If I feel like today, I think I will have enough opportunities to advance to the Tour Championship. We will do well in the playoffs.”

Ahn Byeong-hoon (32) made this determination after finishing as runner-up at the Wyndham Championship (total prize money of $7.6 million) in the final round of the 2022-23 regular season of the US Professional Golf (PGA) Tour.

On the 7th (Korean time), the final 4th round of the Wyndham Championship was held at Sedgefield Country Club (par 70) in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA. Ahn Byeong-hun, who scored 3 under par 67 with 5 birdies and 2 bogeys, recorded a final total of 18 under par 262 and finished the tournament tied for second place with Russell Henry (USA).

Ahn Byeong-hoon achieved his fourth PGA Tour runner-up in his personal career, following the Zurich Classic in May 2016, the Memorial Tournament in June 2018, and the RBC Canada Open in July 2018. Ahn Byung-hoon has participated in 178 events on the PGA Tour and has yet to win, and his four runner-up finishes are his personal best.

After the tournament, Ahn Byeong-hoon said, “It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t win, but a tie for second place wasn’t bad either.” He also added that he was determined to advance to the He Tour Championship, the final round of the playoffs.

Kim Joo-hyung, Kim Si-woo, Lim Seong-jae, Ahn Byeong-hun… ‘It’s playoffs now!’

Reaching the Tour Championship stage is every player’s dream. The PGA Tour conducts the FedEx Cup rankings for one season, which converts the rankings of players in 44 competitions in the regular season into points. Until last year, the top 125 players in the FedEx Cup advanced to the first leg of the playoffs, but from this year, the number of players who can participate has drastically decreased to 70. This is because the PGA Tour changed its season operation from the 2024 season to the opening in January every year instead of the fall of the previous year.

The playoffs will start with the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first leg of which will open in Tennessee, USA on the 11th, followed by the second round of the BMW Championship (opening on August 18) and the final round of the Tour Championship (opening on August 25). The 50 players who performed well in the first round of the playoffs advance to the second round, and only the top 30 of them advance to the Tour Championship. Because of this, there is a strong perception that players who advance to the Tour Championship are the best stars on the PGA Tour.

In addition, the playoffs are so big that they are called ‘War of Money’. The first and second games will be held with a total prize money of 20 million dollars (about 26 billion won). Last year, the Tour Championship offered a bonus prize of 75 million dollars (approximately 97.5 billion won), and winner Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) took a prize of 18 million dollars (approximately 23.4 billion won), sitting on a “money cushion”. Lim Seong-jae (25) finished tied for second place, one stroke behind winner McIlroy먹튀검증, recording the best performance in the Korean Tour Championship.

This time, Joohyung Kim (21) ranked 14th in the FedEx Cup rankings, Siwoo Kim (28) ranked 18th, Seongjae Lim (32nd), and Byunghun Ahn (37th) confirmed their advance to the playoffs. Kim Joo-hyung won his second career victory at the Shriner’s Children’s Open in October last year, and finished runner-up at the Open Championship in a major tournament in July of this year. Siwoo Kim lifted his fourth PGA Tour trophy at the Sony Open in February. Im Seong-jae did not win, but recorded a steady performance by climbing to the top 10 seven times. Ahn Byeong-hoon has been on the rise, winning twice in the top 3 in the last 3 competitions.

Ahn Byeong-hun, who recorded even scores of 63-67-65-67 over four days at the Wyndham Championship, said, “When I lost my PGA Tour card two years ago, I felt like I was lost on the course. Golf has improved in every way this year. Accuracy, distance, and mental management have improved compared to two years ago.”

Dramatic PO advancement Glover… Thomas in sorrow

Depending on the results of the final tournament of the regular season, the joys and sorrows of the players who made it to the playoffs and those who failed were mixed. The player who dramatically jumped on the playoff train was Lucas Glover (USA), who reached the top of the tournament. The 44-year-old veteran dropped two strokes on the final day to finish with a final total of 20-under-par 260. After the John Deere Classic in July 2021, he won his 5th PGA Tour career in 2 years and 1 month, and received $1.368 million (approximately 1.77 billion won) as the winning prize.

Although he usually has no problems, Glover, who overcame the ‘Put Ips’ in which he couldn’t properly putt in a tense situation such as a game, doubled his joy by winning a playoff ticket. He was only ranked 112th in the FedEx Cup rankings until the Wyndham Championship, but jumped up to 49th in the rankings when he won the championship.

Justin Thomas (USA), the former world number one and 15 PGA Tour winners, failed to make the playoffs for the first time in nine years. Thomas, who had been ranked 79th in the FedEx Cup before the tournament, reduced two strokes to the 17th hole that day, raising his real-time FedEx Cup ranking to 71st. In order to advance to the playoffs, a birdie on the last hole 18 (par 4) is essential. After hitting a wedge shot with 31m left in the rough in front of the green, Thomas saw the ball bouncing all over the green, hit the flagpole and stopped 30cm from the side of the hole, and lay down on the field. Thomas’ deep regret for not waking up for a while was buried.

Thomas’ FedEx Cup rankings ended at 71st, and he was one step short of the top 70, which unfortunately prevented him from making the playoffs. Former world No. 1 Adam Scott (Australia) also tied for 7th place (12 under par 268 strokes) in this competition, raising the FedEx Cup ranking from 81st to 72nd, but was unable to make the playoffs.

Meanwhile, as a result of the 2022-23 season regular season, John Rahm, Scotty Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Max Homa, Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Victor Hoblan, Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, and Tony Finau rank from 1st to 10th in the FedEx Cup. occupied