The 21-year-old newly minted pro stayed and watched until the not-so-bitter end. In the clubhouse at Sedgefield Country Club, Jackson Koivun waited and observed as the leaders came down the stretch at the Wyndham Championship, the finale of the PGA Tour’s regular season. He shot a somewhat disappointing 71 in his own final round, which meant that his fate would now be decided by other golfers. Koivun was projected 70th in the FedEx Cup standings, and there are exactly 70 spots in the playoffs that begin next week in Memphis—no more room to slip. In just five tournaments as a professional, he had given himself a chance to reach the postseason thanks in large part to his victory at the 3M Open last month, and as the hours passed in Greensboro, his situation became clear.
To wit: There were two players who could still win the tournament, and as it happened, they were also the last two who could break into the playoffs from outside. Koivun could afford one of them to do it; he couldn’t afford two. If Michael Brennan won, Beau Hossler would remain outside the bubble even in solo second, but if Hossler won, Brennan could knock Koivun out with a runner-up finish. Which meant that, late on Sunday, Koivun became Michael Brennan’s biggest fan … outside of his parents, anyway.
He fished his wish. Brennan’s rock-steady play in taking the title meant Koivun would hold on to the final playoff spot in his rookie season and simultaneously tie Tiger Woods for the fewest starts needed to reach the postseason. Down the stretch, he actively checked leaderboards, and judging by how demonstrative he was on the final holes, the situation had clearly registered.
“It’s a different type of nerves when you know you don’t have your stuff and you’ve got to go out there and execute some shots,” he said. “I think that kind of sparked some emotion in me.”
Koivun and Brennan go home happy, and in fact, Brennan ended up as the only player to come from outside the top 70 before the week and reach the promised land. He did so at the expense of Steven Fisk, who missed the cut on Friday and dropped from 69th to 71st.
David Jensen
But the fact that only two players ended the weekend with changed fates belies the tumult and drama that played out at the Wyndham. For starters, you could look at Hossler at this year’s tragic figure—he came in with little hope, since only a win would put him through to the postseason, but as they say, it’s the hope that kills you, and he came into Sunday tied for the lead before losing out to Brennan.
“It stings a little bit,” he admitted after his round. “With that being said, very proud of my commitment today and was resilient top to bottom. Had a few things that certainly could have gone my way that didn’t, but at the end of the day that’s golf, and all in all for four rounds, pretty valiant effort.”
Hossler, though, is not the only one who will leave disappointed. Davis Thompson, who began the week in 81st, had a real chance on Sunday to crack the top 70, but could only muster a one over performance and a T-14 finish that left him 77th in the standings. Ditto for Matt Wallace, whose spectacular 64-65 weekend got him within a hair’s breadth of the playoffs, but who, in the end, finished T-7 and could only rise from 80th to 73rd.
Among the big names who failed to make the cut was Brooks Koepka, who evaluated his own performance as “pretty pathetic” following a 74-70 weekend that actually dropped him eight spots in the playoff standings.
Keegan Bradley arguably came in to Greensboro with one of the best chances to improve his lot, at 72nd, but couldn’t produce birdies at the requisite rate and ended tied for 49th, with his playoff hopes snuffed out thanks to a Sunday 68 that needed to be much better. It broke a streak of 14 playoff appearances in a row for 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain.
Caleb Bowlin
“It’s been a tough like year and a half,” he said. “I’m looking forward to getting home and resetting and coming out next year a little fresher maybe. I got off to such a terrible start this year. Next year hopefully will be better.
“Normally I’d be going on to the playoffs in years past right now,” he added. “So, you know, yeah, it’s only 70 make the playoffs for some reason.”
On the good side of the bubble, Germany’s Matti Schmid found himself in serious trouble after a Saturday 75, and he didn’t fare much better on Sunday, shooting 72, but managed to hold onto the 69th spot, just percentage points ahead of Koivun. In a similar vein, Ricky Castillo, who won the Puerto Rico Open in March, dodged several bullets of his own to hold onto 68th place. Unlike Koivun, though, he barely seemed to care after his round whether he made the cut or not.
“Honestly, if I didn’t make the playoffs I would be totally fine,” he said, “because it just means that I get to go home and take a break. I need a break mentally and physically it’s been a lot of golf this year. I’ve played a lot of weekends and haven’t done a lot with them unfortunately the way I’ve wanted to. I just need some time off honestly. I just need a few weeks off.”
If any part of that was ambiguous, he made it clear in a later answer: “I do not care at all.”
He won’t get next week off—they’ll be expecting him in Memphis—but maybe Castillo has cracked the code and shown a path for future playoff aspirants: If golf has exhausted you to the extent that you no longer care, you might just get what you’re not sure you even wanted.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
