Wyndham Championship Pre-Tournament Notes 2013

2013 Wyndham Championship Pre-Tournament Notes
Dates: August 12-18, 2013
Where: Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro, N.C.
Par/Yards: 70/7,130 yards
2012 champion: Sergio Garcia
2013 Purse: $5,300,000/$954,000
FedExCup: 500 points to the winner
Format: 72-hole stroke play
Field: 156
Website: http://www.wyndhamchampionship.com
Twitter: @WyndhamChamp

How the Wyndham Championship was won in 2012

• Sergio Garcia took a one shot lead into the final round and won by two shots over Tim Clark with a final round 4-under 66.
• Garcia picked up his first win since THE PLAYERS Championship in 2008.
• It is also his first win since turning 30 years old.More on Sergio Garcia and the 2012 Wyndham Championship
• Garcia has converted three of eight third-round leads/co-leads on TOUR. The wins came at the 2001
  Travelers Championship, 2004 HP Byron Nelson Championship and 2012 Wyndham Championship.
• Garcia was a co-leader of the 54-hole lead at the 2009 Wyndham Championship, but fell one-stroke shy of
  the playoff after 72 holes and finished fourth.
• Garcia made his third start at the Wyndham Championship in 2012, and first since fourth-place honors in 2009. He finished T13 at Forrest Oaks in 2005.
• Garcia ended a streak of four straight first-time winners at the Wyndham Championship (Ryan Moore, Arjun Atwal, Webb Simpson).
• As an amateur, Garcia finished T3 in the Web.com Tour’s Greensboro Open in 1998 at Sedgefield Country Club with rounds of 72-67-65-68. He made three starts on the Web.com Tour in 1998 as an amateur.
  Wyndham Championship notes
• 10 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings: Brandt Snedeker (7), Sergio Garcia (19), Bill Haas (24), Zach Johnson (25), Webb Simpson (26), Peter Hanson (30), Nick Watney (32) Hideki Matsuyama (29), Martin Kaymer (36) and David Lynn (48).
• Eight of the top 30 in the current FedExCup standings: Brandt Snedeker (3), Bill Haas (6), Boo Weekley (12), Jordan Spieth (16), Webb Simpson (18), Zach Johnson (23), Jimmy Walker (25) and Charles Howell III (26).
• 15 major championship winners: Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh, Stewart Cink, Ben Curtis, Lucas Glover, Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III, Webb Simpson, David Toms, Y.E. Yang and Mike Weir.
• Seven past champions of the Wyndham Championship: Sergio Garcia (2012), Webb Simpson (2011), Arjun Atwal (2010), Carl Pettersson (2008), Brandt Snedeker (2007), Davis Love III (2006 and 1992) and K.J. Choi (2005).
• 2012 U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson returns to defend his maiden PGA TOUR title. In 2011 and 2012, Simpson had a total of 19 top-10 finishes. Simpson counts four top 10s in 2013, including a playoff loss to Graeme McDowell at the RBC Heritage.
• Carl Pettersson, who played collegiately at North Carolina State, won the 2012 RBC Heritage, had six top-10 finishes in 2012 and finished No. 13 in the 2012 FedExCup. This year he has one top 10 and stands No. 107 in the FedExCup standings.
