He finished 2nd best of anyone this year. It could happen again

Max Greyserman has very little to play for this week (and the rest of the fall season), except for only something that eluded him all year: victory.

Greyserman has crept into PGA Tour relevance all season, but especially in the last few months. The reason why is simple: you keep finishing second. He earned a huge following from golf fans when he finished solo second behind Jhonattan Vegas at the 3M Open in July. Two weeks later, it was the same result – one second – but in a very different way. Greyserman finished second at the Wyndham Championship after making a quadruple bogey and a double bogey in the final five holes.

He built a 4-shot lead that day and let it slip away. “Obviously things happen in golf sometimes that aren’t meant to happen,” he said that day, ready to keep going but not afraid to have fun, calling the fall “my Phil Mickelson in 2006,” he said. in Mickelson’s embarrassing loss at the Winged Foot US Open.

The silver lining for finishing second is a bunch of FedEx Cup points, and Greyserman ended the season in 48th place, meaning he will begin his 2025 season at Kapalua in early January and qualify for every Signature event next year. He won’t be able to do much this week to improve on that standing next year. Unless he was going to break through in the next round and actually win.

Greyseman finished second on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023 before graduating to the PGA Tour. He even finished second in his last appearance at the Zozo Championship in Japan last month.

“Maybe I should have taken it.” [three runner-ups at the beginning of the season,]” Grayserman said that day, “but I was going to say it too how can i have three runners up at the same time.”

In Zozo, Greyserman finished one shot behind Nico Echavarria, his best friend and partner at the Zurich Classic in April. He was happy for Echavarria that day, happy for Echavarria’s family, too. But ask him this week and be especially prepared to see a change in the leaderboard, because Echavarria is ahead of him again, and Greyserman is in the running for another runner-up.

“I thought we were on our way out again,” Grayserman said Friday when he realized he would be the last weekend with Echavarria on Saturday. “Let’s go, this will be fun. Same thing two weeks ago, you know?”

Zozo’s runner-up finish tied Greyserman and Xander Schauffele and 2024 runner-up Ludwig Aberg. That’s great company for Greyserman, who has slipped into the top 40 in the World Golf Ranking, a career high. DataGolf is even kinder to him, rating Greyserman 32nd in the world, more than 60 spots ahead of Echavarria, a guy who won’t stop getting in his way.

Unlike his rollercoaster victory in Japan two weeks ago, Echavarria played mostly flawless golf this week. El Cardonal’s course at Diamante in Los Cabos, Mexico is hardly a brutal test for Tour players, but Echavarria has yet to make one. Meanwhile, Greyserman had played his way into first place earlier on Saturday but went down with a crippling double bogey on the 5th.

Now through 54 holes in the World Wide Technology Championship, Echavarria sits at 16 under. He’s not alone – Justin Lower carded a 9-under 63 for the same score as the final pair. Behind them sits Greyserman – 15 under after a third-round 69 – and a host of other hungry guys. The boys are not completely satisfied with their 2024, trying to get the last bit out of their game before the remaining tournaments are over.

For Greyserman, as strong as his winless season is, there are no championships behind it. His wife arrives and they will spend most of the next week enjoying the holiday and celebrating the season that was. All that stands in his way are Sunday’s 18 holes and one last look at the leaderboard. It will feel good but not perfect if he sees T2 next to his name.