected cut until making birdie on three of his last six holes for a 67 to finish at 3-under 137.
It came down to the final few groups. At one point, Christiaan Bezuidenhout had a 20-foot birdie putt and Ben Kohles had a 15-foot birdie putt on his final hole. Either one would have knocked out Bradley, Andrew Putnam (No. 73) and Austin Smotherman (No. 76).
Both missed, and those players are on the bubble eventually got a little breathing room when Davis Chatfield bogeyed his last hole to move the 3-under number to a tie for 64th. The top 65 and ties make the cut.
鈥淚 hope I get a shot this weekend to go out there and shoot some low scores and make the playoffs,鈥� Bradley said when he finished, unaware of how it would finish. “I was really, really nervous coming down to the end, like ‘to win the tournament sort of feel. So that was fun.
Also getting in was Jordan Spieth at No. 55, though he already is set for the postseason and is hopeful of making progress toward moving into the top 50 after the first playoff event and locking up all the $20 million signature events.
As usual, Spieth brought the drama. He was on the cut number playing his final hole when he put his tee shot well right into the trees and could barely get enough club on the ball to punch back into the fairway. His wedge was 25 feet long, and he holed the putt for par to make the weekend.
Among those missing out was Jason Day, who had reached the postseason 18 straight years. Day was at No. 75 in the FedEx Cup and was never under par at any point during the tournament, missing the cut by seven shots.
鈥淚t was a good streak obviously, but I would have loved to keep the streak going,鈥� Day said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to keep everything going forever. Best to kind of take some time off, get my body sorted and try and come out next year and play well.鈥�
More crushing than Day was Mac Meissner, who was No. 71 in the FedEx Cup. He was one shot inside the projected cut at 4 under when he missed the 18th fairway, got it back to the fairway, hit wedge to just inside 45 feet and three-putted for double bogey to miss by one shot.
Jackson Koivun, who turned pro in June and won in his third start at the 3M Open, made the cut with two shots to spare. He is at No. 70 in the FedEx Cup.
Hossler was unconcerned with all this. He knows only a victory will get him into the playoffs, he’s been around long enough to realize the tournament is halfway over. James was in that spot in his professional debut in Canada and went 77-69 to tie for 54th.
James holed out for eagle on his first hole Friday and played 1 under the rest of the way for a 67, which puts him in the final group on the weekend for the second time in three months. Smith shot a 64 and was one shot behind. He is at No. 68 in the standings and gave himself a boost.
Brooks Koepka (No. 86) shot a 66 but was tied for 21st. He can only advance if no more than three players finished ahead of him.
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