MCCONNELL GOLF NEWS His top 30 effort earned him a check for $41,013 and a spot in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, the three-event series that determines PGA Tour eligibility for the 2021-22 season. Smalley has made the cut in all five of his PGA Tour starts and earned enough FedExCup points to finish inside the top-200 and qualify for the Korn Ferry playoffs. Smalley joined Sedgefield in June of 2020 and estimates he has played 75 rounds or more on the classic Donald Ross design. “I feel pretty comfortable with the lines on each hole,” he said during the week. “The course is always in really good shape. It’s playing a little different than it usually does for us. There’s a little more runout in the fairways, which has changed a couple of the clubs that I hit off of the tee. The greens are a little quicker, but other than that, it’s the same golf course.” Photo Courtesy: John Gillooly/Wyndham Championship
KEVIN KISNER WINS WILD 6-MAN PLAYOFF AT THE WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP Kevin Kisner birdied the second extra hole to end a six-man playoff and capture a thrilling 2021 Wyndham Championship at Greensboro’s Sedgefield Country Club. Known as a dogged match-play competitor, Kisner stiffed his approach shot on 18 and calmly rolled in a 3-foot putt. For the victory — the fourth of his career and first since 2019 — the former University of Georgia Bulldog banked $1,152,000.
Smalley enjoyed plenty of local support during the week. Along with his father and his mother, Maria — both of whom have caddied for Smalley throughout his career — his sister, Katie, and numerous friends and playing partners from Sedgefield followed his group and rooted him on. “It was nice to hear their cheers out there,” Smalley said. “I don’t get to play in front of a whole lot of people very often. It’s pretty cool to have people scream at you after you make a putt. To have an opportunity to play a PGA Tour event on your home course is pretty special. I think it helped me out quite a bit. I know my way around. I’ve played out here numerous times, so I felt comfortable on the course. To have that finish was pretty cool.”
Adam Scott shot 65 in the final round to make the playoff. He had a chance for victory on the first playoff hole, but his 4-foot birdie putt never threatened the cup. Kisner and Scott were joined in the playoff by former champion Si Woo Kim, Braden Grace, Kevin Na and Roger Sloan. It marked just the third time in PGA Tour history that six golfers have gone to a playoff. Kisner began Sunday’s final round four shots behind leader Russell Henley, but he birdied Nos. 16 and 17, eventually shooting 66 to reach 15 under and the playoff. “My first playoff win,” said Kisner, who was previously 0-5 in playoffs prior to his Wyndham title. “To be standing here is pretty sweet.” Henley held the lead after the first three rounds. He recovered from a slow start on Sunday to reach 17-under after a birdie on the 10th hole, but the Georgia Bulldog bogeyed three of the next four holes and came to the 72nd hole needing par to stay at 15 under. He fell short of the playoff after narrowly missing a 5-foot par putt. It proved a brutal ending to what had been an otherwise amazing performance from Henley. McConnell Golf member Alex Smalley didn’t quite play his way into the six-man playoff, but the former Duke University star gained plenty more along the way. Playing on his home course, Sedgefield CC, the 24-yearold Smalley carded three rounds in the 60s, including a sizzling 64 on Friday. He responded to the heat of Sunday’s final-round pressure in equally torrid fashion, finishing his day with three straight birdies and a 4under 66. In just his fifth PGA Tour event, playing on a sponsor’s exemption in a fullfield event on the last weekend of the PGA Tour regular season, Smalley finished at 10-under par and tied for 29th.
THE LINK
PAGE 12
