Golf

PGA Tour: Wyndham Championship Preview

by
Jason Dewey
August 15, 2018

Take a look at our preview for the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship taking place at the Sedgefield Country Club.

This will be a defining week for many players with this being the final event before the FedEx Cup Playoff events. Only the top 125 will progress and many players will be hoping to avoid a stint on the Web.Com Tour next year. Additionally, there will be some players- like defending champion Henrik Stenson- who will be hoping to make a final case for Ryder Cup selection.

Originally known as the Greater Greensboro Open, Sedgefield Country Club has enjoyed a long association with this event. It has been the permanent host since 2008 while the event was renamed to the Wyndham Championship in 2007.

Wyndham Championship | 16 August – 19 August | Sedgefield Country Club

The Donald Ross-designed course is a classical tree-lined design that will be the complete antithesis of the behemoth that was Bellerive. This par 70 is a typical Ross design in that it rewards accuracy far more than distance. Players will have to carefully negotiate their way around the course and rely on a pin-point approach game. The small, wavy greens are also in stark contrast to Bellerive. Players who are able to do that will flourish at a course that traditionally promotes strong scoring.

Defending Champion Henrik Stenson clearly has had a difficult season laden with injury issues and a pronounced lack of form. Webb Simpson makes a compelling favourite. The Players Champion secured his Ryder Cup spot at Bellerive and will be free of some of the obvious pressure facing other players. Sergio Garcia is desperately in need of something positive while Hideki Matsuyama showed glimpses at the PGA of an improvement in form. Many players teetering on the top 125 bubble will be desperate to take advantage of a typically depleted field.

Past Winners
2017: Henrik Stenson (-22)
2016: Si Woo Kim (-21)
2015: Davis Love III (-17)
2014: Camillo Villegas (-14)
2013: Patrick Reed (-14)*playoff

To Win Outright:
Webb Simpson 12/1 | Hideki Matsuyama 16/1 | Henrik Stenson 18/1 | Brandt Snedeker 22/1 | Rafa Cabrera Bello 22/1

Value Bets

Joaquin Niemann- To Win 30/1, To Place 13/2
Surely it is just a matter of time before this extremely talented Chilean will eventually win. Having secured his tour card in just eight starts, Niemann has already secured four top 10’s this season. Perhaps the most memorable one was at the Memorial against a stellar cast of characters. And one look at some salient stats makes him more appealing. Approach play is considered a critical factor at Sedgefield. Niemann currently ranks fifth in strokes gained approach to the green. He also sits fifth in par 4 scoring average, which is usually an important statistic at a par 70 course.

Harold Varner- To Win 45/1, To Place 19/2
Currently sitting in 20th on the Tour for Driving Distance, Varner is somewhat counterintuitive to the ideal candidate around this course. But he comes into this event in great form reading 5-6-17. He also finished in an excellent tie for seventh at the Players Championship, negotiating his way around that tight layout majestically. Last season he finished in a tie for 10th here with rounds that read 63-68-66-69. He has also shown an affinity for North Carolina events, having finished runner-up at the Web.com’s Rex Hospital Open in 2014. He also has a recent top 25 in the Wells Fargo Championship.

Johnson Wagner- To Win 60/1, To Place 13/1
Given all the talk surrounding that oh so precarious bubble, I felt obligated to show some appreciation for a player caught up in that very situation. He sits in 136th place in the FedEx Cup Playoffs and will need something to happen this week. He is currently sitting on a run of five consecutive made cuts. That included a tie for 16th at the John Deere Classic. Wagner finished in a tie for fifth here in 2016 and could be one of the fringe players who benefit most from the diminished field.

The Man to Beat- Billy Horschel- To Win 28/1, To Place 6/1
Billy Horschel has slowly started to regain a semblance of the form that saw him once capture the FedEx Cup. He finished in a tie for second at the Barbasol Championship and in a tie for 35th at last week’s PGA. More impressive was the fact that he finished seventh in strokes gained approach. Two years back Horschel managed to finish fifth here at Sedgefield. On debut in 2001, he was sixth through 54 holes before an implosion saw him finish poorly. Horschel has a victory at East Lake- which is yet another classic Donald Ross design. I just have the sneaking suspicion that the talented Horschel is finally coming to grips with his game and should be poised to contest in this field.