Henrik Stenson claimed his sixth PGA Tour victory with a steely display in the Wyndham Championship. The Swede closed with a 64 to finish 22-under-par, one clear of Ollie Schniederjans of the USA.
Henrik Stenson produced a superb back nine at Sedgefield CC to win the Wyndham Championship by a single shot from Ollie Schniederjans and claim his first PGA Tour title since the 2016 Open Championship at Royal Troon.
Stenson was tied with young Schniederjans through 14 holes but the Swede put his foot to the floor with three birdies in a row from the 15th. But the 24-year-old former Georgia Tech player wasn’t done. He birdied the final hole to get within one of Stenson.
That meant the Swede had just a one-shot cushion coming to the final hole. He kept his cool though and secured the par he needed for the victory.
“I had to keep on making birdies,” Stenson said, “because Ollie was surely not backing down. I thought I had a two-shot cushion … and as I walked over (to the 18th hole and) looked around, `Oh, OK, (Schniederjans) birdied it as well. So I better scramble a par here to get the win.”
Webb Simpson took third place ahead of three players tied for fourth – Ryan Armour, Kevin Na and Rory Sabbatini.
3 Talking points from the Wyndham Championship
1 – Stenson’s sixth PGA Tour title was a timely one. It comes just before the FedEx Cup playoffs get underway and the Swede is now in a strong position to launch his bid for a second FedEx Cup title – He won in 2013.
“It’s certainly a good time to start firing,” Stenson said. “We know the kind of damage you can do in the playoffs. … If you get hot and keep on playing well, you have a chance to challenge.”
Stenson is now 23rd on the FedEx Cup standings, up from 75th. He has climbed to sixth place on the Official World Golf Ranking.
Henrik Stenson swing sequence:
2 – The other battle at Sedgefield was between those players trying to qualify for the playoffs beginning at The Northern Trust Open next week. The top 125 on the points list make it in.
Geoff Ogilvy, who was 125th, finished at 11-under at Sedgefield and earned enough points to move to 116th. Martin Flores, who started 139th jumped to 118th and made the playoffs for the first time since 2014. J.J. Henry, Harold Varner III and Rory Sabbatini also played their way into the top 125.
“I was very aware of where I was all day but I knew that I needed to be somewhere inside the top 10,” Flores said. “So I was able to get off to a great start and I was able to just keep it going all day.”
3 – There were three aces during the final round at Sedgefield CC. Roberto Castro made one on the 3rd then Ben Crane got one on 16th and Martin Flores holed his tee shot to the same hole later in the day.
Wyndham Championship
Sedgefield CC, Greensboro, North Carolina
Aug 17-20
Purse: $5,800,000 Par: 70
1 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 62 66 66 64 258 $1,044,000
2 Ollie Schniederjans (USA) 66 63 66 64 259 $626,400
3 Webb Simpson (USA) 63 64 68 67 262 $394,400
T4 Ryan Armour (USA) 66 61 72 64 263 $239,733
T4 Kevin Na (USA) 67 63 65 68 263 $239,733
T4 Rory Sabbatini (RSA) 65 68 66 64 263 $239,733
T7 Martin Flores (USA) 64 70 68 63 265 $180,766
T7 Cameron Smith (Aus) 63 69 70 63 265 $180,766
T7 Shane Lowry (Ire) 67 64 67 67 265 $180,766
T10 Davis Love III (USA) 64 66 67 69 266 $145,000
T10 Harold Varner III (USA) 63 68 66 69 266 $145,000
T10 Richy Werenski (USA) 67 66 64 69 266 $145,000
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
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