Simpson earns dough at Wyndham Championship

Local lad Webb Simpson claimed his first PGA Tour title at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, cruising to a three-shot margin on the strength of a Sunday 67.

Simpson grew up in Raleigh, N.C., and attended college at nearby Wake Forest University. The local knowledge and friendly crowd likely paid dividends at Sedgefield Country Club, where Simpson played a bogey-free final round to finish on -18 for the week.

Simpson, who claimed a $936,000 winner’s check, easily outdistanced George McNeill and Tommy Gainey, who took second and third, respectively.

The Wyndham represented the Tour’s last event before the FedEx Cup playoffs, in which the top 125 qualifiers compete. Among those making the Cup cut were three-time major champions Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington.

The glory was all Simpson’s, however. The 26-year-old made three eagles for the week while performing beautifully on the greens. Becoming the third consecutive U.S. winner to wield an elongated flat-stick, Simpson ranked second in putts per GIR.

Vijay Singh vaulted up the leaderboard with a Sunday 65, joining Jerry Kelly, Kyung-tae Kim, Charles Howell III and Carl Petterson in fourth place.

The FedEx Cup tees off this week with The Barclays, held at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey. Tiger Woods, twice the Cup winner, will not be part of the proceedings as he finished outside the top 125 and elected not to compete at the Wyndham Championship.