Projected 2014 FedExCup Standings put Brad Fritsch safely inside top 125 of playoffs points race

The Wyndham Championship doesn’t exactly fall in an ideal spot on the schedule, crammed in between the season’s final major and the start of the FedExCup postseason. But the historic stop in Greensboro does provide a little outside drama beyond the regular leaderboard shuffling, as a set of bubble boys annually try to stay inside or move inside the top 125 in the FedExCup standings.

This year’s big movers are Brad Fritsch and Heath Slocum. Fritsch will start Sunday’s final round in second place, just a shot back from Nick Watney and playing in the final pairing. The Canadian has had some bright moments this year, including a top 10 result back home at the RBC Canadian Open. But he started the week deep down the FedExCup Standings at No. 163. If the current form holds, however, he should make the postseason comfortably. The Tour projects a 100th place finish in the points race, which would not only put him through to the Barclays but would have him in a fine position to make the Deutsche Bank in Boston (top 100 only).

Slocum, who is right behind Fritsch in a tie for third, is projected to juuust sneak in and move up 34 spots into 124th place. Could this be a Cinderella repeat for Slocum? He just made it in 2009, finishing in 124th place but then drained a 21-foot putt to win the Barclays the next week, edging Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, among others. He’s not been heard from much since, but remains the poster boy for these out-of-nowhere postseason runs that the FedExCup system can yield.

Sang-Moon Bae’s Sunday prospects will be bubbly throughout his round. Last year’s Byron Nelson winner started the week as the first man out at No. 126, but started Sunday at T26 on the leaderboard, which momentarily put him just inside the projected standings at No. 124. The early leaderboard shuffling in Greensboro has already knocked Bae just outside the top 125 just five holes into his final round. Paul Casey started the week at the Wyndham at 125th in the standings, and he’s currently inside the top 20 on the leaderboard so he should be all set for the Barclays.

While Fritsch and Slocum are projected to enter the top 125, the two players whose seasons might abruptly end before the playoffs are Robert Allenby and Nicholas Thompson. Allenby was at No. 122 in the standings but a missed cut in Greensboro knocks the Aussie out, currently projected at 128th. Thompson made the weekend in Greensboro, but he’s at the very bottom of the leaderboard, currently in 74th place and projected to drop from 123rd to 129th in the final regular season FEC standings.

Here are the current projected standings, which are subject to movement throughout the final round in Greensboro (PGATour.com will have live projections):