Weekly Recap: Clutch Kisner

There's always a game within the game at the regular-season-ending Wyndham Championship. And very often, the race to see who finishes inside the top 125 in the FedExCup Standings is more drama-filled than the actual tournament. But not this year, not when nine golfers had at least a share of the lead on Sunday and six of them wound up in a record-tying playoff.

Kevin Kiser was one of those nine, one of those six and, ultimately, the one-and-only winner, birdieing the second playoff hole at Sedgefield Country Club to suddenly turn a bad season into a good one.

Kisner had had only three top-10s and had missed nine cuts among his 23 prior starts to fall from the top 50 in the world for the first time since 2015. But suddenly all is right in his world. He's back inside the top 50 at No. 34 and also up to 29th in the FedExCup Standings entering this week's playoff opener, The Northern Trust.

Of course, Kisner has plenty of people to thank, as all tournament winners do. At the top of his list are, 1-A, Russell Henley, who was attempting to go wire-to-wire but imploded on the back-nine with a three-stroke lead and didn't even make the playoff. And, 1-B, Adam Scott, who missed a four-footer on the first playoff hole that would've ended it.

Branden Grace, Si Woo Kim, Kevin Na and Roger Sloan rounded out the playoff, the third in PGA Tour annals to have six players. There's never been seven. The last six-way had been in 2001 at Riviera, won by Robert Allenby.

Kisner coincidentally had become a hot-button topic on Twitter earlier in the week, centered around whether he deserved a Ryder Cup berth. Those in favor like to point to his success in the WGC-Match Play event, though he didn't make it out of group play earlier this year.

One week a year does not a Ryder Cupper make and, even with this win, Kisner is a long shot to be one of Steve Stricker's captain's picks who'll be named after the Tour Championship. Besides, Whistling Straits isn't the best course for someone who admittedly is at a big disadvantage at today's longer tracks.

Kisner historically has had long pockets of mediocrity, such this entire season until now. This victory was just the fourth of his career -- 2015, 1017, 2019, 2021. He seems to win just when he needs it most -- for instance, to hang onto that top-50 spot in the world, which brings with it so many big-tournament perks.

And so Kisner has done that again. He had been no sure thing to reach the second playoff event, the BMW, as he entered the week 69th in the standings. The top 70 get in. Now, he sits 29th, which would get him into the Tour Championship if it started today.

But he has lots of work to do over the next two weeks to get to East Lake. Without that, his small chance to be on a Ryder Cup team for the first time in his career has no shot.

THE FEDEXCUP PLAYOFFS

Three golfers moved into the top 125 at the last possible moment, pretty much in line with the yearly average of 2.64 through the first 14 years of the playoffs. Roger Sloan, Scott Piercy and Chesson Hadley earned their way in, forcing Ryan Armour, Patrick Rodgers and Bo Hoag out.

Roger Sloan
The Canadian had been making a hard charge toward the top 125 late in the season but still had a lot of work to do entering the week. After making five straight cuts with three top-25s, he arrived at the Wyndham in 131st place in the standings. He needed a top-20 to reach the playoffs, and he busted through that and more by being one of the five runners-up.  Sloan, no youngster at 34, is a good greens-in-regulation guy, which plays well anywhere.

Scott Piercy
The now-42-year-old Piercy had missed the playoffs only once in the past decade. He began the week just outside at 126th and needed to finish 34th or better. He did way better, playing well all week and tied for 15th to make it to the Northern Trust.

Chesson Hadley
If you saw Hadley on TV on Sunday after his hole-in-one or during his post-round interview on CBS with Amanda Balionis, you saw one passionate dude. He galloped around like a little kid after the ace, which he said was his first ever. Then he nearly broke down into tears talking to Balionis about how important this day was to him -- and that was before he knew he was in. He closed with a 62 to tie for 15th, moving from 132nd to become Mr. Just Made It at 125 -- edging Justin Rose by a single point. 

