As the final event before the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the Wyndham Championship has a lot more at stake than battling for the title.
Only the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings make it to the first of the lucrative Playoffs, the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
As a result, for many competing at Sedgefield Country Club, the priority was a position high enough on the leaderboard to ensure that dream became a reality.
One of the biggest names in the field was five-time Major winner Brooks Koepka. He headed to North Carolina 86th in the standings and still very much in the running for a Playoffs berth.
However, after a final round of 70 left him three under for the tournament, it was apparent that it wouldn’t be enough. Afterwards, the former LIV Golfer didn’t hold back on the state of his game.
Koepka identified the main issue as his putting, something that has dogged him all season, with the American beginning the week 116th in SG: Putting.
He said: “Ball-struck it great. It's just all on the greens. I don't know what the deal is, got zero confidence, can't putt. I don't know. There's going to be a lot of changes here soon.”
It wasn’t just Koepka’s results with the flat stick that left him deflated. He was also damning about his inability to reach the Playoffs in general, saying: “Yeah, pretty disappointed. I think it's pretty pathetic that I can't get through.
“Zero top 10s basically in two years. To be in the prime of your career and be as good as I think I am, I think that's very pathetic, disappointing. Just need to go home and completely reevaluate everything.”
So, without a FedEx Cup Playoffs place, what are Koepka’s plans for the rest of the year? He explained: “I'm going to go play a couple events in Europe and then maybe a couple later ones in the fall.”
Despite Koepka's failure to reach the Playoffs, he insisted that his return to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf at the start of the season was a good move, saying: “Yeah, it's been great. Honestly, I've loved it. I feel fantastic. The reception's been great. Overall happiness is 10 out of 10 and just excited.”
Koepka wasn’t the only high-profile player in the Wyndham Championship field to see his Playoffs ambitions fall short.
Keegan Bradley hadn’t missed the FedEx Cup Playoffs since gaining his PGA Tour card in 2011, but he won’t be appearing in 2026 despite finishing on six under at Sedgefield Country Club, three shots better than Koepka.
Bradley, who began the week just two places beneath the cut-off for qualification, blamed a slow start to the year, which came off the back of captaining the US to defeat at the Ryder Cup, for falling short.
He said: “Yeah, it was a tough year. It was a tough -yeah, it's been a tough, like, year and a half. I'm looking forward to getting home and resetting and coming out next year a little fresher maybe. I got off to such a terrible start this year. Next year hopefully will be better.”
On the end of his run of Playoffs appearances, Bradley added: “Yeah, pretty good streak. Normally I'd be going on to the Playoffs in years past right now. So, you know, yeah, it's only 70 make the Playoffs for some reason.
“Like I said, any other year I'd be in the first couple, so it's tough. I wish I just played a little better at the beginning of the year, we wouldn't be in this position.”
