GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Turns out Jackson Koivun isn’t the only player trying to go from college to the PGA Tour postseason. Virginia grad Ben James made eagle on both the par 5s on Thursday and only a soft finish with a pair of bogeys kept from sharing the lead with Beau Hossler in the Wyndham Championship.The final tournament of the regular season determines the top 70 in the FedEx Cup who advance to the postseason. James, the No. 1 player in the PGA Tour University ranking that came with a tour card, has to win to reach the top 70. He was tied for the lead until a bogey-birdie-bogey finish for a 62, both bogeys coming after he missed 6-foot par putts.Koivun earned his card from the accelerated PGA Tour University program for underclassmen — he clinched his card as a sophomore and deferred it one year — and is in much better shape at No. 70. Koivun missed some birdie chances coming in and shot 67.
Hossler is at No. 122 in the FedEx Cup and also has to win to reached the first playoff event next week. He ran off four straight birdies early in his front nine at Sedgefield Country Club, and played the the final holes in 4 under with a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th.“Try and win a golf tournament,” Hossler said. “That’s all there is to it.”
