Lucas Glover claims his fifth career PGA Tour title by winning the Wyndham Championship while Justin Thomas missed the FedEx Cup playoffs following a dramatic moment at the 18th hole
Last Updated: 07/08/23 7:23am
Lucas Glover now has five PGA Tour wins separated by 18 years after winning the Wyndham Championship
Lucas Glover received a lucky bounce on the last to claim his fifth career PGA Tour title and make the FedEx Cup playoffs by winning the Wyndham Championship on Sunday.
Glover followed a third-round 62 with a two-under-par 68 on Sunday to finish at 20-under 260, two strokes better than Russell Henley (69) and South Korean Byeong Hun An (67). Billy Horschel (72), who shared the lead with Glover after three rounds, faded to fourth place at 16 under.
Winning the PGA Tour’s regular-season finale launched Glover from 112th place in the FedEx Cup points standings to No 49, qualifying him for the playoffs that begin next week in Memphis.
“Last time I played Memphis, I played very well, so excited to get back there,” said Glover who last won on tour at the 2021 John Deere Classic. “Just let this soak in and get my body and my mind right and get back to work Tuesday or Wednesday.”
Inclement weather forced a delay that lasted two hours when the top four players had just four holes to play. At that time, Glover and Henley were tied for the lead at 20 under, two strokes ahead of An.
Henley came out of the delay with a shot of momentum, making a two-putt birdie at the par-5 15th hole for the outright lead. He then missed the green at the par-3 16th and wound up finishing his round with three successive bogeys.
Glover’s drive at the par-4 18th missed left but bounced off the side of a volunteer’s cart, preventing his ball from ending up with an even worse lie.
Knowing he had a two-shot lead, 43-year-old Glover laid up, reached the green in three strokes and rolled in an 8-foot par putt.
Horschel needed to finish inside the top two to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs but will miss out after only moving to 90th in the standings.
Thomas first man out of FedEx Cup playoffs
Justin Thomas, a former world No 1 and two-time major champion, missed the FedEx Cup playoffs in the most excruciating way possible.
Entering this week’s regular-season finale, Thomas was No 79 in the points standings and needed to crack the top 70 to qualify for the playoffs.
Thomas needed one more birdie to reach that target, but his birdie chip checked and hopped against the base of the pin and stayed out.
Standing at the back of the green, Thomas saw a video board project him at No. 71, and he missed by nine FedEx Cup points.
Now he has to wait three weeks to see if his worst season – this is the first time Thomas has failed to make the playoffs – will cost him a pick for the US Ryder Cup team.
“I did everything I could,” Thomas said when he finished. “I don’t want my season to be over.”
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