Webb Simpson Fires 63 In Final Round Of Wyndham Championship
8/22/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
GREENSBORO, NC - Former Wake Forest All-American Webb Simpson fired a bogey-free round of 7-under 63 in the final round of the Wyndham Championship at the Sedgefield Country Club on Sunday. The round was his lowest on the PGA Tour and jumped him from a tie for 29th to start the day to a tie for 8th.
Simpson, who entered the week at 116th in the FedEx Cup Standings, opened with rounds of 66-64 and was just two shots off the lead at 10-under par. He then got off to a rough start on Saturday, making the turn in 4-over par. He was still 4-over with four holes to play but would make birdies at Nos. 15, 17 and 18 to salvage a round of 1-over 71.
On Sunday, he got off to a much better start, making four birdies in a five hole stretch to climb to 13-under par at the turn. Another birdie at No. 13 and back-to-back birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 got the Raleigh, NC, native to 7-under par for the day and 16-under for the tournament. After two nice shots on the tough par-4 18th, Simpson had 30-feet left for birdie. The putt slid just past the right edge of the hole and he would go on to post his lowest 18-hole score on the PGA Tour. The tie for 8th was also his best finish on tour this season.
"I had two shots yesterday (Saturday) that went left and I wasn't able to get it up and down," Simpson said. "Yesterday was a pretty tough start too but today was a little better. Luckily yesterday I was able to hang in there and make three birdies coming in and I knew if I could just hang around, I was playing good enough to where anything could happen today."
Simpson now jumps to No. 94th on the FedEx Cup Standings and will be in the field next week at The Barclays, which is the first of four playoff events. The top-100 at the end of next week will then move onto the Deutsche Bank Championship on Sept. 3-6.
Bill Haas also made the cut this week at Sedgefield, finishing in a tie for 28th at 13-under par. He opened with a 69 and then posted a pair of 65s on Friday and Saturday to get to 11-under par. Haas was 5-under par through 13 holes on Sunday but bogeyed three out of the last five holes to finish with a 2-under 68.
Thanks to a solid summer and a victory at the Bob Hope Classic in January, Haas heads into the playoffs at No. 26th on the FedEx Cup Standings. The top-30 at the end of the third playoff event will qualify for the TOUR Championship at East Lake CC in Atlanta, Ga.
All-American Brendan Gielow, who graduated from Wake Forest this past May, made his PGA Tour debut in grand fashion this week at the Wyndham Championship. He recorded a hole-in-one on the par-3 third hole on Thursday en route to a round of even-par 70. He then carded a 1-under 69 on Friday to finish at a respectable 1-under 139. The cut however, fell at 3-under 137, which was the second-lowest total on tour this season.
