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Gallery Notes from the Wyndham Championship

On Saturday I drove to the North Carolina Piedmont to watch the third round of the Wyndham Championship, formerly the Chrsyler Classic, and otherwise known through its 69 years as the Greensboro Open.

Greensboro is the seventh-oldest stop on tour; Sam Snead was its first champion and went on to win the title eight times, a tour record.

As the slogan goes, “These guys are good.” But who were these guys?

Jeff Overton, a 24-year-old former Big Ten champion from Indiana, was leading the tournament. Not exactly a household name. I talked to Craig Lile’s mom, not that I knew a thing about Lile except he made a nice par save on the 18th hole. And who was Spike McRoy? Spike looked like David Feherty with long hair. And he wasn’t wearing golf shoes.

Few of the top 50 in the FedEx Cup Rankings were in the tournament. (Who could blame them after surviving the previous week’s PGA blast furnace?) Exceptions included Brandt Snedeker, who claimed his first tour victory, Lucas Glover, who recently made the Presidents Cup team as one of two captain’s picks, and Carl Pettersson, a local favorite who attended nearby North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

The abundance of lower-ranked players did not detract from my day at the tournament, though. No names or not, these guys were fighting for their golf lives, whether for a spot in the upcoming FedEx Cup playoffs or simply trying to earn a nice paycheck to boost their earnings – and chances of sticking around on tour.

The temperature was tolerable for an August day in Greensboro. A breeze took the edge off the 90-degree heat, and the shady, rolling terrain of Forest Oaks Country Club drew me into the action. Following no one in particular, I walked a few holes on the outward nine and all the holes on the inward nine.

Snedeker a Lock for Rookie of the Year

When Brandt Snedeker approached the 12th hole, a 189-yard par-three, on Saturday afternoon, he was about three or four shots off the lead. There was no one around except a pair of volunteers and yours truly. Snedeker looked me in the eye, smiled and said, “Hey.” I said, “How you doing?”

Trailing Snedeker were playing partners Jeff Maggert and Chad Campbell. Campbell sat down in a white plastic lawn chair while the group waited for the green to clear. Maggert said something that made the other two chuckle, then they got down to business.

Snedeker hit the best shot of the group. He didn’t take long to pull the trigger, and his lofted tee shot landed about 12 feet from the front-left pin. I watched from the tee as he sank the putt for a birdie.

Snedeker, as we’ve learned, has game – and plenty of personality to go with it. He posted a 66 on Saturday and then charged home with a 63 on Sunday to grab his first PGA Tour win. As the TV guys said, Snedeker is all smiles. True, even when no cameras were around and he wasn’t leading the tournament, as I experienced first hand.

With the win Snedeker climbed from 26th to 9th in the FedEx Cup Standings. He should be a shoo-in for PGA Tour rookie of the year.

Random Observations

Tommy Armour III is old school. With his shiny black and white golf shoes, white shirt, black flairs and knit headcovers, Armour III looks like he stepped out of the Johnny Miller era. He smokes constantly and hits it a mile. He shot a 64 on Friday.

Kevin Stadler looks and acts just like his dad, Craig, right down to the disgusted club toss.

I had forgotten that former PGA champion Bob Tway is tall, really tall. He must be 6’4”. Tway held on to his FedEx Cup spot, but not by much.

It’s easy to see why Jason Gore is a fan favorite. He acknowledges volunteers and gallery members all along the course. Fans affectionately call him “Big-un.”

Australian Nathan Green climbed into a tie for the lead on the 13th hole. Then Green dropped four shots over the next three holes. Green got a case of the “rights” on three straight tee shots. On the 15th, a par-five, he hit his second shot out of bounds after hitting his tee shot in the trees.

A gallery member said to me, “I don’t why he hit so much club on that shot.” I said, “Yeah, it was a three-shot hole after he got in trouble off the tee. I wonder why he didn’t take less club and just punch it down the fairway instead of trying to hit a big slice.”

It all seems so obvious when watching, doesn’t it?

This entry was posted on Monday, August 20th, 2007 at 5:42 am and is filed under Wyndham Championship, Brandt Snedeker, PGA, FedEx Cup, PGA Tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.