Jim Herman Wins the Wyndham Championship

Jay Betsill | August 16, 2020 | Golf, News | No Comments

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – AUGUST 16: Jim Herman of the United States celebrates with the trophy on the 18th green after winning during the final round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club on August 16, 2020 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Sunday turned out to be a banner day for 42-year old Jim Herman as he captured his third PGA TOUR victory at the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C.

“I thought I needed to get off to a pretty good start after we restarted back at Colonial and I just didn’t have it. I wasn’t playing poorly, just wasn’t getting the results that I liked, making weekends or making any money,” Herman said. “This game will beat you down, you do it long enough, and you get a little nagging foot injury, a hip that’s starting to hurt more each week and you think it might be coming to an end.

Last year obviously was giving me a redemption, giving me a couple more years out here. Now to do it again, I mean, I was definitely off the radar I’m sure going into this week.”

Herman won the final event before the playoffs by posting the lowest closing 36 holes by a winner in PGA TOUR history with a Saturday 61 followed by a 63 on Sunday for a total of 124 to finish at 21-under for the week.

“It’s out of the blue, I’ll definitely tell you that,” Herman said. “I guess whenever you win, you never really truly expect it. I mean, there’s the guys at the top, they’re expected to win every week and they should expect that, they’re that good. I watch that on TV all the time watching the guys and now to be able to do it is pretty amazing.”

Herman moved into the FedEx Cup playoffs as he jumped from 192 to 54 in the standings.

Billy Horschel, a 5-time PGA TOUR winner including the TOUR Championship en route to winning the 2014 FedEx Cup and the 2017 AT&T Byron Nelson in the final time the Dallas event was played at the TPC Four Seasons Resort in Las Colinas, fell one stroke short of forcing a playoff with Herman when his eight-foot birdie putt on No. 18 slid just left of the cup. Horschel finished at 20-under for a solo runner-up.

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – AUGUST 16: Billy Horschel of the United States reacts to his missed birdie putt on the 18th green during the final round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club on August 16, 2020 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

“There’s a lot of confidence to take from this,” Horschel said. “It’s been a while since I’ve actually had a really great chance to win a tournament and this being one of them. I felt I played really well today.”

Kevin Kisner, Webb Simpson, Doc Redman and Si Woo Kim all tied for third at 18-under.

Two-time Colonial champion Zach Johnson finished in a tie for 7th at 17-under following rounds of 61 and 65 on the weekend after making the cut on the number. His strong weekend vaulted him into the FedEx Cup Playoffs as he moved from 129 to 104.

DUBLIN, OHIO – JULY 09: Zach Johnson of the United States plays his second shot on the 15th hole during the first round of the Workday Charity Open on July 09, 2020 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

“I don’t like missing cuts, I don’t like missing the FedExCup, I don’t like not being a part of it. When there’s events that you’re not qualified for, which has kind of been new to me in the last year or two, it’s frustrating,” Johnson said. “I’m on a slight upward trend. I know it was only two days, but I’ve been feeling this for a while, it just hasn’t showed up. Hopefully, I can maintain it.”

Brooks Koepka followed up being in contention the past two weeks at the FedEx St. Jude Invitational and PGA Championship with a missed cut in his last attempt to move up in the FedEx Cup standings.

“Not very good. It wasn’t good at all,” Koepka said. “I wanted to try to get to Atlanta, so you’re only one tournament away from being there. You go out and you win this week and you’re there.”

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – AUGUST 13: Brooks Koepka of the United States plays a shot on the 14th hole during the first round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club on August 13, 2020 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Koepka will enter the Northern Trust at No. 97 in the FedEx Cup standings.

Justin Thomas did not play this week, but his stellar play throughout the season saw him capture the $2 million bonus the winner of the Wyndham Rewards Top 10.

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE – AUGUST 02: Justin Thomas of the United States plays his shot from the second tee of the United States plays his shot from the second tee during the final round of the World Golf Championship-FedEx St Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind on August 02, 2020 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

The Wyndham Rewards Top 10 awards $10 million in prize money for the top 10 players in the FedExCup standings following the regular season’s conclusion at the Wyndham Championship. The player atop the standings earns $2 million, with varying payoffs for the others through $500,000 for the 10th-place finisher.

Thomas is the second winner of the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. Brooks Koepka won the inaugural competition last year.

Thomas, 27, registered nine top-10 finishes in 15 starts this wrap-around season.