• 2011 FedExCup champion and Wake Forest University alum Bill Haas. Haas won his fifth TOUR event earlier this year at the AT&T National. He is No. 6 in the FedExCup standings.
• Eight-time PGA TOUR winner Sergio Garcia returns to defend his title in Greensboro.
• Brandt Snedeker, who has two victories in 2013, has played a central role in the FedExCup in its brief history:
  • After winning the Wyndham Championship in 2007, he became the only rookie to qualify for the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola in the inaugural FedExCup season.
  • In one of the most dramatic swing of momentums in Playoff history, Snedeker 4-putted the 72nd green at the 2009 BMW Championship to fall from 28th in the standings to 33rd to miss the TOUR Championship.
  • Captured the FedExCup in 2012, thanks to a victory at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola along
    with top-10 finishes at The Barclays (2) and the Deutsche Bank Championship (T6).
  • As an encore, his two-win performance in 2013 has ensured he will be the first defending FedExCup champion to qualify for to the TOUR Championship the following year.
• Jordan Spieth claimed his first PGA TOUR win at the age of 19 years, 11 months and 18 days at the John Deere Classic in July, becoming the youngest player to win on TOUR since Ralph Guldahl won the 1931 Santa Monica Open at the age of 19 years, 2 months and 4 days. After starting the season with no PGA TOUR status, the former University of Texas All-America sits 16th in the FedExCup standings.
• 21-year-old Sponsor Exemption Hideki Matsuyama of Japan is on track to earn his PGA TOUR card for 2013-14 with $676,240 in earnings, comfortably inside current No. 125 Greg Chalmers ($583,306). Matsuyama, who made the cut in his first five major starts, is sixth in The Presidents Cup standings for the International team.
• Only three Japanese players have won on TOUR, including Shigeki Maruyama, who won the Wyndham Championship in 2003.
• Davis Love III will make his 19th start in the Wyndham Championship. He won in Greensboro in 2006 and 1992 and has five total top 10s.
• 1993 and 2002 Wyndham Championship champion Rocco Mediate will miss his first event in Greensboro since 2008, having made 22 starts in the Wyndham Championship.
• Since making a return to Sedgefield Country Club in 2008, the third-round leader has held on for the win all but once. The exception was in 2009 when Ryan Moore came from four back to defeat Sergio Garcia.
• Carl Pettersson led by two strokes after 54 holes in 2008, Arjun Atwal took a three-stroke lead with one round to play in 2010 and Webb Simspon took a two-stroke advantage over Tommy Gainey into last year’s final round.
• The Wyndham Championship and the FedExCup
  • As the final event in the PGA TOUR Season, the Wyndham Championship plays a pivotal role in the race to the FedExCup Playoffs.
  • The event offers the final opportunity for players to improve their FedExCup positions heading into the Playoffs, or in some instances, move into the top 125 in the FedExCup standings and qualify for the first Playoff event, The Barclays.Noteworthy players on the FedExCup top 125 bubble in the Wyndham Championship field
    

