Willy

Wilcox

Wilcox circled eight birdies and an eagle on the par-4 12th before suffering his only bogey on the 18th hole to take a commanding seven-stroke lead at 16-under 200. This is his 49th Web.com Tour event, with his best finish twice being third place in 2011. Kinderlou has proven to be a course where low numbers are rare, so it will likely only take a steady round from the University of Alabama Birmingham product if he is to close the door on his first Web.com victory.

Wilcox had some room to play with after a course-record 63 in the third round and circled an eagle and two birdies while swallowing three bogeys and a double bogey on his final lap around Kinderlou Forest. With this win, he moves to third on the Web.com Tour money list and is sitting pretty to capture one of the 25 PGA TOUR cards handed out at season’s end. He stays in the Peach State for the Stadion Classic at UGA later this week.

Originally expected to tee it up in the Web.com Tour Finals after finishing seventh in earnings on the Web.com Tour to secure a PGA TOUR card for 2013-14, his decision is surprising. Wilcox wrote: “I really appreciate everyone’s nice messages and support the last few weeks. 2013 has been a great year on the web.com tour and I accomplished many of my goals. I am really excited for the 2014 PGA Tour season. At this time, with the support of my family and management team, I have decided to take some time off for personal reasons and to really prepare for the 2014 season. My plan is to return to the PGA Tour in January. Thanks again for your support and I can’t wait for the 2014 PGA Tour season!” Because he will log a zero in earnings for the Web.com Tour Finals, the soon-to-be PGA TOUR rookie could be slotted last in the opening graduate reshuffle.

Wilcox is making just his third career PGA TOUR start, and first as a member in his rookie season. His round featured seven birdies to just one bogey. If this sounds familiar, perhaps it should. Russell Henley won last year’s Sony Open in the first start of his rookie season in what was also the third start of his career. Wilcox was unable to gain entry into any of the fall events of the 2013-14 schedule because his number coming off the Web.com Tour was so low. A win tomorrow would remove him from the reshuffle and allow him to set his schedule for the remainder of 2013-14, as well as the two seasons following.

His patience to make his debut as a PGA TOUR rookie paid off. Back inside the ropes since August (after taking time away for personal reasons), Wilcox split eight (of 14) fairways and hit 15 greens at Waialae today. He went 0-for-3 in scrambling with three bogeys, but found four birdies, the longest of which from just 10'10" at the par-3 11th hole. Stuck at the bottom of the reshuffle, starts on the West Coast Swing will be hard to find, but Pebble Beach always has room for his category on merit.

It was the rookie’s first career top 10 on the PGA TOUR, so all was not lost. Furthering the learning experience, he was able to play in the final threesome in the final round of a tournament for the first time. With this top 10, he is guaranteed a spot in the field at the Farmers Insurance Open in two weeks. Entering this tournament at the bottom of the Web.com Tour reshuffle, this will be huge in terms of the remainder of his schedule.

As we explained on Sunday night, the rookie’s top 10 at the Sony Open in Hawaii secured a berth into next week’s Farmers Insurance Open. The Humana Challenge isn’t an open event, but it reserved one spot in the field for the winner at Waialae if he wasn’t otherwise exempt. Champion Jimmy Walker didn’t commit but he didn’t change his plans either, so the tournament organizers gave the final sponsor exemption to Wilcox.

He has to be soaring. This is nowhere near the kind of foray any gamer could have expected, but it’s in the direction of the kind of effort that could define his year, if not his career. Wilcox split only five (of 14) fairways but he hit 13 greens and poured in five birdies against one bogey. His highlights came twofold in the form of a par save from 33'5" at the par-4 14th and a hole-out from a greenside bunker 24 yards away for birdie at the par-4 first. The rookie is at 5-under 135, five strokes off the 36-hole clubhouse lead.

The PGA TOUR rookie has been out of action (for personal reasons) since the conclusion of the regular season on the 2013 Web.com Tour. As a result, he started near the bottom of the graduate reshuffle and needed a sponsor exemption to crack the field at Waialae. Wilcox is a career 0-for-2 on the PGA TOUR and needs to earn our trust in fantasy circles.

Wilcox responded to a fan on Twitter saying, “not playing. Gettin surgery on wrist.” The severity of the injury and timeline for return is unknown right now. Earlier this summer, Wilcox backed out of the Quicken Loans National (pre-tournament) with a wrist injury, so this has been lingering for some time. Wilcox hasn’t posted a top 45 since the first of May (T15 @ Zurich Classic) and currently ranks 128th in the FedExCup standings. This surgery could end his season which means no FEC Playoff appearance this year. We will update when any news pops up regarding a timeline for return. As always with Wilcox, it’s quickest to get it straight from the DFS fan favorite himself on social media.