Kevin Kisner Claim Victory at the Wyndham Championship
Kevin Kisner charged from four-shots back starting play on Sunday to outlast five others in a two-hole playoff to capture the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Golf Club in Greensboro, North Carolina—the final regular-season tournament of the 2020-21 PGA Tour season. Now, Kisner and 124 others will vie for the FedEx Cup during the upcoming three-week playoff.
Kisner birdied holes 16 and 17 to finish at -15, tied with Adam Scott, Roger Sloan, Kevin Na, Si Woo Kim, and Branden Grace after 72 holes. Each player recorded a par on No. 18 for the first playoff hole, including Scott, who missed a 4-foot putt for birdie that would’ve won the tournament. Kisner sank a birdie on the players’ third attempt at hole 18, winning the third six-man PGA Tour playoff in history—the last coming 20 years ago when Robert Allenby won at Riviera.
“My first playoff win,” said Kisner, who was 0-5 in playoffs prior to Sunday and recorded his fourth-career win. “To be standing here is pretty sweet.”
Russell Henley was the leader through each of the first three days of competition, and he was trying to become the first golfer this season to win a tournament wire-to-wire, but he failed—just as three others before him did this season. Henley, who missed a par putt on No. 18 that would’ve made it a record seven-way playoff, also ended up 0-3 personally after going into a tournament with the lead this year.
“I knew I had to shoot under par today, so just disappointed,” Henley said after shooting a 1-over 71.
Further down the leaderboard, there was drama as several big names jockeyed for position around the 125th-place cut-off position for the FedEx Cup playoffs. The biggest name missing out was former Tour champion Justin Rose, who missed a 5-foot putt for par on No. 18 to finish 126th on the season, missing out on the playoff by the slimmest of margins. Because of Rose’s prior accomplishments, he will still be able to fully participate on the tour next season.
The same wouldn’t have been able to be said for Chesson Hadley if Rose made his par putt. Hadley picked a good time to fire off a 62 (including a hole-in-one on No. 16) to enter the playoffs in the 125th spot.
Sloan, who was in the six-way tournament, didn’t leave Sedgefield with a win, but he went from outside the top 125 going into the tournament to solidly earning a spot in the playoffs. Scott Piercy also went from the outside looking in on Thursday to making the field.
Kinser jumped up to 29th in the final standings, setting him up for a potential run through the playoffs to East Lake in suburban Atlanta for a shot at the Cup.
“To cap off the season with a win and head to the FedEx Cup playoffs, moving up the list and having a chance to win the championship is just an awesome week,” Kinser said.
The playoffs begin with the 125-man field for the Northern Trust, which begins Thursday from Liberty Golf Club in New Jersey.
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