Michael Brennan birdied five consecutive holes on the front nine Sunday afternoon and went on to win the Wyndham Championship by three strokes in the PGA Tour regular-season finale in Greensboro, N.C.
Brennan’s second career victory catapulted him into the FedEx Cup playoffs, which begin this coming week in Memphis.
He shot a 6-under-par 64 and finished at 22-under 258 across four days at Sedgefield Country Club, topping final-round playing partner Beau Hossler (67 on Sunday). It’s the second year in a row that a former collegiate golfer from nearby Wake Forest won the tournament, following Cameron Young.
Brennan’s other victory came in last October’s Bank of Utah Championship in his first PGA Tour start as a professional.
His birdie spree came on Nos. 4-8. He took a bogey on the par-4 11th hole, but got that back two holes later by rolling in an 8-foot birdie putt.
After a critical par save at No. 17, Brennan capped Sunday’s round with a 13-foot birdie putt on the last hole.
Hossler, who was the first- and second-round leader and third-round co-leader, applied pressure with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 to pull within two strokes of the lead. That followed his 10-hole stretch at 2 over after he eagled the fifth hole.
Ben James fired a 61 for the best round of the day, even one stroke better than his opening round. Saturday’s 72 proved costly, so he placed third at 18 under.
While the top of the leaderboard drew attention, there were ramifications throughout the tournament as golfers jockeyed for position in need of a top-70 spot in the season-long standings in order to advance to the FedEx Cup playoffs. Hossler just missed out, rising 50 places to No. 72 on the list.
The final golfer to make it into the FedEx Cup playoffs was rookie Jackson Koivun, who won the 3M Open two weeks ago. He shot 71 on Sunday for his worst round of the week, but ended up tied for 29th in the tournament at 8 under.
The first golfer out — at No. 71 in the FedEx Cup standings — was Steven Fisk, who missed the cut in Greensboro.
Taiwan’s Kevin Yu (66) finished fourth at 16 under, followed by England’s Harry Hall (66) and South Korea’s Tom Kim (70) at 15 under.
Five golfers tied for seventh place at 14 under. That group included England’s Matt Wallace, who shot 65 Sunday but ended up at No. 73 in the standings.
Young notched a final-round 67, but he tied for 61st at 4 under.