Geoff Ogilvy secures PGA Tour card with good finish at Wyndham Championship

Geoff Ogilvy has found form in the nick of time to finish ina  tie for 16th place at the Wyndham Championship and secure his PGA Tour card for next season.

Embed from Getty Images

With one regular season PGA Tour tournament to go Geoff Ogilvy was looking like he was going to finish outside the top-125 players on the PGA Tour and miss out on a card for next season.

But Ogilvy got hot in the nick of time to tie for 16th place finish and see the former US Open champion rise from 125th to 116th to secure his card for next season. In the process Ogilvy also earned himself a spot in the season ending Fed Ex Cup Playoffs that begin on Thursday.

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson won the Wyndham Championship with a four-round total of 22-under par, beating American Ollie Schniederjans by a single shot. But it was the battle for the last automatic tour cards for next season that had a number of players feeling the pressure on Sunday.

Ogilvy had a slow start to the week managing just an even par opening round. And with birdies a plenty on offer at Sedgefield CC, Ogilvy needed something special to not just make the playoffs but to just make the cut.

A second round 4-under 66 saw Ogilvy make the cut by two shots. Fast forward to Sunday and by the half way mark the 40-year-old was storming up the leaderboard into a tie for sixth place thanks to four birdies and an eagle that saw Ogilvy make the turn in just 29 strokes.

A couple of double-bogeys made ensured it wasn’t a smooth finish to the round but Ogilvy had done enough to secure his card for another season, closing with a 3-under par 67.

“Look, if I wasn’t on the 125, I probably would have turned the front-9 into a low 60 round, it felt like I was playing that well,” Ogilvy said. “There’s a level of tension and stress in your body that’s on a different level when you’re in that position.”

After a lean couple of years for Ogilvy, the pressure of retaining his card is now off his shoulders and has the opportunity to end the season ona  high beginning with the first Fed Ex Cup Playoff event at the THE NORTHERN TRUST event this week.

“The last couple of months I’ve been teetering around the edge thinking I don’t have many more chances, I won’t be in the situation. I’m really not that stressed about it,” Ogilvy said.

“I didn’t realize how much I wanted it until I turned up this week and felt how I felt on the first tee. It was true feelings that I haven’t had in 15, 20 weeks. It was a very difficult thing to do and I guess what the situation proved to be is how much I wanted to still be here.”

Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama finished atop the Fed Ex Cup standings ahead of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.

Cameron Smith finished as the best of the Aussies at the Wyndham Championship finishing strongly in a tie for seventh place and finishing 45th o the Fed Ex Cup standings. He will be joined by Marc Leishman in the Playoffs who finished as the highest ranked Australian in 14th place.

Jason Day, Adam Scott and Rod Pampling also earned their spot into the Playoffs finishing in the top-125 but Scott is doubtful to play with the impending arrival of his second child in the coming month.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *