TV times, will an amateur win, can they finish? Everything you need to know about the final round of the 2024 Wyndham Championship
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Ernie Banks was speaking of baseball when he famously said “there’s sunshine, fresh air… let’s play two,” but it applies for Sunday at the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club.
With the 36-hole cut finally made on Sunday morning, the PGA Tour is trying to play a twin bill of sorts and complete the third and fourth rounds before the sun goes down. It would be the first 36-hole finish on Tour since the 2013 Sentry.
Here’s five things to know about Sunday’s (hopeful) finish to the 2024 Wyndham Championship.
Final round tee times
The fourth round is running from 1:20 p.m. ET to 3:10 p.m. They did not re-pair and players are being sent off both the first and 10th tee. It’s possible the winner could finish on the front nine several hours before the last group finishes. Sunset is 8:13 p.m. here, which means the last group has 5 hours and 3 minutes to finish. While that sounds like plenty of time for a threesome to complete 18 holes, the pace of play in the third round was taking longer than that, so time to play fast. Play was suspended on Saturday due to darkness at 8:20 p.m. with players allowed to finish the hole.
TV plan
According to the PGA Tour, CBS plans to stay with the final round of the Wyndham Championship to the finish of play this evening. That means no switch to Golf Channel at 6 p.m. ET as often is the case. Kudos to CBS for staying with the golf over the Evening News and 60 Minutes.
Week of delays – so what else could go wrong?
With more than six inches of rain dumped on Soakfield, err Sedgefield CC on Thursday and Friday night, it’s been a week of delays and postponements. It’s hot and humid again so a lightning delay of any length would be fatal to a Sunday finish. So would a playoff or just simply slow play. The dreaded Monday finish is a distinct possibility.
Clanton contends
Amateur Luke Clanton had to wake up early and play three holes on Sunday morning to complete his second round and make the cut. When play was suspended on Saturday due to darkness, he was on the cut line at 4 under. He made two pars and a birdie at No. 9, his last hole.
“Sleeping was not great because I knew I had three more holes that are pretty tough,” he said. “It's probably the most stressful three holes I played in a while.”
Clanton relaxed and went on a roll, shooting 8-under 62, his third round of 63 or better, the most on Tour since he made his debut at the U.S. Open in June. Clanton had a share of the lead as he played the 11th hole, his second hole of his final round, when Matt Kuchar made bogey at 14 in his third round. Doc Brown would say the space-time continuum has been out of whack all week at the Wyndham.
Clanton, a 20-year-old junior at Florida State, is scheduled to compete in the U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National in Edina, Minnesota. The stroke-play portion of the championship begins on Monday. Speaking between rounds, Clanton said he has a plan to get there if the Wyndham finishes on Sunday.
“I'm actually taking a private airline to Minnesota, which is very nice,” he said. “It's pretty expensive, but whatever.”
Clanton is going to have to play potentially 39 holes and then hop a flight. Asked about how he’s going to do it, he said, “It's going to be pretty brutal, no doubt, but again, like I signed up to do this. It's cool to be busy, I'm excited to be out here. To play 36 on the PGA Tour, never complain. I'm still an amateur, 20-year-old, so I'm going to enjoy it.”
Cliff's Notes edition of the third round
In addition to Clanton’s charge up the leaderboard, Ben Griffin fired a 63 to join the trophy hunt. Max Greyserman, who played his college golf down the road at Duke, made an eagle at the par-5 15th to grab the lead at 15-under. He shot a bogey-free 4-under 66 to take his first 54-hole lead as he pursues his maiden Tour title.
Matt Kuchar, the 36-hole leader, needs to win to get into the playoffs. He’s the only player to qualify for the FedEx Cup every year since the playoffs began in 2007. He was cruising along at 15 under but then made three bogeys in a five-hole stretch to fall off the pace.
FedEx Cup playoff bubbles will burst
The top 70 qualify at the end of the Wyndham Championship, the final of 35 regular-season events in the FedEx Cup, for the playoffs, which begin next week in Memphis.
Heading into the final round, there would be no changes to the 70 who were projected to make the playoffs before the tournament began. Victor Perez started the week as the Bubble Boy and he’s still there. Davis Riley, at No. 71, needs to make up at least three points.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: TV times, will an amateur win, can they finish? Everything you need to know about the final round of the 2024 Wyndham Championship
