Lucas Glover delivered when he need to the most on Sunday. Claiming victory at the 2023 Wyndham Championship by two strokes over Russell Henley and Byeong Hun An at 20 under, Glover not only raised his first trophy of the season and the fifth of his career, but more importantly, he punched his ticket into the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Entering the week outside the top 110 in the season-long standings, Glover required a solo runner-up performance or a win to qualify for next week's St. Jude Championship, which begins the playoff run. After the win, Glover is now 49th in the standings and on the inside track to qualify for the BMW Championship where the top 50 make the field.
Despite arriving at Sedgefield Country Club amid plenty of form with three top-six finishes in his last four outings, Glover's inconsistency in the early portion of the year saw him miles behind the eight ball. He began the final round in Greensboro, North Carolina, tied with Billy Horschel, a man who required the same results to clinch his postseason berth.
It was a nervy beginning for the 43-year-old as a sloppy bogey on the opener saw the list of leaders grow as Henley joined the fun. Glover would settle into his own with a tap-in birdie on the par-4 4th and a nice conversion on the par-4 8th to turn with a one-stroke lead.
Henley countered with birdies on 10 and 11 to steal back the lead, foreshadowing a back-and-forth affair between the two down the stretch as Horschel faded in the distance. Glover converted a birdie of his own moments later on the 11th and proved to be his lone of the back side.
It also proved to be enough as the two emerged from an extended rain delay all squared with four to play. Initially, it appeared the tournament would be Henley's to lose as his first strike post-weather delay set him up for an eagle chance from just outside 15 feet.
The Georgia native would settle for birdie and get to 21 under before loose swings, brutal breaks and bogeys piled up. Finding a crater of a divot on the par-3 16th, Henley did well to make bogey to drop back into a tie with Glover.
This misfortune would mark the beginning of a finish to forget for the man who has come agonizingly close to claiming this championship in the past. A bogey on 17 and yet another on 18 cleared the path for Glover to cruise into the winner's circle.
Four pars out of the rain delay were all Glover needed to secure a two-stroke victory as his steady, sensible play was rewarded in the biggest of ways. The former Clemson Tiger has turned into a different player in recent months as the introduction of a broomstick putter has reignited his game. It couldn't have come at a better time as the ball-striking maestro and his not-so secret weapon are firmly in the mix to see at least the second weekend of the playoffs. Grade: A
Here are grades for more on the final leaderboard at the 2023 Wyndham Championship
4. Billy Horschel (-16): It had all the makings of a FedEx Cup run like 2014 as Horschel needed a victory or solo second to qualify for the postseason. Entering the final round with a share of the lead after rounds of 62 and 63, Horschel fell off the pace early and was never able to recover as Glover and Henley poured in birdies on top of birdies. A win would have turned an otherwise poor season into an acceptable one as Horschel's 2022-23 campaign marked career-worst marks in strokes gained total, strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained approach and top-five finishes. Grade: A-
T7. Adam Scott (-12): A late Sunday charge was too little too late for the veteran. One of two men to have qualified for every FedEx Cup Playoffs, Scott's run will come to an end. He will look to his middle two rounds as the cause of his shortcoming as he sandwiched rounds of 71 and 69 with an opening 65 and closing 63.
"I didn't play well on Friday and Saturday tee to green, didn't feel amazing, so I didn't really have any expectations," said Scott. "That might have been a good thing for a good score. I wish I knew what I was doing, but I don't." Grade: B+
T12. Justin Thomas (-11): After opening with a 70, Thomas strung together three straight rounds in the 60s to give himself a chance to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs before ultimately coming up short. Plenty will be made of the near-chip-in birdie on the 72nd hole that would have pushed him inside the bubble, but there were other swings and moments the final round that Thomas would love to have back. He hit only five fairways Sunday, failed to take advantage of the easiest hole on the course and made an ill-timed bogey when the wind swirled around him on the par-3 16th. He showed grit and heart, but he also showed the flaws in his game that have persisted throughout the season and are ultimately the reason he was in this position in the first place.
"I think the biggest thing for me is I was in a great place mentally this week, which I haven't necessarily been in the last, you know, the last couple months," said Thomas. "I mean, last three, four, five months. I handled the moment really well. I felt like I obviously would have liked a couple shots, putts, whatever it was here or there, drives over again, but I made the best out of every situation that I had. And just, I mean, fought as hard as I possibly could. That's kind of what I've done my whole life, my whole career and I didn't want to stop here." Grade: B
MC. Denny McCarthy (--): McCarthy entered the week among the favorites but quickly fell off the pace. Despite playing some better golf Friday, it was an early exit for the 30-year-old and may have marked the end of his midsummer heater. Collecting four straight top 20s from his playoff loss at the Memorial Tournament to his close calls at the John Deere Classic, McCarthy has since missed two straight cuts. He enters the FedEx Cup Playoffs inside the top 30 but will need quality outings the next two weeks to qualify for his first Tour Championship. Grade: F