GREENSBORO, N.C. – It’s a new situation for Max Homa, but the feeling is familiar.

Homa entered this week’s Wyndham Championship at No. 106 on the season-long FedExCup standings, with just the top 70 after this week advancing to the FedExCup Playoffs – and the top 50 after next week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship qualifying for next season’s Signature Events. He needs a two-way T2 at minimum for a chance to make the FedExCup Playoffs, perhaps a long shot, but a reasonable thought when considering this is a player who lost his TOUR card twice but rebounded to become one of golf’s most beloved pros. Regardless of his final FedExCup position, Homa is already exempt on TOUR through 2028 as a six-time winner, but he’s in jeopardy of cycling out of Signature Events (barring sponsor exemptions).

Homa doesn’t want that, if he can help it. The veteran opened in 4-under 66 at Sedgefield Country Club, five strokes off the pace of early leader Joel Dahmen (a good friend of Homa who entered the week at No. 101 on the FedExCup), but an encouraging start in a late-stage push to keep his Signature Event hopes alive.

“It's kind of freeing playing Thursday, not even thinking about anything but winning the golf tournament, but back feels against the wall,” Homa said after signing his first-round scorecard. “It feels anytime you lip out a putt, it just hurts a little bit more. Part of it, I think I'll learn from because I think the mindset you have on weeks like this, although you don't want them, is something to take forward with you when the season starts up again next year.”

Homa fought through some serious swing struggles early in the year, understandable considering the season of change in his career; he is working with a new swing coach, new caddie and new equipment as compared to a year ago. He notched just one top-25 finish across his first 16 starts of 2025, and he arrived at the John Deere Classic earlier this month at a distant No. 122 on the FedExCup.

But on a Wednesday-afternoon range session at the John Deere, something clicked for the popular pro. He felt a sync in his sequencing that had been lacking for some time. He got more comfortable over the ball. The results started to show; he led the John Deere on the front nine Sunday before finishing T5, and he made the cut in his next two starts before the Wyndham.

“Since that Wednesday, I don’t think I’ve had a bad ball-striking day,” Homa said, “counting at home.”

Homa felt good tee-to-green at last week’s 3M Open, but his putter let him down in a relatively disappointing T39 finish, where he ranked No. 63 of 76 players who made the cut in Strokes Gained: Putting. It was a similar story Thursday at venerable Sedgefield, where he flushed the ball throughout the day (hitting 15 of 18 greens in regulation and gaining nearly four shots on the field on approach) but missed six putts inside 16 feet on his second nine. He reflected afterward that his 4-under 66 was the highest he could have shot.

The silver lining? That means that even lower scores could be available in the next three days in North Carolina. In order to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs, he’ll need something seriously low, and he knows it.

But Homa is no stranger to coming up clutch as the Regular Season dwindles away. In 2018, he made four consecutive closing birdies at the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season finale to make the cut and keep full status on that circuit, paving his path back to the PGA TOUR. After earning his first TOUR title at the following year’s Truist Championship, he proclaimed that the pressure he felt that Friday on the Korn Ferry Tour was more pronounced than what he felt down the stretch at Quail Hollow Club en route to his maiden victory. He can always draw from those past experiences – and compared to the margins of keeping or losing a job, battling for a spot in Signature Events is relatively small potatoes. He and his wife Lacey are expecting their second child in the coming months (like Dahmen and wife Lona), and he has achieved plenty in professional golf.

Still, he doesn’t want to surrender his Signature Event status anytime soon – and regardless of how this week unfolds, he intends to go down swinging.

“If I can get some putts to go in, I could do some serious damage,” Homa said. “I really like where my game’s at. I just have to start to make something.”

The top 70 on the season-long FedExCup standings after the Wyndham Championship will qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs. Here's a look at the players projected to move inside and outside the top 70 after Thursday's first round:

Projected in

Joel Dahmen (No. 101, projected No. 48): The veteran TOUR pro nearly earned his second title at the Corales Puntacana Championship earlier this year but closed with three consecutive bogeys to finish one shy of winner Garrick Higgo. Dahmen still finished runner-up that week, and he needs a similar showing (two-way T2 at minimum) at the Wyndham for a chance to qualify for the Playoffs. He did his part with an opening-round 61 at Sedgefield Country Club to assume the solo lead after 18 holes, one stroke clear of Alex Noren (who entered the week at No. 141 on the FedExCup and is now projected No. 83).

Always self-deprecating, Dahmen downplayed his chances of making the Playoffs in his post-round remarks to the media. "I mean, I've had like three top-twos in my career. I don't know, four of 'em maybe? I mean, it's not even a thing, right?" he quipped. But after a 61, it could certainly be a thing.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (No. 74, projected No. 66): The South African entered the week needing a top-36 finish at minimum for a chance to qualify for the Playoffs, and he's on the right track after an opening 5-under 65 to stand T8 on the Wyndham leaderboard. He has been trending recently with two top-20s in his last three starts, and the form has continued to the Carolinas.

Projected out

Byeong Hun An (No. 69, projected No. 72): In his 225th TOUR start, An entered the week firmly on the bubble for a Playoffs spot, just 5 points ahead of No. 71 Nicolai Højgaard. He has little wiggle room and hence very likely needs to make the cut to keep his postseason hopes alive. An opened in 2-under 68 at Sedgefield and is tied for 64th into the second round, squarely on the cut line, meaning that Friday will represent a double-bubble proposition.

Matti Schmid (No. 70, projected No. 73): The German has demonstrated a steady improvement in his three-year TOUR career; two years ago, he ranked No. 148 on the FedExCup after the Wyndham. Last year, he stood No. 125 after the Wyndham. This year, on the strength of a runner-up finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge, he stood No. 70 on the FedExCup into the week and thus assumed the role of bubble boy. Schmid opened in 1-under 69 at Sedgefield, a solid start, but he's one off the cut line into the second round and will likely need to make the weekend to keep his Playoffs hopes alive.