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More than a win on the line Sunday for the leaders at Wyndham Championship
GREENSBORO, NC The final round of the PGA Tour's regular season will be chaotic Sunday for those seeking to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Others atop the Wyndham Championship leaderboard are wanting to ride their momentum into Memphis for the St. Jude FedEx Tournament.At 16 under, co-leaders Beau Hossler and Michael Brennan are projected to leapfrog into the playoffs with a victory. But even a runner-up finish will have the two sweating Sunday as each were outside the top 100 entering the Wyndham.Hossler, 122nd in the playoff standings, can have nothing less than a win, which would be his first on the PGA Tour. Brennan (105th) must finish in a three-way tie for second or better to reach the playoffs. A win would propel Brennan inside the top 50."It would be huge. I mean, I would be playing in Memphis next week," Brennan said. "I saw on the board projected with a win I would move to 47, which would be inside 50 and give me a good chance at staying there the following week."They're not alone, as the bubble is hot for players like Davis Thompson and Jackson Koivun, both vying Sunday to be inside the top 70.Thompson's 5-under 65 Saturday put him 13 under, alone in sixth and projected 73rd in the playoff standings. Koivun's 4-under 66 in the third round has him 9 under, tied for 15th and on the right side of the projected playoff bubble, 67th."I think I've been doing a great job of that this week of just kind of toning it out," Koivun said. "There'll be instances where it kind of creeps into my mind, but for the most part I've done a great job of just zoning out and homing in on the golf course."Wyndham leaderboard: What players need for FedEx Cup PlayoffsFor Thompson, who entered the week 82nd in the standings, he needs a two-way tie for sixth or better to solidify a top 70 spot. Koivun entered the week squarely on the bubble in 70th, but will be in with a top-20 finish.Kevin Yu, in seventh alone at 12 under, is 111th and needs a solo second finish Sunday while Erik van Rooyen is 134th in the standings and needs a win to vault into the playoffs. He's currently 11 under and in T-11.Keegan Bradley is 4 under and tied for 58th at the Wyndham and needs a two-way tie for 38th Sunday after entering the tournament 72nd in the standings.Andrew Putnam, who entered 73rd, needs a two-way tie for 31st Sunday but sits at 5 under and in a tie for 50th.Austin Smotherman needs a solo 12th to advance to the playoffs after entering 76th, but enters Sunday at 6-under par and in a tie for 40th.Keeping FedEx Cup momentumFor Tom Kim, it's about keeping the momentum he's gained over the past two months. After a third place finish at the U.S. Open in June, Kim claimed the Scottish Open in July and a top-20 showing at the 3M open two weeks ago.After a 7-under 63 Saturday vaulted him to 15 under, he's just a shot back of the lead and projected to jump eight spots to 26th in the playoff standings."Just keep building," Kim said. "I think we've still got a lot of tournaments before you can really tell yourself you're kind of safe, especially in my position, so I'm going to try to keep adding to this week and try to play good enough the next two weeks to get to Atlanta."Alex Smalley (14 under, T4) is projected to jump to 22nd while Alex Noren (14 under, T4) is projected for 44th."Yeah, I'm going to try to keep pushing forward," said Smalley, a member at Sedgefield Country Club. "Try to play as aggressive as I guess feel like I can tomorrow given where I am off the tee."Ryne Dennis is the Deep South Connect Team Editor for Gannett/USA Today and former sports editor in USA TODAY and the Athens Banner-Herald. Find him on X@RyneDennisand email atrdennis@onlineathens.com.This article originally appeared on Golfweek: More than a win on the line Sunday for the leaders at Wyndham Championship
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