Kevin Kisner breaks playoff drought with impressive win at Wyndham Championship

GREENSBORO, N.C. – And you thought it was hard to keep up with all the FedExCup projections this week. What about a six-man free-for-all to decide the winner of the Wyndham Championship?

Well, that’s just what happened at Sedgefield Country Club on Sunday. Turns out, Kevin Kisner, Adam Scott, Si Woo Kim, Roger Sloan, Kevin Na and Branden Grace needed two more shots at the 18th hole to decide the winner of the PGA TOUR’s Regular Season finale.

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Kisner, who had finished in the top 10 in three of his last four appearances at the Wyndham Championship, finally prevailed when he made a 3-footer on the second extra hole. The victory sends him into the FedExCup Playoffs for the eighth straight year -- and at No. 29, with a legitimate shot at making it to the finale at East Lake where the winner earns $15 million.

“That's a huge goal of mine every year to start the year and that means you had a heck of a year and it sets up the following year every time you make it,” Kisner said. “You can't win it if you're not there, so let's go keep moving up.”

The victory was the fourth of Kisner’s career. It also broke a playoff drought for the affable South Carolinian. He’d lost five previously --- most recently at the RSM Classic earlier this year -- although his caddie Duane Bock was quick to remind him that he did beat Ian Poulter in a playoff en route to his last win at the 2019 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play.

Seeing the six players all tee off the 18th hole on Sunday afternoon was somewhat jarring. This was the third six-way playoff in PGA TOUR history, joining the 2001 Genesis Invitational and 1994 Byron Nelson Championship. And it would have set the record had Russell Henley, who led after each of the first three rounds, been able to negotiate a 3-footer for par on the 72nd hole.

Scott actually appeared to take control when he hit his approach to 4 feet on the first extra hole. Kisner, who closed with a 66, missed the green and nearly jarred his third shot, but he and the others gained new life when Scott shoved his birdie putt just right.

Kisner turned the tables with his 3-footer, and this time it was dead center. He said he felt calm all day, including over that final putt, even though he admitted he didn’t think he had a shot at winning until midway through the back nine.

“I was actually a little more amped up early on than coming down the stretch,” Kisner said. “That's what's crazy about humans and pressure, you never know when you're going to be feeling it or how you're going to react.

“When I got off to a pretty good start, I was feeling great. Feeling some heat, which is what we love. … Then getting into the playoff and all that was going on, you didn't really have time to think about the pressure, you're watching golf, trying to figure out what was going on, all these guys had putts to make birdie there on 18.

“I knew that I had a pretty good shot at making my putt. It was one of those putts you dream about having, three and a half, four feet, right edge, just get it going, so I wasn't too consumed with the pressure on my putt.”

When Kisner finally had a chance to reflect after the frenetic finish, he thought about the momentum he’s gained with three top-10 finishes in his last five starts. He’s locked up a place among the top 70 for the BMW Championship and is poised to make a run at the TOUR Championship now.

“Every time you win out here, it's hard, and you never know when it's going to happen again so you've got to cherish every time,” Kisner said. “This year's been somewhat of a struggle for me, I kind of started the year with a playoff loss and struggled through the spring and started to find some form here late in the summer and rounding into form going into the Playoffs.

“So to cap off the season with a win and head to the FedExCup Playoffs, moving up the list and having a chance to win the FedExCup championship is just an awesome week.”