Joel Dahmen leads Wyndham Championship with a 61 in bid to make postseason

Winnipeg Free Press

2 days ago

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Joel Dahmen started his long-shot bid to make the PGA Tour postseason by closing with three straight birdies for a 9-under 61 on Thursday to match his career best and give him a one-shot lead over Alex Noren in the Wyndham Championship.
The Wyndham Championship is the final tournament in the regular season, with the top 70 in the FedEx Cup advancing to the lucrative postseason filled with potential perks.
Dahmen is 101st in the standings and would need a runner-up finish with no more than two other players to reach the FedEx Cup playoffs.
He was happy with the start — 10 birdies on a dry course at Sedgefield — and also realistic about his chances of playing next week in the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
He has one victory and three runner-up finishes in 231 tournaments.
'I mean, I've had like three top 2s in my career — I don't know, four of them, maybe?' he said. 'I mean, it's not even a thing, right? Yeah, great to make the playoffs, hat would be unbelievable, give me a lot of time off this fall. We've got a baby coming so that would take some pressure off of that.
'The playoffs are a bonus for me,' he said. 'I'm just going to go out and try to play good golf, and I guess if I play really well, then I get to play another week.'
Dahmen also shot 61 in the second round of the RSM Classic in 2020.
Noren missed six months with a hamstring tear and can't reach the postseason even with a win. The four players at 63 included Mark Hubbard, who is at No. 98 and who also would need a runner-up finish to advance.
Hubbard was joined by Cameron Young, defending champion Aaron Rai and Nico Echavarria, who at No. 65 needs to hold his position.
'I think t's all about how you look at it. For me I think it kind of takes the pressure off because it's really hard to do that and it's not something that you're really thinking about,' Hubbard said. 'I've just got to go play super well and make a ton of birdies. If that happens to fall into place that way, then that's great.
'I think it's easier than if I had to top-15 or top-10 because that way you're always looking at the board … where this week I've just got to go out and play as good as I can.'
Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott have different objectives this week and wound up with the same score at 65. Spieth had four birdies over his last five holes. He is set for the postseason at No. 50, but wants to help take the pressure off when he gets to Memphis, Tennessee.
The top 50 after the first playoff event not only advance to the next week, they are guaranteed to get in all the $20 million signature events. Spieth missed out last year, then had wrist surgery, and had to ask for exemptions into the signature events.
Scott, however, is at No. 85 and would need at least third place to reach the postseason.
'I'm going to need to get like 20 under to think of anything, so I better not be 1 under through day one or I'm going to leave myself a lot of work,' Scott said. 'So nice to make a few birdies. And of course as much as I think about moving on, I'd like to win this tournament.'
Also at stake this week is the first FedEx Cup bonus pool — $10 million to the points leader (Scottie Scheffler) and $4 million for second place (Rory McIlroy), which they both have wrapped up.
Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley is at No. 10 and would pick up $500,000 if he can stay there. Bradley bogeyed his last two holes for a 68.
He played with Ben Griffin (67) and Andrew Novak (68), who both have Ryder Cup hopes.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf