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Utahn Zac Blair knocked out of PGA Tour’s top 125 on last day of regular season

Zac Blair follows his drive on the 18th tee box during the second round of the Sony Open golf tournament, Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

J.J. Henry’s clutch shot spoiled Zac Blair’s 27th birthday, abruptly ending his 2016-17 PGA Tour season.

Having failed to advance to Sunday’s final round of the Wyndham Championship, Blair still hoped to stay in the top 125 of the FedEx Cup standings, advance to this week’s first playoff event and maintain full access to the PGA Tour’s 2017-18 schedule that starts in October.

He would have succeeded, except Henry hit a 185-yard shot from the rough to within 5 feet and birdied the 18th hole. Henry’s closing 67 gave him a tie for 16th place and he edged Blair on the season’s points list, 365-364.

Blair and fellow Utahn Daniel Summerhays will play in the Web.com Tour Finals, starting Aug. 31 at Columbus, Ohio. The Web.com Tour’s Nos. 26-75 players and the PGA Tour’s Nos. 126-200 finishers are eligible to compete for 25 spots on the PGA Tour, based on total money winnings in the four-tournament series.

Otherwise, Blair and Summerhays would have fairly high conditional status on the PGA Tour. They finished among the top 125 money-winners in 2016-17, but the PGA Tour eliminated that exemption category this year, using strictly the points list to determine eligibility.

Summerhays missed the 36-hole cut in the Wyndham Championship and fell from 124th to 131th in the standings. Blair’s drop from 120th to 126th was a tough break, considering he made the 36-hole cut. But he was eliminated in Saturday’s secondary cut. Henry then overtook him by moving from 134th, thanks in part to birdies on two of the last three holes Sunday.

Tony Finau will be the lone Utahn in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Finau, who took the week off, finished 28th in the regular season. He’s assured of spots in the first three playoff events. If he maintains a top 30 position, he’ll advance to the Tour Championship and qualify for all four major tournaments in 2018.