FedExCup update: Billy Horschel vaults into Wyndham contention – and Playoffs position

GREENSBORO, N.C. – For Billy Horschel, next week is a win-win situation.

Either Horschel makes the FedExCup Playoffs and tees it up in Memphis at the FedEx St. Jude Championship or he heads to the Bahamas with his wife and three kids to relax in the sun and the surf at the Abaco Club.

The way he’s playing at the Wyndham Championship, it looks like the vacation just may have to wait. A 62 on Friday, his career low at Sedgefield Country Club, has left Horschel in sole possession of second place, one stroke off the lead held by Russell Henley.

Horschel needed a round like that to make the kind of move in the projected FedExCup standings that could land him in the Playoffs. He started the week ranked 116th and in need of a two-way tie for second or better. Now, he’s 65th – a jump of 51 spots – with two rounds to go.

Friday’s highlights included a 56-degree wedge Horschel holed at the eighth hole for an eagle along with a closing stretch of three straight birdies. The round of 8 under was his sixth straight sub-par round in tournament play, as well as the ninth in his last 12.

Not bad for a guy who was emotionally spent earlier this year when he opened with an 84 in his title defense at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday.

“We’ve talked about this enough and it's been well documented, this year's been a real struggle for me,” Horschel said. “But since that 84 at Memorial, since that media session afterwards, the game's actually been heading in the right direction.

“The results haven't shown that until the last week (a tie for 13th at the 3M Open) and so far this week, but there's been a lot of positive stuff coming, a lot more confidence in my ability to strike the golf ball, which has been the biggest issue all year.

“I'm excited where my game's going. We've still got a long ways to go to get back to where I would like to be in this game of golf, but at least we've got momentum behind us pushing us forward now.”

Horschel attributed some of the turnaround to a change made in the alignment of his irons. On Tuesday during U.S. Open week after working with GEARS 3D system in Los Angeles, he discovered all the lie angles were 2 to 3 degrees too upright and needed to be flattened.

Horschel said the discrepancy wasn’t anyone’s fault and estimated the numbers might have been off for several years. But after the lies were adjusted, he found an old spreadsheet from his days with Ping and realized the numbers didn’t match those that Titleist had.

“So, it was causing me not to hit the cut that I would want to hit,” Horschel said. “So, from there it gave me a lot of confidence that everything Todd (Anderson, his teacher) and I have been doing in our swing was the right thing.

“And then recently we just tried to – very simple, we just realized that the more width and shorter I can keep it, the better the club stays out in front of me. Getting back to a little bit of what we always did back in '13, '14 and '15.”

Hmm. Horschel won the FedExCup in 2014.

NOTABLES

Following his Thursday 62, first-round leader Russell Henley stayed atop the leaderboard Friday thanks to five birdies and just one lone bogey, on the par-4 18th, to sign for a 66 (at 12 under, he leads by one over Billy Horschel). He entered the week at No. 34 and is projected to move to No. 11. … Canada’s Adam Svensson (No. 37, projected to 29) followed up his opening-round 63 with a 67 to move into a tie for third at 10 under. He had it to 4 under on the day before bogeys at Nos. 15 and 16 interrupted the momentum, but he made birdie at the 17th finish on a high note. … Shane Lowry (No.,76, projected at No. 78) battled through an up-and-down day to stay inside the cutline at 3 under for the tournament. The Irishman made three birdies on the front and but faltered on the back with two bogeys and a double before a wild birdie at No. 18 left him with a 69. He needs a minimum of a two-way tie for 23rd to make the Playoffs. … Adam Scott (No. 81, projected at No. 82) did nothing to help his case to make the Playoffs on Friday, following up his first-round 65 with a 1-over 71. Scott has never missed the Playoffs since its inception in 2007.

FEDEX ST. JUDE CHAMPIONSHIP BUBBLE WATCH

Here are the players projected to move inside the top 70 of the FedExCup after their second round at the Wyndham Championship. The top 70 will advance to the FedEx St. Jude Championship, set for Aug. 10-13 at TPC Southwind outside Memphis, Tennessee:

PROJECTED IN

Billy Horschel (No. 116, projected to No. 65): The 36-year-old Horschel carded his career-low round at Sedgefield on Friday, posting an 8-under 62 that included one bogey, seven birdies and an eagle at the par-4 eighth hole. It’s currently enough to get him inside the top 70 for Playoffs next week in Memphis, but Horschel knows Sunday is still a long way off: “Listen, I know I have to win or finish solo second. I realized that I think Sunday night when I got here. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't.” For the record, he needs at minimum a two-way tie for second to secure his Playoffs spot.

PROJECTED OUT

Austin Eckroat (No. 70, projected to No. 72): The 24-year-old Eckroat came into the week as the “bubble boy” at No. 70 and failed to improve his standing after shooting 71-71 and missing the cut by four strokes. It’s now a wait-and-see game “It's very unlikely that I would see myself making top 70,” he said after the round. “… I only needed to shoot a few under to make the cut and just play solid golf, (but I ) just made a couple early mistakes. Then you kind of have to put the pedal down, then you start making more mistakes.”

BUBBLE BOY

Ben Griffin (No. 68, projected to No. 70): The UNC-Chapel Hill alum made four bogeys over his first eight holes on Friday and could only get one stroke back on his second nine en route to a 3-over 73 and a missed cut. That leaves the 27-year-old Griffin in a precarious position as the Playoffs loom. “It's going to be probably a waiting game to see if I'm teeing it up next week,” he said afterward. “Probably need some luck.”

BIG MOVERS

Lucas Glover (No. 112, projected to No. 84): Taking advantage of the softer conditions that the Thursday showers left behind, Glover jumped into a tie for third place with a second-round 64 and sits at 10 under for the tournament. He carded seven birdies and one bogey with 32s on both nines. He's not too focused on the solo-second finish he'll likely need to advance to Memphis, saying, "'I'm just trying to, same as every week, try to win. Give it all you've got and see where the chips fall."

Byeong Hun An (No. 52, projected to No. 40): Byeong Hun An made a hole-in-one during Wednesday's practice round, and he hasn't seemed to miss since. An made a 66-foot putt for eagle on the par-4 17th during his front nine, and then holed out from the fairway on the ninth – his last hole of the day – from 94 yards. He signed for a 67 for his 10th-straight round in the 60s and stands tied for third.

PGATOUR.com staffers Lisa Antonucci and Stephanie Royer contributed to this report.