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A hole-in-one is a memorable achievement for any golfer. For Chesson Hadley on Sunday, carding an ace meant far more than bragging rights.

Hadley seized the last spot in the 125-man FedEx Cup playoff field thanks to his 8-under 62 in the final round of the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., aided by his first career hole-in-one at No. 16.



His 9-iron landed about 10 feet behind the hole, then trickled back left-to-right toward the cup. When Hadley realized his ball dropped, he unleashed an emphatic celebration, jumping and kicking his legs out behind him.

“Yeah, we’ll call that the flying baby giraffe,” Hadley said.

Cast your vote in this week's @MichelobULTRA Moment. 👇

Chesson Hadley's first ace on TOUR vs. Kevin Kisner's dart on the second playoff hole to secure the win.#ULTRAMoment

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 16, 2021

Chesson Hadley In By Slimmest Of Margins

Even as he reflected after his round, the North Carolina native wasn’t sure of his fate until the tournament ended with Kevin Kisner emerging from a six-hole playoff for the title.

Hadley’s T15 at Sedgefield Country Club was good enough to move him to 440 points — exactly one point ahead of England’s Justin Rose, who tied for 10th at the Wyndham.

“It was a great day. It’s been a really tough two years,” Hadley said. “I haven’t felt like a lot of good has happened … So just to have some good things happen today with the hole-in-one and at least giving myself an opportunity to work myself into New York next week is pretty incredible.”

Rose might have secured his spot in the field had he not missed a par putt of a little more than 5 feet on his final hole.

“For the most part, done what I needed to do this week and just a disappointing finish there,” Rose said. “I wasn’t really playing for Top 125 (in FedEx Cup points) for most of the day, I was playing to try to win the golf tournament and it’s hard to know exactly what you need to do out there, but you know each shot’s important.

“I had some good putts, some good looks coming in. Slightly surprised when I saw 15 under was tied for the lead there on 18, which is sort of even more gut wrenching really to finish 13 under and probably miss out on the FedEx Cup as well, so couldn’t be a worse result really on the day.”

For many golfers, finishing outside the top 125 also puts their PGA Tour cards at risk, and they have to play the Korn Ferry Tour Finals to hold onto their status. That won’t be the case for Rose, who is exempt after winning the FedEx Cup in 2018.

On To FedEx Cup Playoffs

The 125 players who qualified for the field will head to Jersey City, N.J., next week for the Northern Trust, the first leg of the playoffs. The top 70 in points after that tournament will move on. For those who missed out, the season is over and they lose that potential to earn more prize money.

Three players from outside the top 125 entering the Wyndham pushed their way in this week. Besides Hadley, Canada’s Roger Sloan jumped from No. 131 to No. 92 by finishing as part of the six-way tie at 15-under 265 and competing in the playoff. Scott Piercy (T15) moved from No. 126 to No. 116.

Ryan Armour, Patrick Rodgers and Bo Hoag fell from the low 120s to outside the top 125 by missing the cut at the Wyndham. Rose entered the week at No. 138 in the standings and only made it up to No. 126.

The 25 newest @PGATOUR members receive their TOUR cards @PinnBankGolf! 🎓 https://t.co/aKjnoLte0q

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) August 16, 2021

–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)