Kisner Triumps Through 6-Man Playoff to Win 2021 Wyndham Championship

 

Through all the chaos and drama, Kevin Kisner wins the 2021 Wyndham Championship (image: Chris Seward/AP)

 

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA

It's safe to say that the 2021 PGA Tour season went out with a bang.

 

After much drama, on what was perhaps one of the most hectic Sundays of the season, Kevin Kisner has emerged victorious at Sedgefield Country Club. It wasn't easy though; he needed to battle through a six-man playoff that consisted of Adam Scott, Kevin Na, Branden Grace, Si Woo Kim and Canadian Roger Sloan, all who finished their final rounds at 15-under.

 

This is Kisner's fourth win on the PGA Tour and first since 2019. The win propels him up the FedEx Rankings to 29th place and also secures his PGA playing status through the 2022-2023 season.

 

 

15-UNDER TO THE PLAYOFF

The craziness that was the final round was progressing quite normally until the second half. 54 hole leader Russell Henley led the tournament at 17-under, with a two shot lead over Justin Rose. But on the 11th hole, Henley missed a two-foot putt for par and dropped a shot. His lead would soon evaporate, as he would go on to bogey holes 12, 14 and 18, missing the playoff by a single stroke. He shot a 71 on the day; the only score in the 70s out of the top 35 players.

 

Meanwhile, Kevin Kisner, Kevin Na, Brandon Grace and Roger Sloan all started their days four shots off the lead at 11-under, while Adam Scott started five shots back and Si Woo Kim six shots back. 

 

Each player managed to get to the infamous 15-under in their own unique way. Kisner managed to birdie holes 16 and 17, hitting a remarkable approach shot on the 17th hole to a few feet for an easy birdie. Kevin Na eagled the par 5 15th hole, but faced a tough up-and-down on the 18th hole. He sunk his par putt and remained at 15-under.  Brandon Grace birdied holes 15 and 16 and needed birdie on the 18th hole to get into the playoff. One long clutch putt later and he was in. All three shot 66s.

 

Si Woo Kim carded the low score of the bunch, with a 64 that included birdies on 13 and 17, and a eagle on the par 5 5th hole. Adam Scott also played his final few holes well, carding back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16. And finally, the Canadian Roger Sloan carded back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 to get to 15-under.

 

When it was all said and done, the playoff featured six players, setting the record for the largest playoff in PGA Tour history, in terms of participants. To me, these final rounds summarized exactly what the Wyndham Championship is all about; a hectic, crazy last-dash to get into the playoffs, whether it be the FedEx Cup Playoffs or tournament playoffs.

 

 

A PLAYOFF TO REMEMBER

With the players all set, the sixsome headed back to the 18th tee to start the playoff. 

 

All six players hit decent tee shots, but it was their approaches to the green where things got interesting. Scott and Sloan both found the green with theirs, Kisner landed just short of the green, as did Grace, Na ended up in the greenside bunker and Kim overshot the green. Scott had the advantage, being closest to the hole and on the green. Amazingly though, Na managed to chip out and sink a long putt for par, Kisner, Grace and Kim both chipped and putted for par, and Sloan missed his birdie putt by also carded a par. 

 

It was all down to Scott, who from the looks of it had an easy putt for the win. He studied the putt with his caddie for a little bit, assuming there would be a significant break in it. But there was no break and Scott missed the putt, to everyone's amazement. He too parred so back to the 18th tee box the sixsome went; six players, six different strategies, yet the same score....again.

 

This time though, only Sloan, Kisner and Scott found the fairway, and the advantage was in their favor now. Again, we saw a variety of approaches to the 18th green. Kim found the greenside bunker, Kisner landed on the green and close, as did Brandon Grace. Scott landed on the green but further away from the flag, as did Sloan and Na overshot the green. It looked as though birdie attempts were possible for Grace and Kisner. Grace putted first but missed his birdie putt, after coming very close. But Kisner, keen not to extend the playoff any longer, sank his birdie putt. And it was good enough for the win, as the rest of the field could only manage pars.

 

Shortly after sinking the putt, Kisner was heard saying this was his first playoff win. In fact, up to that point in his career, Kisner had been in five previous playoffs on the PGA Tour but couldn't convert in either of them, the most famous being the 2015 Players Championship. His streak was finally broken and what a way to do it.

