Herman celebrates ‘out of the blue’ Wyndham win

Golf

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Jim Herman rallied to win the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his third PGA Tour title and a spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs, shooting a 7-under 63 for a 1-stroke victory over Billy Horschel.

Known for his friendship with President Donald Trump, Herman overcame a 4-stroke deficit in the final round at Sedgefield Country Club. He overtook Horschel with a birdie on the 71st hole.

The 42-year-old Herman finished at 21-under 259.

Horschel closed with a 65. He had a final chance to tie on the 72nd hole, but his 8-foot birdie putt slid left of the cup.

Herman got into the playoffs, jumping from 192nd to 54th in the race for the 125 spots. He hoisted a trophy for the second straight season and third time since 2017.

Si Woo Kim, the third-round leader, had a 70 to tie for third at 18 under with Kevin Kisner (64), Webb Simpson (65) and Doc Redman (68).

Herman had two birdies and an eagle — from 59 feet — on his first five holes to catch up to Kim. Then, trailing Horschel by a stroke, Herman stuck his approach to No. 17 to just over 3 feet for a birdie to reach 21 under. He gained the lead when Horschel missed a 12-footer for par on 16.

It was quite a week for Herman, who had three birdies over his final four holes Friday simply to make the cut. He followed that up with a career-low 61 on Saturday to get into striking distance before taking the victory.

Horschel looked as if he would be the one to rally as he moved from 3 behind Kim to the lead with a birdie-eagle-birdie run on the front nine while Kim struggled with a double bogey and a bogey over his first eight holes.

Kim was a birdie machine with 21 birdies and a hole-in-one the first three rounds. But he stumbled out of the gate and a pair of bad drives cost him his first win since the Players Championship in 2017.

He drove right on No. 6 into a hazard of thick grass and, despite six people searching, could not find his ball. Kim made double bogey to fall from the top.

Two holes later, Kim wound up near a cart-path bridge for a bogey to fall 4 shots off the lead.

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