Kuchar sits atop the leaderboard as a marathon of golf awaits on Sunday in North Carolina
By Patrick McDonald
• 1 min read
The PGA Tour continues to play catch up at the 2024 Wyndham Championship as Round 2 action was suspended Saturday evening due to darkness. With a cut having still not been made, a handful of groups will return to the golf course early Sunday morning to complete second-round action and kick off a marathon day of golf.
When they do return to Sedgefield Country Club, Matt Kuchar will be the name occupying the top spot on the leaderboard at 12 under. Looking to maintain his perfect record of qualifying for the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the wily veteran has positioned himself to do just that thanks to a late-season surge.
Kuchar emerged from a clustered leaderboard late on Saturday surging past Cameron Young, Max Greyserman and Chad Ramey at 11 under. Billy Horschel and Aaron Rai finished up their second rounds at 10 under in the early afternoon and remain on the first page of the leaderboard ahead of Sunday's shootout alongside first-round leader Beau Hossler, who was stuck in neutral following his opening 60.
"Patience is the key," Horschel said. "We always know the winning score is always around 18, 20 under par, we know what we need to get to, you know you need to just keep giving yourself opportunities, keep putting the ball in the fairway, keep giving yourself opportunities on the greens and hopefully at some point you get on a little roll and make some birdies here and you sort of can push the gas pedal down a little bit when that happens."
Additional presences lurk on the second and third pages of the leaderboard as John Deere Classic winner Davis Thompson stands at 8 under. U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley fired a 64 to shoot into contention at 7 under and finds himself alongside Canadians Adam Hadwin and Adam Svensson.
The leader
1. Matt Kuchar (-12)
Only one man has qualified for all 17 iterations of the FedEx Cup Playoffs -- that man being Kuchar. Needing a victory in order to punch his postseason ticket for the 18th consecutive year, Kuchar finds himself in the pole position with 36 holes to play. Coming home in 5 under to grab the solo lead, Kuchar carded four straight birdies at one stage and needed to hole a combined 7 feet of putts to do so.
Other contenders
T2. Cameron Young, Max Greseryman, Chad Ramey (-11)
T5. Aaron Rai, Billy Horschel, Beau Hossler (-10)
T8. Justin Suh, Patrick Rodgers (-9)
T10. Brendon Todd, Jacob Bridgeman, Trace Crowe, Davis Thompson, Charley Hoffman (-8)
Greyserman raced through Sedgefield Country Club on Saturday as he flirted with becoming the 15th player to shoot a sub-60 number on the PGA Tour. It was a game of runs for the Duke product as he opened his round with five straight birdies. Six straight pars set the scene for a back-nine sizzler that included circles on the scorecard from Nos. 12-15. Another arrived on the par-4 17th to give him a chance on the difficult closing hole to shoot 59. While he found the surface in regulation, Greyserman settled for par, a round of 60 and a share of the overnight lead.
Notables to miss the cut
While everyone in the field technically played the weekend in the regular-season finale, not all will be around for the second half of the tournament. Defending champion Lucas Glover enjoyed a highlight in the form of his sixth hole-in-one on the PGA Tour, but that's as good as it got. With his early exit, Glover will miss out on defending his title at the St. Jude Championship as he will not qualify for the postseason. Others are not in as dire of a position, but a good start in Greensboro, North Carolina, would have gone a long way towards their postseasons. Those players include Jordan Spieth, Min Woo Lee, Justin Rose and Will Zalatoris, who find themselves on the top 50 bubble in the FedEx Cup.
2024 Wyndham Championship updated odds, picks
- Matt Kuchar: 4-1
- Cameron Young: 4-1
- Billy Horschel: 7-1
- Aaron Rai: 7-1
- Max Greyserman: 8-1
- Chad Ramey: 14-1
- Beau Hossler: 16-1
Horschel is still the name of most interest. Following up a 62 with a solid 68, he proved he can navigate the par 70 even without his best stuff. As an added bonus, Horschel should be well-rested for Sunday's marathon having finished his second round in the early afternoon on Saturday while many of the other contenders were out on the golf course late.
Rick Gehman and Greg DuCharme recap Saturday action at the 2024 Wyndham Championship. Follow & listen to The First Cut onApple PodcastsandSpotify.
