Morgan Hoffmann couldn’t even bear to watch.
The Wyckoff, NJ, native knew what was on the line last week at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., coming into the final event before the FedEx Cup holding the No. 118 spot in the points standings.
With only the Top 125 moving on to The Barclays, starting on Thursday at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J., Hoffmann needed a solid finish to ensure his appearance at the course he grew up just one town over from. And yet after celebrating his 25th birthday last Monday, he went out and missed the cut.
So he spent the weekend in North Carolina, pounding balls on the range, hitting putts into dusk — and never, ever, tuning in to see how the tournament was going.
“It was incredibly frustrating,” Hoffmann said on Monday, walking between the clubhouse and the range at Ridgewood with an air of confidence, knowing he snuck into his hometown event, and knowing he’ll have a gaggle of hometown support.
“I grew up a town over and I really wanted to make it,” Hoffmann said. “I’m just excited I’m here now and I get a chance.”
Hoffmann made it as No. 124, so he has a long way to climb if he’d like to make the cut for the second leg of the playoffs, the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston. From there the playoffs cut down to 70 players for the third leg in Colorado, and then down to the Top 30 for the Tour Championship in Atlanta, where the winner of the season-long points accumulation will take home a cool $10 million.
“I know I’m at the bottom, so I’m just going to be free-wheeling it,” Hoffmann said. “I’m really just focusing on this week, and it should be exciting.”
Hoffmann grew up playing his junior golf at Arcola Country Club, less than three miles away. He spent time on the range Monday joking with Ridgewood head professional David Reasoner, as well as some other locals he knows.
He has had to pick up a quite a few tickets for family and friends, and is hoping it’s going to pay off.
“It’s great to know they’ll be a lot of people out there pulling for me,” he said. “And I hope it’s more than I know.”