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Michael Brennan won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday by three shots to cap off the tour’s regular season and earn his way into post-season play.
With the victory, Brennan surged from outside the top 100 to No. 47 in the FedEx Cup standings — well inside the top-70 threshold to qualify for the playoffs, which begin next week.
“It’s everything,” Brennan said of the win and his playoff berth. “I don’t want to be done playing golf; I feel like I’ve played the best golf I have all year in the last couple weeks. Unfortunately, a couple tough Sundays, but outside of that, I’ve been playing really, really solid. This is my sixth week (playing) in a row, so seven is a lot, but I think I’m going to be perfectly happy to be running on fumes next week.”
Brennan, 24, claimed his second PGA Tour victory at Sedgefield Country Club, a venue less than 30 miles away from his alma mater, Wake Forest University. He started Sunday’s round tied for the lead with Beau Hossler before making five birdies in a row on his front nine to pull away. One of those birdies came after a near-ace on the 211-yard par-3 7th. Brennan hit his tee shot to 6 inches.
The nerves kicked in on Brennan’s back nine as he held a three-shot lead over Hossler headed into his final four holes. But he scraped together pars after wayward tee shots on No. 15 and No. 17, fending off a late charge from Hossler, who birdied the 17th. Hossler, projected outside of that coveted top-70 at the time of the group’s penultimate hole, needed a win to extend his season. Brennan needed a three-way tie for second place, or better, according to the PGA Tour’s projections.
On No. 18, with a two-shot lead, Brennan striped his tee shot down the middle and stuck his approach to 13 feet. He sank the putt and unleashed a passionate fist bump with his parents watching nearby. As Hossler finished his hole, Brennan put his arm around his caddie, Olly Brett.
