PARTIAL First-Round Notes – Thursday, August 12, 2021
Weather: Partly cloudy. High of 93. Wind SW 5-10 mph. Due to inclement weather, play was suspended from 5:01 p.m. to 7:08 p.m. ET (suspension of 2 hours, 7 minutes). Due to darkness, the first round was suspended for the day at 8:14 p.m. with 22 players left to complete their rounds.
PARTIAL First-Round Leaderboard
Russell Henley 62 (-8)
Sung Kang 64 (-6)
Ted Potter Jr. 64 (-6)
Michael Thompson 64 (-6)
Chris Kirk
Scott Piercy 64 (-6)
Hudson Swafford 64 (-6)
Adam Hadwin (-6 thru 16)
Things to Know
- Russell Henley opens with 8-under 62, a career-low opening-round score on the PGA TOUR
- Four of the seven players at 6-under 64 started the week outside the FedExCup top 125
- Among the players at T2 is 2020 Corales Puntacana Championship winner Hudson Swafford
- 2011 Wyndham Championship winner Webb Simpson seeks fifth consecutive top-three finish at the event
- Last week’s winner of the Barracuda Championship Erik van Rooyen opened with a bogey-free 5-under 65
First-Round Lead Notes
3 First-round leaders/co-leaders to win since the event moved to Sedgefield CC in 2008 (Arjun Atwal/2010, Camilo Villegas/2014, Brandt Snedeker/2018)
5 First-round leaders/co-leaders to win in 2020-21 (most recent: Matt Jones/The Honda Classic)
Russell Henley (1st/-8)
Category | Entering the week |
Age | 32 (4/12/1989) |
FedExCup | 46 |
OWGR | 56 |
PGA TOUR starts | 221 |
PGA TOUR wins | 3 |
PGA TOUR top-10s | 31 |
Starts in 2020-21 | 22 |
Wins in 2020-21 | 0 |
Top-10s in 2020-21 | 4 |
Wyndham Championship starts | 4 |
Wins at Wyndham Championship | 0 |
Top-10s at Wyndham Championship | 1 |
- Opens with an 8-under 62, marking his lowest opening-round score in an individual stroke-play event (previous: 63/2013 Sony Open in Hawaii/Won)
- On the strength of six birdies and an eagle, posted 51st bogey-free round on TOUR
- Making fifth start in the Wyndham Championship with a T9 in 2020 his best showing
- Comes off top-20 finishes in three of his last four starts, highlighted by a T11 at the John Deere Classic
- Of four top-10 finishes this season, two have been top-three showings (T3/THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK, T3/The Honda Classic)
- Seeks a fourth career PGA TOUR title (2013 Sony Open in Hawaii, 2014 The Honda Classic, 2017 Houston Open)
- Entered the week No. 46 in the FedExCup standings and will qualify for the Playoffs for the ninth consecutive season
Miscellaneous Notes
- Hudson Swafford makes his fourth start in the Wyndham Championship; leads the field in birdies (9)
- Michael Thompson (-6) began the week at No. 128 in the FedExCup as he seeks to build off last season’s career-best 59th-place finish in the FedExCup
- 2011 Wyndham Championship winner Webb Simpson (-5) seeks fifth consecutive top-three finish at the event
- Brian Stuard (-5) posted a front-nine 29, marking his second sub-30 nine-hole score this season (2020 The RSM Classic/back/R2); tying Patrick Cantlay and Harris English for the most sub-30 nine-hole scores on the PGA TOUR this season (2)
- This week’s field includes six players who have qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs in all 14 seasons with four entering the week on the bubble: Adam Scott (-4/121st in FedExCup), Matt Kuchar (-4/124th), Justin Rose (-4/138th) and Ryan Moore (-2/142nd)
- Last week’s winner of the Barracuda Championship Erik van Rooyen opened with a bogey-free 5-under 65
- The only way Special Temporary Member Will Zalatoris (-2) can advance to this season’s FedExCup Playoffs is with a win at Sedgefield Country Club; a victory would give the former Wake Forest standout 500 additional FedExCup points for a total of 1,618
- Rickie Fowler (+1) makes second Wyndham Championship start (T22/2016); enters the week at No. 130 in the FedExCup and seeks to advance to the FedExCup Playoffs for a 12th straight season
- Defending champion Jim Herman opens with a 72; Sam Snead (1949-50, 1955-56) marks the event’s only player to successfully defend title
- Henrik Norlander (back injury) and Vaughn Taylor (rib injury) withdrew prior to the start of the first round and were replaced by Johnson Wagner and John Huh, respectively
Wyndham Championship and the FedExCup
- Final opportunity for players outside No. 125 to qualify for FedExCup Playoffs, and for those inside to improve their position
- Five of 14 winners of the Wyndham Championship during the FedExCup era have advanced to the season-ending TOUR Championship (most recent: Si Woo Kim, 2016)
- No player has ever won the Wyndham Championship and the FedExCup in the same season
- Defending champion Jim Herman moved from 192nd to 54th in the FedExCup with his victory last season, marking the largest FedExCup move of any player at this event
Players Projected to move into top 125
Player | YTD Rank | Proj. Rank | Position | Points Ahead |
Michael Thompson | 126 | 91 | T2 | +131 |
Scott Piercy | 128 | 97 | T2 | +112 |
Players Projected to move out of top 125
Player | YTD Rank | Proj. Rank | Position | Points Behind |
Ryan Armour | 122 | 126 | T151 | -4 |
Patrick Rodgers | 123 | 127 | T143 | -4 |
Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 Standings
- As the 2020-21 FedExCup Regular Season concludes this week with the Wyndham Championship, a bonus pool of $10 million will be awarded to 10 players through the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10
- Jason Kokrak (12th/89.82 points behind Sam Burns) and Hideki Matsuyama (14th/127.04 points behind Burns) are in the field this week and have a chance to move into the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10
Player | Points | Wins | Top-10s | Points Behind | Projected Bonus | |
1 | Collin Morikawa | 2,171 | 2 | 8 | -- | $2 million |
2 | Jordan Spieth | 2,139 | 1 | 9 | 32 | $1.5 million |
3 | Patrick Cantlay | 2,056 | 2 | 5 | 115 | $1.2 million |
4 | Harris English | 2,039 | 2 | 8 | 132 | $1.1 million |
5 | Jon Rahm | 2,003 | 1 | 12 | 168 | $1.0 million |
6 | Abraham Ancer | 1,926 | 1 | 7 | 245 | $850,000 |
7 | Bryson DeChambeau | 1,910 | 2 | 7 | 261 | $700,000 |
8 | Louis Oosthuizen | 1,877 | 0 | 8 | 294 | $600,000 |
9 | Justin Thomas | 1,758 | 1 | 5 | 413 | $550,000 |
10 | Sam Burns | 1,721 | 1 | 7 | 450 | $500,000 |
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