Ryan Armour
Armour had finished top-10 the past two years at the Wyndham and top-25 the past four, so you had to like his chances beginning the week at No. 122. But he missed the cut, then watched his season slip away on the weekend.

Patrick Rodgers
Rodgers went from 123rd to 128th with a missed cut. He'll be heading to the Korn Ferry playoffs to try to keep his PGA Tour card. It's the first time Rodgers has missed the playoffs in his six years on Tour.

Bo Hoag
Beginning the week at No. 125, Hoag had no room for error. He missed the cut, and that was that.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Adam Scott
All the talk about Scott being a bad putter – he's really not, ranked 20th on the season – came to fruition on the first playoff hole, where he had a four-footer for birdie for the win but missed. Maybe he's a bad clutch putter. Scott was already secure for the playoffs, having begun the week at No. 121. He moved to 82nd, giving him a good chance to crack the top 70 to qualify for the second playoff event. But that's not what Scott is thinking about now. This one stung.

Branden Grace
Grace sank a 28-footer on 18 to get into the playoff. He moved from 56th in the standings to 42nd, and now can entertain thoughts of getting into the top 30 and the all-important Tour Championship.

Si Woo Kim
Kim has had a great history at the Wyndham – a win, a near-win and now another near-win after a closing 64 got him into the playoff. He moved from 39th in points to 30th – meaning that if the Tour Championship started today, he'd be in it.

Kevin Na
Na moved from 29th in the standings to 24th after being part of the playoff. He's not secure to East Lake yet, but one more good week should do it.

Russell Henley
With a three-stroke lead on the back-nine, Henley wasn't assured of victory. But to imagine a six-man playoff without him would have been unthinkable. He missed a four-footer for par on 18 that would've made it a record-setting seven-man playoff. The golfer who led all week finished in seventh place. Instead of winning the tournament and ensuring a berth in the Tour Championship, Henley moved up only two spots in the standings from 46th to 44th. Brutal. He's also stuck at 53rd in the world rankings instead of zooming much higher and virtually assuring a critical top-50 position at year's end.

Justin Rose
Early on Sunday, Rose had a share of the lead and was looking pretty good for the playoffs. But a bogey on 14 cost him a chance at winning the tournament, and a closing three-putt bogey on 18 was the dagger that cost him the playoffs. He finished 136th, just a point behind Chesson Hadley. Rose is still exempt for next year, thanks to winning the 2013 U.S. Open (10-year exemption). But the former FedEx Cup champion won't be in the playoffs.

Rickie Fowler
At the beginning of the week, all eyes were on Fowler and whether he could move up from his No. 130 starting position. He couldn't. His season went out with a whimper after missing the cut. He's still exempt for two more years based on prior wins but the big question is whether Fowler can return to relevance.

Matt Kuchar
Kuchar had one foot on the ledge to begin the week, starting in the 124th position. He made the cut, closed with a 66 on Sunday to tie for 29th and moved to 120th place. Still, it's been the 43-year-old Kuchar's worst season in almost two decades and it likely will end after next week. He was already exempt for next season.

Tommy Fleetwood
Fleetwood had a big hurdle to climb, beginning in 138th place. He needed to finish 11th or better to crack the top 125. After good rounds on Thursday and Friday, he limped home on the weekend to tie for 65th. His season is over and he's not exempt for next season. It's unlikely Fleetwood will go to the Korn Ferry playoffs to keep his card; instead, he'll likely rely on his current OWGR status – he's still in the top 50 and should still be at year's end – to get into fields. But his game has fallen mightily over the past two years.

Will Zalatoris
Zalatoris was in an unwinnable position – except if he won. Still considered a non-member of the PGA Tour, he needed to win the Wyndham to get into the playoffs. He tied for 29th, so his season is stunningly over – that despite accruing enough points to place 25th in the standings. He's done way more than enough to get his full card for next season, so he doesn't have to go the Korn Ferry route. It's just a really bad loophole/flaw in the system for a guy who's done enough to qualify in the Tour Championship to not get into the playoffs altogether.