Pressure of making Playoffs new feeling for Els, Padraig
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Ernie Els said Sunday almost felt like going back to q-school. William McGirt, who tied for second at the PGA TOUR's annual fall examination last year, said it was worse.
Both were probably right. The battle to make the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup added considerable do-or-die drama to a sultry afternoon at Sedgefield Country Club during the final round of the Wyndham Championship.
Only the top 125 in the FedExCup standings by day's end would be eligible to play in the kickoff event at The Barclays. And for guys like Els and McGirt, who entered the week outside that magic number, the sense of urgency was palpable on his hot, steamy day.
"You don't want to mess up too badly," Els said simply. "It's a terrible way to feel on the golf course because you know you want to try and contend but you also don't want to screw up."
Els, who started the week at No. 126 a year after entering the Playoffs ranked first, at least had some breathing room after playing his way to the front page of the leaderboard through the first three rounds. He needed it, too, as Els shot 2 over on Sunday but still moved up eight spots to No. 118.
For Padraig Harrington and McGirt, though, the afternoon was an extremely long one. They finished their rounds well before the leaders ever teed off and had moved to Nos. 124 and 125, respectively, but their fate rested in about 12 other hands.
As the Wyndham Championship wound to its conclusion, Harrington, who delayed a family vacation to the Bahamas when he became the last player to commit, moved one spot in either direction but never fell out of the magic number. Still, he was clearly nervous.
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"I never like to do things easy," the affable Irishman said after he signed for a 68.
McGirt, on the other hand, had hours of anxious moments as he waged what turned out to be winning battle with Justin Leonard for the final Playoffs spot. He passed the time walking five holes with his buddy Tommy Gainey, who was playing with Webb Simpson in the final group, and nearly drained the battery on his cell phone as he kept checking the scores.
Only after Leonard missed a 13-footer for par at the final hole did McGirt feel secure enough to come back to the scoring area to honor yet another interview request. But he didn't feel comfortable taking questions until Gainey and Simpson had teed off on the 18th and that No. 125 was still showing beside his name.
"I just texted somebody and said q-school was a lot easier than waiting around this afternoon -- much easier because I was on the course," McGirt, a PGA TOUR rookie, said. "Just sitting around and waiting, knowing there's nothing you can do you just drive yourself crazy and that's what I did all afternoon."
Leonard, for his part, was philosophical as he missed the Playoffs for the first time in his career. "To try and wait until this week to make it through is just ... I mean, come on. I had 25 other weeks," Leonard said.
Simpson was feeling a different kind of pressure as he tried to win for the first time in his career after two runner-up finishes earlier this season. He's from Raleigh, went to college at nearby Wake Forest and now makes his home in Charlotte. To say the gallery, amply populated with friends and family, was behind him would be an understatement.
"You hear all year, if you're in the top five, you control your own destiny."
-- Wyndham Championship winner Webb Simpson
Simpson, though, was steady as he closed with a 67 and beat George McNeill by three shots. He jumped from 12th to third in the FedExCup, and if he can maintain his position in the top five, a win at THE TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola in the Playoffs finale would guarantee the $10 million bonus.
"Being in the top five in the FedExCup Playoffs is awesome," Simpson said. "You hear all year if you're in the top five you control your own destiny. ... It's so fun and there's so much of a buzz in the FedExCup Playoffs to see who is going to move up, who is going to be there in Atlanta to have a chance to win. So I'm super-excited and obviously in a far better position to win the FedExCup than any other year I've had on TOUR."
The neat thing about the Playoffs, though, is that anyone who made the top 125 also has a shot. Just think about what happened in 2009 when Heath Slocum finished 124th during the regular season but won The Barclays and went on to finish eighth in the FedExCup overall.
"That was my first goal was to make sure I made the Playoffs and it looks like I'm going to sneak in by the skin of my teeth," said McGirt, who was going to start driving to New Jersey on Sunday night. "You can't win the FedExCup sitting at home next week. At least I've given myself a chance."
Harrington agreed. "If I have four good weeks, I could win the FedExCup and have a great year and that's what the Playoffs is about," Harrington said. "It gives everybody who gets into them an opportunity."
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