Lucas Glover clinched his fifth career PGA Tour title with a final round of two-under-par 68 on Sunday to capture the season-closing Wyndham Championship.
The 43-year-old American won by two strokes over Russell Henley and South Korean An Byeong-hun at Greensboro, North Carolina, in the final event before the PGA Tour playoffs.
The only South African to make the cut, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, ended on three under (T51) after a final-round 71.
Glover, the 2009 US Open champion, took his first tournament since the John Deere Classic two years ago to ensure his place in the FedEx Cup playoffs, catapulted from 112th to 49th in the season points standings.
Glover has battled with the “yips” frequently through the past decade but said he had found the consistency he needs to win.
“It starts and ends there with me and you know it has been a long road, 10 years of fighting something and to find something that completely changed the momentum and everything was obviously a blessing,” he said.
The winning moment for @Lucas_Glover_ ? pic.twitter.com/v0nVspn01A
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 7, 2023
The top 70 players in the standings advance to the playoffs and that prospect added some extra spice to the final round at Sedgefield Country Club.
Two-time Major winner Justin Thomas and Australian Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, both missed out on playoff spots by a single stroke.
The FedEx Cup playoffs begin with the St Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee, next week before moving on to the BMW Championship in Illinois and conclude in three weeks at the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Glover began his round with a bogey on the par-four 1st hole but birdies on the 4th, 8th and 11th put him back in contention.
The final groups were forced to wait more than two hours due to a storm delay before coming back onto the course.
Glover kept his cool to finish with pars on each of his remaining four holes while Henley concluded with three straight bogeys.
Henley had no doubt that the delay had impacted his game.
“I just never got comfortable, felt a little jittery out there, just never got into a good sync with my swing, felt kind of rushed from the top of my swing, just didn’t do a good job of handling the restart,” he said.
Thomas finished one place outside the playoff spots in 71st but came agonisingly close to making it on the final hole.
His chip for birdie from well off the green came out off the flagpole, causing Thomas to collapse on his back in frustration.
Justin Thomas needed to hole this chip on 18 to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Absolutely heartbreaking!
pic.twitter.com/ffarCcYeKz— Odds Shark (@OddsShark) August 7, 2023
“I did my part. I played the best I could and I fought as hard as I could and shot the lowest I possibly could,” he said.
Scott had never missed out on the playoffs before and gave his all to keep that streak going with his 63 on Sunday.
“I think I’m actually getting to the point where I’ve got to put that stuff aside and not play to keep a streak of playing playoffs going but play to win stuff, not just be there to make the numbers up,” said the Australian after his round but before his fate was known.
“If it does end, I think it’s a good thing. I think it gives me a good chance to have a look at what I need to do differently to be more competitive in whatever competition I’m playing in.”
© Agence France-Presse
