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TSN Senior Reporter

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Winning would have been sweet, but Roger Sloan did get some lovely parting gifts after his tie for second at the Wyndham Championship.
Sloan came up just short of notching his first PGA Tour victory, losing in a dramatic six-way playoff after a wild afternoon. But in the process he did secure a spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs and secure privileges for next season.

“I kept saying this afternoon coming down the last few holes and even on the playoff,” said Sloan, “I was just remembering Russell Crow and Gladiator: ‘Are you not entertained?’"

The finale was certainly not short of excitement with multiple lead changes and players moving up and down the crowded leaderboard over the final few holes. Sloan was among them. 

After back-to-back rounds of 64 on Friday and Saturday, the Merritt, B.C., product jumped out to a fast start on Sunday with birdies on three of his first five holes. Despite some good opportunities, the birdies dried up until he reached the par-3 16th hole, where he rolled in an eight-footer, and then drained a six-footer on the 17th hole, which pushed him into a six-way tie for the lead. A nervy two-putt from 65 feet on the 72nd hole brought him into the clubhouse at 15-under. 

When all the scorecards were in, six golfers – Sloan, Kevin Kisner, Branden Grace, Si Woo Kim, Adam Scott and Kevin Na – headed into a playoff, equaling the record for the most in a PGA Tour event. 

Sloan and Adam Scott were the only two of the six to hit the green on the par-4 18th but both missed their birdie tries and that meant another spin on the final hole for all six golfers. 

On the second go-around, Sloan was unable to drop a 35-foot putt for birdie. Kisner emerged as the winner after knocking in his four-footer.
Still, it was a big week for the Canadian. He started in 131st spot on the FedEx Cup points list and needed a good performance to get into the top 125 that advance to the PGA Tour’s lucrative playoffs. He also needed it to keep his job for next season, another reward for making it inside that number. 

“It's so cool to be a part of this,” he stated. “Great finish and a lot of great players here in the playoff. Congrats to Kisner for pulling it out, but man, that was a lot of fun.”

It was a late surge for Sloan that even gave him a chance to make the playoffs. On July 1, he was 154th on the FedEx Cup points list and without a top 10 in the season. He managed a tie for 16th at the 3M Open to move to 137th spot and then a sixth-place finish at the Barracuda Championship pushed him to 131st. 

Now he’ll shoot up to 92nd spot and be in a great position to go deep in the three-event postseason. 

“I'm very thankful that we were able to put enough points on the board this week to get into the playoffs,” he said. “I was in a good place this week. I was OK with no matter where the chips fell and I think that gave me a lot of power on the golf course. Just very thankful.”

It’s perhaps not a surprise that the 34-year-old managed to grind his way into the playoffs. He has been largely a self-created golf professional having to cut his own path. He was never a part of Golf Canada’s junior or national teams, and has worked without an agent for the last few years, preferring to find his own sponsorship deals.

His hard work has paid off and he’ll head into the Northern Trust next week with his game in good shape.