The Wyndham Championship is a consequential week on the PGA Tour schedule. As the season’s final “regular” tournament, the Wyndham is figurative line in the sand; the last opportunity for players who are on the bubble or outside of the coveted top 70 on the FedEx Cup points ranking to play their way in to next week’s playoff opener, the FedEx St. Jude.
A win this week could be life-changing. For 36-hole leader Beau Hossler, a win would lift him from No. 122 to No. 54, providing much-needed job security and status for next season as well as a spot in Memphis. Hossler is one of many players in the field who need a win to keep their season going through August.
Heading into the week, Aaron Wise was also one of those players. The 30-year-old’s lone PGA Tour victory was the 2018 AT&T Byron Nelson. This year, Wise has struggled, making the cut in only three of 11 PGA Tour tournaments, and two of five Korn Ferry Tour tournaments. His best finish of the year was T3 at July’s ISCO Championship, but his current standing of 149 on the FedEx Cup points list is well short of cutoff for the playoffs.
Wise, too, needed a win this week.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. An opening round of 72 left him poorly positioned for a second-round charge at the cutline. But the real nail came during Friday’s second-round weather delay.
Play was suspended at 5:26 p.m. local time, and resumed at 6 p.m. ET. Wise, however, was not in position for the restart, and was disqualified under Rule 5.7(c)2, the details of which are outlined below:
“c. What Players Must Do When Play Resumes
(2) When to Resume Play. The player must be present at the location identified in (1) and ready to play:
- At the time set by the Committee for play to resume, and
- The player must resume play at (and not before) that time.
If the ability to resume play is delayed for any reason (such as when players in the group ahead need to play first and move out of the way), there is no breach of this Rule if the player is present and ready to play when the player’s group is able to resume play.
The penalty for a breach of Rule 5.7c(2) is disqualification.”
Why or how Wise was out of position remains unclear. When GOLF.com inquired about the details of the incident, the PGA Tour responded that all the information officials had to share was available in the post-round notes, which read: “Aaron Wise DQ (was not in position at time of resumption; rules committee was not notified; Rule 5.7(c)2).”
Luckily for Wise, there are still opportunities for players who miss the FedEx Cup playoffs to improve their FedEx Cup points standing when the FedEx Cup fall series begins in September.
