Skip to main content

Woods must wait to learn his fate

Tiger Woods is in the unfamiliar position of having to depend on others ahead of the FedEx and Ryder Cups.
Tiger Woods is in the unfamiliar position of having to depend on others ahead of the FedEx and Ryder Cups.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Tiger Woods may slip out of FedEx Cup qualifying spots after skipping Wyndham Championship
  • The top 125 players will take part in opening event of the four-tournament series
  • World No. 1 is currently 108th but could fall as low as 132nd depending on others' results
  • He won the FedEx Cup last year and also in 2007 but has struggled this season
RELATED TOPICS
  • Tiger Woods
  • PGA Tour
  • Golf
  • United States
  • Sports

(CNN) -- Tiger Woods faces the possibility of missing the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs after deciding to skip this week's Wyndham Championship in North Carolina.

The world No. 1 won the end-of-season series last year and also in 2007, but is battling to qualify after his 28th-place finish at the PGA Championship left him 108th in the points standings.

Only 125 players will make the field for the opening event of four, The Barclays, and the American could possibly slip as low as 132nd depending on how players ranked below him perform at Sedgefield Country Club.

Woods is also waiting to hear if he will win a wild-card pick from Corey Pavin for October's Ryder Cup teams event against Europe in Wales, with the U.S. captain to reveal his decision next month.

Pavin, last weekend's Turning Stone Championship winner Bill Lunde and 2003 British Open champion Ben Curtis could also slide out of the top-125 after deciding not to enter the Greensboro event, which starts on Thursday.

The PGA Tour's official website reported that the tournament's winner is guaranteed to finish inside the top-80 due to the 500 points on offer, while any player ranked between 126-142 will qualify with a top-10 placing.

Canada's 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir and last year's Players Championship winner Henrik Stenson of Sweden will both need to produce just their second top-10 placing

American veteran Joe Durant, a four-time winner on the top U.S. circuit who is ranked 153rd, can reach the playoffs with a top-five finish.

Players below him such as former Masters champions Trevor Immelman and Fred Couples plus 2008 U.S. Open runner-up Rocco Mediate will need a top-four finish or better.

Last year, five players outside the top-125 qualified for the FedEx Cup after doing well at the Wyndham Championship, which was renamed in 2007 with a history going back to 1938.

Kevin Stadler climbed from 133rd to 76th after losing out on the title in a three-man playoff, while David Mathis, Chris Riley, Todd Hamilton and Jeff Maggert made it too.