    Player	FEC standing	Notes
    Ben Crane	No. 124	Four-time winner qualified for TOUR Championship in 2010
    Peter Hanson	No. 126	No. 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking
    Padraig Harrington	No. 129	Three-time major winner
    Woody Austin	No. 135	Winner of the Sanderson Farms Championship
    Tommy Gainey	No. 137	2012 McGladrey Classic winner
    Vijay Singh	No. 141	2008 FedExCup champion
    David Toms	No. 145	13-time PGA TOUR winner and 2001 PGA Champion
    Ryo Ishikawa	No. 151 2011	International Presidents Cup team member
    Davis Love III	No. 160	2012 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain

    History of FedExCup positioning at the Wyndham Championship

    2012

  • Heath Slocum (No. 124) was the only player to move into the top 125 in the final FedExCup standings this week at the Wyndham Championship. Slocum moved from 128th in the FedExCup standings entering the week.
  • Johnattan Vegas dropped out of the top 125 after missing the cut.
  • In the final round at the 2012 Wyndham Championship, Slocum was on the No. 14 tee and projected at No. 120 in the FedExCup standings.
  • He double-bogeyed No. 14 and dropped to No. 123 in the projections, made par on No. 15 and then bogeyed No. 16 and remained at No. 123 in the projections.
  • He bogeyed No. 18 after missing a 5 foot 7 inch par putt, which dropped him to No. 124.2011
  • In 2011 at the Wyndham Championship, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington and William McGirt moved into the top 125 in the final FedExCup standings and earned a spot into The Barclays and the FedExCup Playoffs.
  • Matt Jones, David Mathis and Cameron Beckman dropped out of the top 125 after missing the cut.
  • Justin Leonard finished No. 126 in the FedExCup standings to miss the Playoffs for the first time in 2011.
  • A bogey on his 72nd hole at the Wyndham Championship dropped him out of the top 125 in the FedExCup standings.2010
  • In 2010, Scott Piercy was the only player to move into the top 125 in the FedExCup standings at the Wyndham Championship.
  • Piercy moved from 140th in the FedExCup standings entering the week to claim the 125th and final spot.
  • Chris Stroud dropped out of the top 125 after missing the cut at the Wyndham Championship.2009
  • In 2009, five players made it from outside the top-125 in and into The Barclays due to their performance at the Wyndham Championship including: David Mathis, Kevin Stadler, Chris Riley, Todd Hamilton and Jeff Maggert.
  • Players that were inside the top 125 of the FedExCup standings at the beginning of the week that dropped out after the Wyndham Championship included Tom Watson (DNP), Andrew Romero (DNP), Matt Jones, Charles Warren and Rich Beem.
  • In 2009, Slocum missed the cut at the Wyndham Championship and finished No. 124 in the FedExCup standings just two points ahead of Matt Jones and No. 126 in the standings.
  • In his next start in the first event of the Playoffs he won The Barclays and moved to No. 3 in the FedExCup standings. He finished No. 8 in the FedExCup that
    season.2008
  • There were five players in 2008 that played their way into the FedExCup Playoffs at the Wyndham Championship including Justin Bolli, Lee Janzen, Martin Laird, Rich Beem and JJ Henry.
  • As a result, the following players dropped out of the top 144: Marco Dawson, Brett Rumford, Todd Hamilton, Tag Ridings and Gavin Coles.2007
  • In 2007, there were three golfers that played their way in the FedExCup Playoffs at the Wyndham ChampionshipMatt Jones on the FedExCup bubble
  • Matt Jones has a history of being on the bubble for the FedExCup Playoffs.
  • This year, Jones in No. 51 in the FedExCup standings and is having his best season on TOUR.
  • His best career finish came earlier this year at the Greenbrier Classic (T2).
  • In 2008, Jones finished No. 127 in the FedExCup standings after missing the cut in the first Playoff event.
  • In 2009, he finished No. 126 in the FedExCup standings to just miss the Playoffs.
  • In 2011 he began the week of the Wyndham Championship at No. 121 in the FedExCup standings, but missed the cut and finished No. 127 to miss the Playoffs again.
  • In 2012, Jones has his worst career finish in the FedExCup standings (No. 184).
  • He regained his TOUR card for 2013 with a T14 finish at the PGA TOUR Qualifying School.FedExCup Notes
  • Three players have competed in every TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007 – Steve Stricker, Phil Mickelson and Hunter Mahan. All three players are currently inside the top 20 in the FedExCup standings.
  • No player outside the playoff bubble entering the Wyndham Championship has successfully negotiated his way to the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola.2013 FedExCup
  • Henrik Stenson (No. 8) and Keegan Bradley (No. 9) are the highest-ranked player in the FedExCup standings without a win this season.
  • In 2011, Webb Simpson was the highest-ranked player in the FedExCup points without a win entering the Wyndham Championship.
  • Simpson went on to reel off wins at the Wyndham Championship and Deutsche Bank Championship. Stenson has never played in the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola.
  • Jordan Spieth (No. 16) and Russell Henley (No. 22) are the only rookies inside the top 30 in the FedExCup standings.
  • The PGA TOUR has seen five different FedExCup leaders in 2013: Dustin Johnson (2 weeks), Russell Henley (1), Brian Gay (2), Brandt Snedeker (7) and Tiger Woods (21 through PGA Championship).Tournament Spotlight
  • The Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, NC, has been a staple on the PGA TOUR schedule since 1938.
  • Over the span of those previous 73 years, a superior list of golf’s greatest have won this event, including the likes of Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Seve Ballesteros and Gary Player.
  • Other recent winners include Davis Love III, Webb Simpson and Sergio Garcia.
  • No one enjoyed Greensboro more than the great Sam Snead, who set a couple PGA TOUR records that still stand today.
  • It was in Greensboro where Snead set the TOUR record for most victories at a single event (8).
  • Tiger Woods has joined Snead with eight wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
  • Snead also set the TOUR record for longest time (27 years) between first and last victory in the same event (1938-1965).Source: PGA TOUR