Lucas Glover Wins as Players Look to Make Moves Heading into Playoffs

The odds weren’t in Lucas Glover’s favor.

Coming into the PGA Tour’s regular-season finale at Wyndham Championship, the 43-year-old ranked 112th in the FedEx Cup playoff standings and needed at least a solo runner-up finish to extend his season. Glover, however, would go the extra mile — winning at Sedgefield Country Club and jumping to 49th in the FedExCup, with the top 70 making next week’s playoff opener in Memphis.

It’s the 2009 U.S. Open champion’s fifth Tour victory and first since the 2021 John Deere Classic. This win, though, is a little extra special than the rest, because it was the first time his kids saw him win in person.

“It's pretty awesome,” said Glover, who finished at 20 under. “We've had a fun week and they've (his kids) had fun. Very satisfying for them to get to experience it with me.”

A moment like this had been brewing since a change last month. Glover had been battling the putting yips, which he said began with a 4-putt on the fifth green at Colonial Country Club — 10 years ago. But at last month’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, Glover added a broomstick putter to his bag, a L.A.B. Mezz.1 Max with a mallet head. He registered his first top-10 of the season, the first of three straight.

“I was going to try left-handed,” Glover said of his putting struggles. “That's how far down the road I was.”

But now, he’s a champion again, not only vaulting into the playoffs, but also moving up 29 spots in the U.S. Ryder Cup rankings to 35th, a ladder he can continue to climb in the postseason.

Crediti foto: Getty Images

Russell Henley was tied for the lead late, but let a Wyndham title slip away for the second time in three years, finishing with three consecutive bogeys to place T-2, two strokes back of Glover. The Georgia native still rose from 25th to 20th in the Ryder Cup standings.

Meanwhile, rookie Eric Cole went from 28th to 26th with a T-14, J.T. Poston jumped from 31st to 29th following his fourth top-10 in five weeks, Brendon Todd climbed from 33rd to 30th with a T-7 and Sam Burns recorded a T-14 to move up one spot to 12th.

Ryder Cup stalwart Justin Thomas nearly holed out on the last, which would have earned him a tee time next week. Instead, he finishes 71st in the FedExCup and will miss the postseason for the first time in his career. Thomas is currently 14th in Ryder Cup points, but will be unable to increase that standing with his season being over and must now rely on U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Zach Johnson to use one of his six captain’s picks on the two-time major champion.

“I want to make the Ryder Cup team so bad,” Thomas, who finished T-12, said after Round 3. “It's so important to me … because of that, I think that's why I played so poorly the last month and a half or two months.”

Maybe Glover continues to ride his new putter through a magical playoff run and onto the U.S. Ryder Cup team in September. That might mean another week away from his family, but by virtue of his victory on Sunday, he’ll be able to spend more time at home.

And that’s the best part of his return to the winner’s circle.

“I don’t get to see these guys as much as I’ve wanted to because I haven’t been playing that great,” Glover told CBS with tears in his eyes moments after his win. “Maybe I can see more practices and more games and be home a little more. I’m too old to be on the road this much. I’ve been busting my hump, so I can be with them, and be with my wife."

U.S. Team Captain Zach Johnson first announced the 2023 qualifying structure last year. Points in 2023 are awarded as follows:

- 1 point per $1,000 earned at regular PGA Tour events beginning January 1, including the Zurich Classic and WGC events, through the BMW Championship (August 20)

- 2 points per $1,000 earned for winner of the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open

- 1.5 points per $1,000 earned for all others that make the cut at the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open

- No points available at PGA Tour opposite-field events

Points qualification will conclude immediately after the second FedEx Cup Play-Off event (BMW Championship) on August 20, 2023, with the top six eligible players on the points list securing spots on the U.S. Team.

The six remaining slots on the U.S. Team will be Captain’s Selections and will be announced by Johnson following the 2023 Tour Championship.

For a full list of the Top 100 in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings, click here.