GREENSBORO, N.C. — (AP) — Beau Hossler shot a 10-under 60 on Friday in the rain-delayed Wyndham Championship, squandering a chance for a sub-60 round with pars on the last three holes at soft and vulnerable Sedgefield Country Club.
Hossler had a two-stroke lead over Billy Horschel in the tournament that started a day late after heavy rain and wind from Tropical Storm Debby washed out play Thursday. Play also was delayed Friday, with Horschel among the 66 afternoon starters unable to finish the round because of darkness. He had two holes left.
With players allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairways because of the wet conditions, Hossler was 6 under after a tap-in eagle on the par-5 fifth and added a birdie on the par-4 eighth in a front-nine 28. He opened the back nine birdie-bogey-birdie and made the last of his nine birdies on Nos. 14 and 15.
“I drove it well and particularly probably the highlight of the round was just mid-irons,” Hossler said after the lowest round of his tour career. “A few 6-irons I hit really close, 5-iron I almost made a hole-in-one. It was one of those days where it felt like kind of everything went right.”
Winless on the PGA Tour, the 29-year-old former University of Texas star missed birdie putts from 30 feet on the par-3 16th and and 17 feet on the par-4 17th. On the par-4 18th, he drove into the left rough, hit into a left greenside bunker and blasted out to 7 feet to set up a par-saving putt. He was a stroke off the course record of 59 set by Brandt Snedeker in the first round of his 2018 victory.
“Any time you can make a 4 on 18 here you’ve done well,” Hossler said. “I knew if I had any chance to make birdie, I had to get it in the fairway. Once I was in the left rough there was just no way I’d be able to get it on that shelf to have a real look.”
Hossler entered the PGA Tour’s regular-season finale 87th in the FedEx Cup standings, with the top 70 qualifying for the playoff opener next week in Tennessee. He needs to finish alone in third or better to have a chance to reach the playoffs.
“This course has not treated me particularly well in the past, so I was just coming here and trying to play as well as I could and see what I got,” Hossler said.
Horschel, 27th in the FedEx Cup and coming off a second-place tie three weeks ago in the British Open, finished his day with a 4 1/2-foot birdie putt on 16. He holed out from 143 yards for eagle on the par-4 second.
“If you can put the ball in the fairway, which has always been the case here, you can be aggressive,” Horschel said. “Especially, with soft conditions, that makes it even more important to have the ball in the fairway.”
In April in the Dominican Republic, he won the Corales Puntacana Championship for his eighth PGA Tour title.
Nick Taylor of Canada was 7 under with four holes left.
Matt Kuchar, Brendon Todd, Austin Eckroat and Ben Taylor shot 64.
The lone player to qualify for every postseason in FedEx Cup playoffs history, Kuchar entered the week 111th and needs a victory to get into the top 70.
“I was able to find a lot of fairways,” Kuchar said. “Playing lift, clean and place means I get to kind of cherry pick a lie, hit some good shots, see a few putts go in.”
Ben Taylor matched Hossler with a front-nine 28, then played the back nine in 1-over 36. He birdied the first five holes and seven of first eight. He closed with a bogey on 18 after electing to finish in the dark.
Jordan Spieth, at No. 62 in standings, eagled the par-5 15th in a 67. He’s playing the event for the first time since 2020.
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