After a delay of more than 24 hours, the 2024 Wyndham Championship finally got underway on Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina. The rain-soaked Sedgefield Country Club was no match for the competitors, especially Beau Hossler, who shot a 10-under-par 60 in the first round of the regular-season finale to take the overnight lead. Billy Horschel, who was second in the standings at 8 under, still had several holes left in his first round because play was postponed due to darkness.
“I played well. This golf course, if you hit it into the fairway, it’s easy to score,” Hossler said. “But playing this golf course in the rough, and then there were five or six tee shots that were especially difficult for me, blind and a little bit curved. In the past, they’ve given me a little trouble. Today, I hit them really well.”
Hossler’s tournament started in the ideal way, with four birdies and an eagle in his opening five holes. At 6 under in a flash, the former Texas Longhorns golfer shot to 28 before adding a birdie on the par-4 10th. After a brief tug-of-war, Hossler officially found his way into the round, becoming the 15th man to break 60 on the PGA Tour when he birdied the 15th to reach 10 under. Unable to add another round to his scorecard over the final three holes, he instead shot 60 and is expected to move up the FedEx Cup standings.
Hossler entered the week ranked No. 87, and will jump to No. 51 if he holds on to win the Wyndham Championship whenever it ends. From firmly outside the cut to on the brink of qualifying for all 2025 feature events via the BMW Championship, Hossler has three potentially career-changing days of golf ahead of him.
“Just play the best I can,” Hossler said of his mindset. “I think I probably need to finish in the top three or four if I had to guess to have any chance. This golf course hasn’t treated me well in the past, so I just come here and try to play the best I can and see what I can get.”
Hossler has 54 holes and a large field of players to contend with as the PGA Tour tries to catch up following delays caused by Tropical Storm Debby. Horschel has continued his solid play since Royal Troon and is among those at the top of the leaderboard, with the likes of Jordan Spieth and Cameron Young currently at 3 under.
Leader
1. Beau Hossler (-10): It hasn’t been a good summer for Hossler after his top-five finish at the Myrtle Beach Classic. The right-hander has missed five of his last eight cuts and arrived at Sedgefield Country Club with his back against the wall. It’s a course that has repeatedly put him in the locker room, with three missed cuts in four attempts and no finish better than T65. On Friday, he got his revenge, not only posting the lowest round of his PGA Tour career, but also one of his best ball-striking days. He’ll need his long game to keep up if he wants to keep his place on this leaderboard.
Competitors
2. Billy Horschel (-8)
3. Nick Taylor (-7)
T4. Ben Taylor, Brendon Todd, Austin Eckroat, Matt Kuchar (-6)
T8. Justin Suh, Chris Gotterup, Vince Whaley, Aaron Rai, Ben Griffin, Mac Meissner, Ryan Brehm (-5)
Horschel hasn’t been on the golf course since The Open, when he withdrew just before his first tee time at the 3M Open due to illness. After recovering, he picked up where he left off with an eagle on the par-4 second and continued his streak of solid putting that dates back to his win at the Corales Puntacana Championship. With a solid history at the Wyndham Championship and a spark in his sails, Horschel looks like a man determined to win his second in 2024.
Bubble Boy
Entering Week 71 of the FedEx Cup, Victor Perez was looking to carry on his Olympic form in the United States. Fresh off a bronze medal at Le Golf National in his native France, the three-time DP World Tour winner ran into trouble right away. A double bogey on the second hole could have easily ruined his week, but he recovered in spectacular fashion, playing the final 16 holes in 6 under par and now looks set to make the final round after his first round.
“I think you go through periods where I think your perspective is better than other times,” Perez said. “I think sometimes you make that mistake and you’re really frustrated and sometimes you make that mistake and it doesn’t really bother you. It’s hard to know exactly why sometimes it bothers you and sometimes it doesn’t. Luckily for me, it didn’t, and I was able to recover and play a good round.”
What’s up with Jordan Spieth?
Spieth began the week by discussing the possibility of needing wrist surgery this season. He began his actual week by landing an eagle on the par-5 15th. In announcing his arrival, the three-time major champion hit the final 10 greens in regulation, making some nice putts and continuing to hit his driver as he usually does en route to a 67. It was an encouraging start for a player who is currently outside the top 50 in qualifying for the BMW Championship and hasn’t finished in the top 10 since last week’s Masters.
Odds, picks for Wyndham Championship 2024
- Billy Horschel: 4-1
- Beau Hossler: 5-1
- Nick Taylor: 12-1
- Aaron Rai: 18-1
- Matt Kuchar: 20-1
Horschel has the ability to do it over the next 54 holes, but I understand if the favorite is too tough to accept at this stage. Instead, look to pre-tournament favorite Sungjae Im, who is 40-1 and eight shots behind at 2 under. The Korean has been excellent this summer and will bounce back from a poor ball-striking performance on Friday.
Patrick McDonald recaps Friday’s action at the 2024 Wyndham Championship. Watch & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts And Spotify.
