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Kevin Kisner’s playoff record made less sense than anyone on the PGA Tour. Until Kisner emerged victorious in a six-party playoff that tied a PGA Tour record on Sunday at the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club, Kisner had lost all five he had competed in. It’s mind-boggling on many levels, the least of which is that sprinkled in the midst of all those playoff losses was a win at WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, which is the biggest and best heads-up tournament in the world.
Kisner was brilliant on Sunday, birding two of his last three regulation holes to hit 15 under and join a top crowd of Adam Scott, Si Woo Kim, Roger Sloan, Kevin Na and Branden Grace, but not Russell Henley. Henley led after the first three rounds but missed two less than 4 foot putts on the last nine holes to finish T7. It was a brutal end to what was an incredible performance on his part.
Halfway through the first hole of the playoffs, Kisner looked done. Scott hit his approach at 4 feet (more details below), and Kisner had to move up and down from the front of the green. He almost rolled a 3 from there, and Scott ended up missing. All six players did par.
Rick Gehman, Greg DuCharme and Kyle Porter crack and react to Kevin Kisner’s victory at the Wyndham 2021 Championship. Follow and listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
On the second hole of the playoffs, Kisner hit the shot of the tournament, a leg kick, a 3-foot club-twirler for the win. He buried it and spent the next few minutes shaking hands with each player and caddy on the green like at the end of an NHL playoff game. It was a hilarious (and incredible) end to the PGA Tour regular season.
It was also a great end to the regular season for Kisner, who has now finished in the top 10 in three of his last five PGA Tour events and is playing the best golf he has played in 2021 at the perfect time. He entered the FedEx Cup qualifiers in 29th place (the top 30 advance to the Tour Championship) and is now officially on the radar of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, where he would undoubtedly be a popular choice.
No one knows how either of these two paths will play out (or converge), but Kevin Kisner – Bulldog literally and figuratively – has now done what you’d expect him to do since the beginning. start. He won a knockout round, deservedly the biggest since 2001 and tied for the biggest in PGA Tour history. What this means for the future is to be seen. What that means at the moment is that a three-time PGA Tour winner is now a four-time PGA Tour winner, and Kisner has consistently won at the top level over the past six years (wins in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021), which is as impressive as it is difficult to do. Rating: A +
Here are the rest of our notes for the Wyndham Championship.
Adam Scott (T2): Scott probably should have won this tournament on the first hole of the playoffs. His 65 Sunday was good, and he absolutely gutted it all day, but a 4-foot shot on that first playoff hole cost him the win. Still, this is his first top two since early 2020 as he tries to reorient himself towards life as one of the best pros on the planet since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s always fun to see Scott play well, and a little momentum could mean he’s a bit of a factor in the FedEx Cup playoffs, which start next week. Note: A
Most players in the PGA Tour qualifiers
| Players | Tournament | Winner | Defeated players |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Wyndham Championship 2021 | Kevin kisner | Si Woo Kim, Adam Scott, Roger Sloan, Kevin Na, Branden Grace |
| 6 | 2001 Nissan Open | Robert allenby | Brandel Chamblee, Dennis Paulson, Jeff Sluman, Bob Tway, Toshi Izawa |
| 6 | 1994 GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic | Neal Lancaster | Tom Byrum, David Edwards, Yoshinori Mizumaki, David Ogrin, Mark Carnevale |
Russell Henley (T7): Sunday was tough for Henley, who somehow led after each round but then failed in what would have been a playoff record seven. Henley missed excruciatingly short putts, including one on the last hole for par, which really erases how well he has played throughout the week. It is a reminder of how thin the margin is between winning and losing and must be overwhelming for Henley, who must have said to himself “I played well for four consecutive rounds and still couldn’t get my first win in four years. . “Henley is a good choice for making a little noise in the FedEx Cup qualifiers, but this near miss is likely to sting for a while. Note: A
Justin Rose (T10): Incredibly, it looks like a three putts on the last hole of the tournament propelled Rose to No.126 in the FedEx Cup standings and out of the playoffs and helped Chesson Hadley advance to No.125 after shooting 62 on Sunday. Rose doesn’t lose her PGA Tour card, but for someone who won the FedEx Cup just three years ago, it’s a tough way to get to the last regular season event of the year, especially after the way he played all week and the real luck he must have won the tournament at the end of the final round. Category B-
David Lingmerth (T37): Lingmerth, who started the week outside the top 200 in the FedEx Cup standings, was relegated not to the Korn Ferry Tour finals but to Q-School just to collect his Korn Ferry Tour card. Everyone from No. 126-200 in the FedEx final standings have at least a chance to claim their PGA Tour cards by finishing in the top 25 in the Korn Ferry Tour final, but Lingmerth was out of that. He was due to qualify for this tournament on Monday before shooting 68-67 to qualify for the weekend. He finished with a 67 on Sunday to place 199th in the FedEx rankings, just below the magic number, and he will make it to the Korn Ferry Tour finals next month, no doubt rejuvenated given he was out. of the top 1,000 in the world just a month ago. The T37 finish was his third in four starts on the PGA Tour, and he needed it to stand still for another month. Rating: A +
Hideki Matsuyama (MC): Despite a late charge on Friday, Matsuyama was the biggest disappointment this week. He arrived on real heat and almost won last week at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind, but his putting let him down and kept him from hitting the ball to move up the board on the weekend. end. He will make the FedEx Cup playoff next week with real momentum, but whenever the tournament favorite fails to play on the weekend the result is disappointing. Rating: D
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