Brooks Koepka six shots off the lead after day one of Wyndham Championship

Brooks Koepka is six strokes off the lead after day one of the Wyndham Championship. 

The five-time major champion is one of a few big names taking part in the final event of the PGA Tour's regular season before the play-offs begin next week in Memphis. 

Koepka needs a share of fourth place or better at Sedgefield Country Club to guarantee a spot in next week's FedEx St. Jude Championship. 

He trails his compatriot, Beau Hossler, by six shots after the latter opened with a bogey-free 9-under 61. 

Sahith Theegala and Ben James share second place on 8-under.

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Hossler is still searching for his first PGA Tour win nine years after his first start. 

The 31-year-old lost in a play-off to Ian Poulter at the 2018 Houston Open and again to Kevin Yu at the 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship. 

"Kind of did everything well," he said.  

"Didn't feel my best with the driver, but iron play was probably the best of my career today.

"Missed a couple very makeable putts, but with that being said, this golf course, if you leave it five feet above the hole, it can be incredibly difficult. So proximity's part of the battle, but a lot of it is the leave.

"These greens are quite severe and fast."

Victory for Hossler would also guarantee that he earns a start next week. 

But he is not getting ahead of himself. 

"Obviously every week that we play out here has implications for future years. 

"I think if you let that consume you, it's a dangerous thing. So at the end of the day, it's golf. 

"I'm going to go try and play great golf and kind of see where the cards fall."

Billy Horschel is another that needs a strong week. 

Horschel sat out the majority of last season after undergoing surgery on his hip.

He told reporters he would grade his 2026 season an F, though, as he has felt healthy for a few months.  

Horschel said: "I think they grade now from A to E, right? 

"There's an E in there? If there was below an E, it would be that. It's been awful. I'm a very harsh critic. 

"My team understands that, I'm realistic. I understand I came back from a hip surgery last May. 

"There was a lot more to the hip surgery than I let on and I would say I wasn't anywhere close to playing or body wasn't good enough to play until probably March or April where I could feel like on a daily basis, still not 100 percent with it but it's good enough now to play quality golf. 

"And I've done that since April going forward, or at least it felt like I was playing good golf. 

"Now, the results may not show that, but the stuff I was doing felt great. But yeah, it's an F, I.t's an F, there's no doubt about it."

Elsewhere, the defending champion, Cameron Young, is in a battle to make the cut. 

Young returned a 1-over 71 on Thursday and sits in a tie for 111th alongside Tony Finau and Jason Day.