Jim Herman is getting better with age.
The 42-year-old Herman has won only three times in the PGA Tour, but claimed a victory for the second straight season by closing with a 7-under-par 63 to beat Billy Horschel by one stroke in the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C.
“I’m just ecstatic,” said Herman, who also won the 2016 Shell Houston Open and the 2018 Barbasol Championship. “I came in here with to expectations because I played so terribly last week in the PGA Championship (tying for 77th) at Harding Park.
“But that’s the beauty of this game, anything can happen. If you get your attitude right and make some putts, anything is possible. I was able to make a few changes that worked out and I was able to get it done.”
Herman, who had to birdie three of the last four holes in round two simply to make the cut and shot 61 in round three, sank a 59-foot eagle putt at No. 5 and added three birdies on each nine en route to a winning total of 20-under 21-under 259. His three-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole proved to be the winner.
By winning, Herman climbed 138 spots in the FedEx Cup standings to No. 54 and will join the others in the top 125 next week in the PGA Tour playoff opener, The Northern Trust at TPC Boston.
Horschel, who finished with a second straight 65 that featured a 13-foot eagle putt on the fifth hole, held the lead until making a bogey putt at No. 16 and missed birdie putts of 12 feet and nine feet on the last two holes while trying to tie Herman and force a playoff.
“I’m disappointed because I had real good looks on the last two holes and think I should have made one,” said Horschel, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour who won the 2014 FedEx Cup and will give it another try by starting next week at No. 25 in the standings.
“I didn’t hit the ball well today and still shot 65 to put myself in position to win, but just didn’t get it done. But I’m in a good spot heading into the playoffs.”
Sixth-ranked Webb Simpson, the 2011 Wyndham champion who is third in the point standings, also shot a second straight 65 to finish three shots back in a tie for third with Kevin Kisner, who had a 64, Doc Redman, who totaled 68, and third-round leader Si Woo Kim of South Korea, who finished with a 70.
Two-time major champion Zach Johnson carded a bogey-free 65 and was one more down in a tie for seventh with first-round co-leader Harold Varner III, who also had a flawless 65. Johnson rose 25 spots in the standings to No. 104 and qualified for the playoffs after missing for the only time in his career last season.
Ninth-ranked Patrick Reed, the 2013 Wyndham champion who is sixth in the standings, posted a 64 that included a five-foot eagle putt at No. 15, and was five shots behind in a tie for ninth with Denny McCarthy, who finished at 63, plus Sungjae Im of South Korea and Russell Henley, who both wound up at 65.
Reigning Open champion Shane Lowry of Ireland tied for 23rd after a 67 and rose nine places in the point standings to No. 121 and qualified for the playoff opener.
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