 

 

SEDGEFILED VERSUS THE WEATHER

The chaos of the final round began even before the first tee shot was taken on Sunday. As a result of the inclement weather forecasted for the afternoon, all tee times were bumped up by several hours, with three to a time slot. The final group teed off just after 9am local time. 

 

This led to all sorts of TV scheduling conflicts, as the Ladies Scottish Open and US Amateur were also being broadcasted, among other sports. In Canada, pre-recorded final round coverage was aired in the afternoon, and viewers were not able to watch the final round live unless they were subscribed to various US network streaming services. 

 

As for Sedgefield itself, the course continued to remain vulnerable, with sub-60 round being had by all players virtually in contention. The low round of the day was a 62 shot by Chesson Hadley, aided by a hole-in-one on the par 3 16th hole. This was Hadley's first hole-in-one ever, both professionally or as an amateur.

 

 

FEDEX CUP RANKINGS SHAKE-UP

As if all the above drama was not enough, the FedEx Cup Playoffs battle was still being hotly contested during the final round. 

 

Ryan Armour (122nd), Patrick Rodgers (123rd) and Bo Hoag (125th) all fell below the 125th place cutoff after all missing the cut.

 

Chesson Hadley remarkably finished right in 125th place. This finish guarantees him his Tour card through next season as well as entry into the playoffs.

 

Roger Sloan shot up 39 places from 131st to 92nd as a result of his T2 finish. 

 

Scott Piercy also made it into the playoffs, going from 126th to 116th.

 

Justin Rose, who needed a good finish this week to get into the playoffs, came up one place short at 126th. He was left with a short par putt on the 18th green, but unfortunately missed it. That putt was costly though, as he finished two shots back, but at T10. In a normal tournament, finishing two back would put you in a higher place on the leaderboard, hence more points, but that was not the case this week due to the large playoff contingent. It also didn't help that Hadley had an excellent finish to the tournament.

 

 

MATTHEW WOLFF IS A WINNER TOO THIS WEEK 

Despite being cut from the tournament, Matthew Wolff is still a winner this week. He wins the season-long AON Risk Reward Challenge this year and a cheque for 1 million dollars.

 

The AON Risk Reward Challenge is quite neat. It's a challenge designed to reward players who score well on the toughest holes in each tournament. The way it works is that each week, a hole at a tournament is chosen, with each player's score for that hole being recorded. Whoever has the best score at the end of the year, wins the challenge. Think of it as a single round of golf made up of one hole from each tournament. For this week, the 15th hole was chosen, where Wolff carded a par and birdie in his two rounds.

 

 

CANADIAN PRESENCE AT SEDGEFIELD

Amidst all the chaos of the Wyndham Championship, it should be noted that Canadians were well represented on the leaderboard, with three being in the top-10 alone (Roger Sloan T2, Nick Taylor T10 and Adam Hadwin T10). 

 

As for the FedEx Cup Playoffs, Sloan, Taylor, Hadwin and Mackenzie Hughes are all in it.

 

We've being saying this for years, but Canadian professional golf is in good hands, both on the PGA and LPGA Tour.

 

 

PICKS RESULTS

To wrap it all up, here is how our picks finished off the week:

 

1) Justin Rose: T10 at 13-under

2) Tommy Fleetwood: T65 at 1-under

 

Again, you have to feel bad for Rose's situation. And Fleetwood's was no better, plummeting down the leaderboard after weekend scores of 72 and 73. The two don't get into the playoffs but on the upside will have some time off in the upcoming weeks.

***

Whew, let's all take a deep breath now and exhale. That ends the 2020-2021 PGA Tour season and what a way to go out. From collapses, to weather disruptions, to TV conflicts, to a six-man playoff, the 2021 Wyndham Championship had it all this year and lived up to the hype. 

But now the serious fun begins, as the FedEx Cup Playoffs commence with the first event of the playoffs, The Northern Trust (formerly The Barclays) at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey.

Stay tuned for our coverage of that and much more,

-Nick

Toronto Golf Reviews

Danny Lee Wins the 2015 Greenbrier Classic

Yet again another playoff was needed to decide the winner this week at the Greenbrier Classic at the Old White TPC. After four rounds of golf, four players were tied for the lead at 13-under: Brampton, Ontario native David Hearn, Robert Streb, Kevin Kisner, and New Zealander Danny Lee. After two holes of sudden death, Danny Lee emerged as the winner. This is Lee's first PGA Tour win and only his third professional win. It's also his first pro win in four years. This is a major step in his career as he becomes the first New Zealander in 10 years to win on Tour and earns exemptions into the British Open, PGA Championship, and next year's Masters.

