Beau Hossler hung onto the Wyndham Championship lead after posting a second-round 67 on Friday at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C.
One day after leaping out to an early lead on the back of a 61, Hossler stands at 12-under-par 128, one stroke ahead of Ben James (67) and England’s Jordan Smith (64). There is a massive 10-way tie for fourth at 9 under par at the PGA Tour’s regular-season finale.
Only the top 70 in the season-long FedEx Cup standings will qualify for the first leg of the playoffs next week. Hossler entered the week more or less needing a victory to vault from No. 122 into the top 70; his current projection, if results were to hold, is No. 53.
Hossler brushed off a bogey-bogey start at Nos. 10-11 by carding three birdies on the back nine and adding a pair at Nos. 5 and 9 coming in. The 11-foot putt he made at the par-4 ninth broke him out of a tie with James and Smith during the afternoon.
“Was really happy with the way I kind of righted the ship and made a (birdie) 2 on hole 12, which is a really challenging hole, which kind of moved the momentum back in my favor,” Hossler said. “Kind of all day I felt like I was fighting it a little bit. … To shoot 3 under par on a day like that was really, really good. Sometimes even more satisfying, frankly, than shooting really low.”
Smith entered the week on the FedEx Cup bubble at No. 68, but he’s all but assured to make the field of 70 now that he’s made the cut in Greensboro. His round of 64 included an eagle-birdie stretch at Nos. 5-6 as he finished his day on the front nine.
“Yeah, I’m reasonably happy,” Smith said of his first season in the states after a career on the DP World Tour. “We made a lot of cuts, built up our points nicely, had a couple nice finishes. Yeah, it’s been pretty good. So hopefully we can sort of make it a really good year by having a good week here and pushing on into the playoffs.”
James, 23, continues to threaten for his first PGA Tour victory after he turned pro this summer and held the 36-hole lead in his first professional start at the Canadian Open. He made an eagle 2 on his first hole of the day, his approach at the par-4 10th slowly spinning back toward the pin and eventually dropping.
“Sometimes, you just make golf bigger than it is,” James said of what he’s learned. “It’s not that big. I’m going to do the best I can, play as smart as I can and keep doing the right things. I’m doing a lot of things really well and just going to keep going for the weekend.”
The 10 players knotted at 9 under: Doug Ghim (67), Max Greyserman (66), Sahith Theegala (69), Alex Smalley (64), Michael Brennan (65), Billy Horschel (66), Alex Noren of Sweden (65), David Skinns of England (65), Matti Schmid of Germany (67) and Rico Hoey of the Philippines (65).
The player who entered the week sitting exactly on No. 70, breakout rookie Jackson Koivun, made the cut with rounds of 67 and 68 to place him 5 under. As of Friday evening, he was projected to slip one spot to No. 71 due to Hossler’s projected move up the standings.
The cut line landed at 3 under par, with a pair of recognizable names sneaking in right on the number. Keegan Bradley shot a 67 Friday and has a fighter’s chance of moving up from No. 72 in the race to the top 70; Tony Finau posted a 66 to make the weekend, but at No. 89 his chances are fading fast, and he’d need a win or very high finish to elbow his way into the field.
Bradley has made the FedEx Cup playoffs every year he has played on tour, and he is doing everything he can to keep that streak alive.
“I’m trying to enjoy this because I’ve never had to do this in my career,” he explained. “I really want to see if I can go out there and do it. It’s something that I’ve never had to do is play my way into the playoffs in the last tournament. I really feel like I play some of my best golf when I’m under a little bit of pressure.”
Defending Wyndham champ Cameron Young (66) recovered from a poor opening round to make the cut at 3 under.
Steven Fisk (2 over) entered the week at No. 69 in the race and is the current projected No. 70 after missing the cut. No. 71 Mac Meissner (2 under) missed the cut by a single shot and will not be able to qualify for the playoffs.
–Field Level Media
