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Dahmen hasn’t missed the FedEx Cup playoffs in the last five years but is in a tough spot entering the Wyndham Championship.
Joel Dahmen is playing for one of the 70 spots in the FedEx Cup playoffs this week at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina. Barring an exceptional tournament, he’ll likely miss the postseason for the first time in five years.
Entering the first round of the Wyndham Championship, Dahmen is No. 82 in the FedEx Cup standings. He needs 107 points to get inside the Top 70 to make it. That means he needs to finish sixth or better this week. That’s no easy feat.
He had a great start to the season with three straight top-10 finishes in the fall portion. Dahmen finished T3 at the World Wide Technology Championship, T9 at the Houston Open and T5 at the RSM Classic.
“Got off to such a good start in the fall and then not playing so well recently, you’re going to just go push,” Dahmen said in an exclusive with SB Nation’s Playing Through. “There’s no secret. I’m not going to go do anything special on the range or the putting green to figure it out.”
The PGA Tour changed the playoffs this season. The field was cut from 125 to 70 for the first event in Memphis next week. That cut-off is quite the change for guys like Dahmen, who are used to making the playoffs at his current ranking.
He finished T10 at the Barracuda Championship two weeks ago. That gave him a nice boost in the standings, but he missed the cut last week at the 3M Open. That performance has been more representative to how he has played of late.
Dahmen has made just one cut in the last seven starts.
Golf is funny like that, though. There are peaks and valleys during a long season.
“I think over the course of 25 or 30 events, you’re going to play well,” Dahmen said. “And I’m just thinking I’m due to play well.”
He finished his first round shooting an even par 70, placing him T36 thus far.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and on Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