In most tournaments, the quality of players atop the leaderboard is often looked at the most, however what surprised many this week was the quantity of players at the top. At the end of it all, 22 players were within three shots of the lead. It was one of the biggest log jams we've seen so far this season and during today's round, there was much movement between the top spots. This was largely a result of how benign Old White TPC had being playing (even as rain fell towards the end of today's round). A playoff seemed inevitable almost from the start of the final round...

The playoff started on the par 3 18th hole over water. Both Lee and Hearn landed their tee shots on the green in pretty much the exact same spots as when they played the hole in regulation. Both subsequently made birdies. Kisner and Streb both barely overshot the green and missed their birdie attempts. To the par 5 17th hole Hearn and Lee went, where an error on Hearn's part resulted in him bogeying the hole. Lee parred and won it. Hearn's playoff loss is the closest a Canadian has come to winning on tour in recent years.

Finally, here's how our picks finished off the tournament:

1) Graham DeLaet: T37 at 6-under
2) Kevin Na: T32 at 7-under

David Heard seemed to pick up the slack of top Canadian in the field when DeLaet struggled. Both DeLaet and Na finished okay, but will probably be disappointed with their weekend performances.

That's it for our coverage this week. Join us next week for some links golf in Gullane, Scotland for the Scottish Open at Gullane Golf Club.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Representing New Zealand, Danny Lee Wins the 2015 Greenbrier Classic

Rickie Fowler Wins the 2015 Players Championship

Things came down to the wire once again on the PGA Tour. On a day that saw many players making a move for the lead, three players finished tied for 1st place at the end of the final round, each with their own unique story: Sergio Garcia, who's always played excellently at The Players over the years (he finished T5 or better 5 times). Kevin Kisner, the rookie who's never won on Tour and the real underdog. And Rickie Fowler, the player who was voted as one of the most overrated golfer on Tour, having won only once on Tour but finishing runner up in several big tournaments, including finishing T5 or better in all majors in 2014. In the end, it was Fowler who emerged as the victor, for his 2nd and by far his biggest, PGA Tour win.

The trio finished with a final score of 12-under at TPC Sawgrass, but got there in different ways. Rickie posted a score of 67 for his final round, having gone birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie in his last four holes, after a relatively quiet front nine. He posted his number early and had to watch the remainder of the field chase it. Sergio found himself in the playoff after holing an almost "better than most" 44 foot putt on the 17th Island Green. Kevin birdied the last two of three holes also.

In 2014, a new playoff format was introduced at The Players. It was an aggregate format which, in the event of a playoff, players would play holes 16, 17, and 18 again, and the player with the lowest combined score over these three holes would win. In the event of a tie, players would play a sudden death hole.

However, given that the venue was TPC Sawgrass, you couldn't help but get the feeling that if things ended in a tie, the 17th Island Green had to be the place where the winner would be decided, as it was years before. And that's just what happened. At the end of the 3rd hole of the aggregate playoff, Fowler and Kisner were tied at 1-under, while Garcia remained at even par after failing to birdie the 17th Island Green as Kisner and Fowler had. Off to the 17th they went for sudden death, which must've been good news for Fowler, who birdied the Island Green 5 out of 6 times this week (a remarkable stat in its own right).

Both tee shots were excellent, Kisner hit his too about 12 feet, which gave him an excellent chance as he'd been putting exceptionally all week. Fowler, however, stiffed his shot to within four feet. Kisner missed the putt and Fowler tapped in for the win, one which was long overdue and one which silenced his doubters. When asked about his thoughts on being one of the more overrated golfers on Tour after his win, Rickie responded hoping that this win was big enough.

The win is no doubt big for Fowler. While he may have the major exemptions all ready, the World Golf Rankings points as well as the FedEx Cup points are some of the highest given out for a golf tournament and invaluable. His name is also etched in Tour history as the most recent winner of golf's "5th major". And of course his prize of $1.8 million is nice. 

Finally, our remaining pick Dustin Johnson finished off the tournament at 3-over (T69) and Canadian David Hearn finished at 2-under (T42) after a disasterous final round of 78, which included a first nine score of 43.

Next week's stop on Tour is a Quail Hollow Golf Club, for the Wells Fargo Championship. Be sure to check out our picks for it next week.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Rickie Fowler Wins the 2015 Players Championship, in dramatic fashion