By: Alexandra Jones
GREENSBORO — As a chorus of cheers, including ‘Go Deacs!’ rang out after Michael Brennan’s final birdie dropped, the first person he looked to embrace was his caddie, Ollie Brett.
They hugged for a few moments, then stayed side by side as runner up Beau Hossler completed his round.
After shooting a 4-under par 66 in the first round, Brennan was tied for 23rd, but he didn’t let it deter him. Ollie encouraged him, no matter what the leaderboard said, to keep the same strategy: set smaller goals and focus on them.
And that’s exactly how Brennan broke away from a crowded final round leaderboard to become the 87th Wyndham Champion. He closed with a final-round 64 to finish 22-under par and won by three strokes over first, second and third-round leader, Beau Hossler.
The 24-year-old Wake Forest alumnus hung with Hossler through the first five holes — even after Hossler made eagle at the fifth to reclaim a single-stroke lead, but Brennan made birdie – his second straight. And from there, it was Demon Deacon domination. The Leesburg, Va., native made the turn with a three-stroke lead.
He never relinquished it.
“I was a little behind the eight ball through a couple holes,” Brennan said. “I tried today to just say, ‘hey, you know what, no matter what happens I’m going to stick to my process and stick to my plan.’ Ollie did a good job of reminding me of that, keeping me in the moment. You never know when you’re going to make five in a row – that’s kind of a gift to do that in the final round when you’re leading the tournament or close to the lead.”
After starting the final round tied with Hossler, Brennan fired a 6-under 64 to Hossler’s 3-under 67 to claim his second PGA TOUR win.
With the victory, Brennan became the fifth Wake Forest alumnus to win the Wyndham Championship, but the black and gold also took the title one year ago. Cameron Young captured his first PGA TOUR victory in 2025 and went on to win three more times and move No. 3 in the world. Brennan and Young are the first Demon Deacon duo to win the back-to-back Wyndham Championship titles in tournament history, and both majored in Economics.
When Brennan walked onto 18th green after being introduced as the 2026 Wyndham champion, a chorus broke out in the crowd.
“Wake Forest! Wake Forest! Wake Forest!”
His mom pumped her fists, and he clapped and waved to the chanting patrons. Brennan took the Sam Snead Cup just 30 minutes from the Wake Forest campus he visited when he arrived for the tournament on Monday.
“Such a special week to be so close to where I was for four years,” Brennan remarked in his trophy ceremony speech.
A home field advantage, if you will.
Brennan earned his TOUR card in 2025 and won the Bank of Utah Championship playing on a sponsor’s exemption in his third start. Twenty-one starts later, he got No. 2.
“The first one was kind of surreal; this one was more challenging, but it feels pretty dang good,” Brennan said.
Entering the Wyndham Championship, the final regular-season tournament, Brennan needed a three-way tie for second to make the FedExCup Playoffs, but he over-achieved. Brennan knew exactly what he had to do
“I knew it from the start of the week; that was my goal going into the week. The goal is just to play good golf, but you never know where that’s going to leave you. You can hit great putts that don’t go in, you could hit bad putts that do go in,” Brennan said. “Theres’ a little bit of variance, we could call it, in golf.”
With the win, Brennan moved from 105th to 47th in the FedExCup points and from 58th to 35th in the Official World Golf Rankings. Brennan will start the playoffs next week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tenn.
Hossler had to win the tournament to make the playoffs, but his runner-up left him in 72nd.
Rookie Jackson Koivun who tied the Wyndham Championship record for best finish as an amateur when he finished fifth last year, finished tied for 29th and retained the final spot in the FedExCup standings at No 70 to become the first PGA TOUR University No. 1 or PGA TOUR University Accelerated graduate to advance to the FedExCup Playoffs in the same season he accepted membership.
The former No. 1 ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking turned professional in June and became the third player to earn a TOUR card through the Accelerated program, joining Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent and Florida State’s Luke Clanton
The rookie also matched a record held by Tiger Woods for the fewest starts needed to qualify for the postseason.
“At the end of the day, it’s kind of the season-long goal, to make the playoffs,” Koivun said. “Obviously starting a little late is definitely a hiccup in the road, but to be able to be in this position is really cool.”
For the second year in a row, Matti Schmid, who finished tied for 72nd, advanced to the FedExCup Playoffs. He was No. 71 when he finished the final round almost two hours before the final pairing teed off, eventually finishing No. 69 in points and advancing to Memphis.
And although making the FedExCup playoffs was the goal, Brennan realized a different dream behind 18 green when his Mom reminded him.
“I’m going to the Masters!” Brennan exclaimed.
Whether qualifying for the postseason, or the Masters Tournament, this Demon Deacon is just getting started.
“I don’t want to be done playing golf,” Brennan said. “I feel like I’ve played the best golf I have all year the last couple weeks. I mean, this is my sixth week in a row, so seven’s a lot, but I think I’m going to be perfectly happy running on fumes next week.”
And he could have added, “Meet me in Memphis.”
