Lee Hodges got his debut win on the PGA Tour, going wire-to-wire at the 3M Open and closing out with a birdie to finish seven clear at the top. Impressive stuff from the Alabama grad, who took home over $1.4 million and moves to just outside the top-30 in the FedExCup standings. Two of my picks finished within the top-10 last week – Keith Mitchell and Emiliano Grillo. It was a solid week for Mitchell, who moved up 9 spots in the rankings to 57th.
The final round coverage became a little boring when Hodges had a 4-stroke lead and was clearly dialed in, with his closest challenger, J.T. Poston, dunking his second shot in the water and making triple-bogey on the final hole. Poston missed a 5 foot putt, dropping him into a tie for second place and cost himself a staggering $260k. J.T. will be on a lot of people's radar this week, as he's a past champion of the Wyndham and is playing some great golf right now. More on him to come…
This is a big week; it's the final week before the FedExCup Playoffs begin. The top-70 will advance to the playoffs, as opposed to the top-125 who have usually locked up their Tour cards at this point in the year. The guys who fall outside the top-70 have until November (the RSM Classic) to secure their place in the top-125, and full playing privileges for 2024.
However, this week, all eyes will be on the top-70 “bubble” prior to the FedEx St Jude next week. Due to this, the majority of the field are sitting outside of 70th place looking to play their way in, with some big names like Justin Thomas at 79th, and Shane Lowry at 77th. Defending champion Tom Kim won't be playing due to an injury he sustained at The'Open, however notable names include Hideki Matsuyama, Sam Burns and Adam Scott.