Just hours after winning the Rocket Classic in Detroit for his first PGA Tour victory, Michael Thorbjornsen withdrew from the Wyndham Championship on Sunday night.
The 24-year-old Stanford alum shot a career-low 63 in the final round to erase a four-stroke deficit at the start of the day and get into the winner’s circle in his 65th career Tour start. The 500 FedEx Cup points lifted him from No. 69 in the season-long standings and just inside the cut-off line for the playoffs to No. 31 and safely into the BMW Championship.
Thorbjornsen had played four of the last five Tour events. It's the age-old dilemma: rest or ride the momentum? Thorbjornsen opted to celebrate his achievement and gear up for making a playoff run.
The top 70 players in the FedEx
Cup standings will qualify for the first event of the playoffs, the FedEx St. Jude Championship (Aug. 13-16). The top 50 advance to the next week and the BMW Championship at Bellerive in St. Louis; the top 30 make it to East Lake in Atlanta for the Tour Championship.
Thorbjornsen’s withdrawal is good news for at least one player: Justin Lower, the first alternate, is officially in the field and needs a win to have any shot at the playoffs. He’s No. 174 in the FedEx Cup.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Michael Thorbjornsen withdraws from Wyndham after first PGA Tour win
