Wyndham Championship:
The PGA Tour took off last week for the Olympics. While the field this week at the Wyndham Championship is not overly star-studded like last weekend’s events in Paris, it is one of the more important tournaments of the season as it is the last chance for players to reach the Top 70 for the FedEx Cup Playoffs starting next week.
Sungjae Im (14-1) is the shortest price on the board coming in with five top-10 finishes in his last seven starts. He was also runner-up at the Wyndham two years ago and has two other top-10 finishes here in Greensboro, N.C.
Billy Horschel (25-1) tees it up for the first time since his runner-up at the British Open, his career-best finish in a major championship, three weeks ago. He was also runner-up at the Wyndham in 2020 and has finished in the top six in four of his last seven starts at the Wyndham.
Shane Lowry (25-1) makes his return stateside after being Ireland’s flag bearer in the Olympics opening ceremony. He is 10th in the FedEx Cup standings.
Also at 25-1 is Si Woo Kim, the 2016 Wyndham champion and 2021 runner-up.
Brian Harman (30-1) is the highest-ranked player in the OWGR (15th) for this field.
Cameron Young (30-1) played his collegiate golf at nearby Wake Forest and still seeks his first PGA Tour victory.
The players at 35-1 include Aaron Rai, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, John Deere Classic winner Davis Thompson and Jordan Spieth.
Lucas Glover (100-1) is the defending Wyndham champion.
The Field
Of the 156-player field, only three of the OWGR Top 20 (Brian Harman, Robert MacIntyre, Sungjae Im) are teeing it up this week. There are others within the Top 70 attempting to improve playoff positioning.
Here are the current FedEx Cup standings: PGA Tour FedExCup Standings
Here is the full field of 156 players for the Wyndham Championship courtesy of PGA Tour Communications:
The Course
Sedgefield Country Club, in Greensboro, N.C., took over as host of the Wyndham Championship in 2008. The Wyndham is held at the Ross Course, named for its designer Donald Ross, which opened in 1926. After renovations conducted in 2007 by Kris Spence, a golf course architect based in Greensboro, who worked as the course superintendent at nearby Forest Oaks Country Club, which hosted the Wyndham from 1977 to 2007.
Sedgefield is a par-70 of 7,131 yards. It is a typical Carolina course with tree-lined fairways, pine straw and Champion Bermudagrass throughout. The course is a par-70 with only two par-5s and four par-3s. Nine of the 12 par-4s are less than 450 yards.
The fairways are narrow (29-yard average — ninth narrowest on tour) and the rough measures at 2.5 inches. Five water hazards are in play on six holes and the layout is not all that heavily bunkered (52 on the course — seventh fewest on tour); however, the fairway bunkers at Sedgefield are tough to reach the greens in regulation. The Champion Bermuda greens (average 6,000 square feet) undulate and are fast (12.5 stimpmeter) but could be a bit slower with the expected weather (more on that below).
This is a scoreable course. Brandt Snedeker shot 59 here for the course record on his way to victory at the 2018 Wyndham.
Here is the official scorecard for the 2024 Wyndham Championship courtesy of PGATOUR.com:
McConnell Golf LLC owns 16 golf and country clubs throughout the Southeast, including Sedgefield. Their site provides an aerial view of the course here: Sedgefield Country Club Aerial Tour – YouTube
Weather
Tropical Storm Debby is on the move along the East Coast, so the tournament will likely have several weather delays, and we could see a potential Monday finish. The event will likely not have to be shortened, and the PGA Tour will make every effort to play all 72 holes so that every player gets a fair opportunity in the last chance to make next week’s start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Here is the latest forecast from AccuWeather.com
Wyndham Championship Recent History
2023: Lucas Glover (-20/260); 90-1
2022: Tom Kim (-20/260); 35-1
2021: Kevin Kisner (-15/265); 55-1*
2020: Jim Herman (-21/259); 600-1
2019: J.T. Poston (-22/258); 100-1
2018: Brandt Snedeker (-21/259); 28-1
2017: Henrik Stenson (-22/258); 14-1
2016: Si Woo Kim (-21/259); 150-1
2015: Davis Love III (-17/263); 500-1
2014: Camilo Villegas (-17/263); 125-1
2013: Patrick Reed (-14/266); 80-1**
2012: Sergio Garcia (-18/262); 40-1
2011: Webb Simpson (-18/262); 20-1
2010: Arjun Atwal (-20/260); 200-1
Playoff win over Branden Grace, Si Woo Kim, Kevin Na, Adam Scott, Roger Sloan
Playoff win over Jordan Spieth – **
Statistical Analysis
Dating to 2016, the average ranking for the Wyndham winners for Strokes Gained: Approach was fifth for their respective winning weeks. Lucas Glover led the field for the category in last year’s win here.
Strokes Gained: Approach — Average Per Round (2024 PGA Tour season)
- Keith Mitchell 0.766
- Doug Ghim 0.629
- Aaron Rai 0.623
- Shane Lowry 0.584
- Henrik Norlander 0.550
- Si Woo Kim 0.548
- Jhonattan Vegas 0.530
- Lucas Glover 0.523
- Patton Kizzire 0.503
- Akshay Bhatia 0.499
- Greyson Sigg 0.471
- Chez Reavie 0.466
- Ryan Moore 0.458
- Andrew Novak 0.448
- J.J. Spaun 0.445
- Kevin Yu 0.427
- Austin Eckroat 0.424
- Joel Dahmen 0.420
- Daniel Berger 0.403
With some blind tee shots, some fairways on the narrow side, tricky Bermuda rough, and tree-lined fairways, hitting fairways take on added importance this week.
Hit Fairway Percentage
- Aaron Rai 73.09%
- Ben Kohles 71.94
- Brendon Todd 69.74
- Ryan Moore 69.43
- Lucas Glover 69.26
- Carson Young 69.08
- Austin Eckroat 68.99
- Doug Ghim 68.25
- Zac Blair 67.84
- Nate Lashley 67.84
- Daniel Berger 67.35
- Si Woo Kim 67.04
- Mark Hubbard 66.94
- Shane Lowry 66.81
- J.T. Poston 66.31
- Brian Harman 66.26
- Andrew Putnam 66.19
- Joel Dahmen 65.96
- Zach Johnson 65.87
- Matt Kuchar 65.37
Good Drive Percentage indicates when you can still hit green without hitting the fairway plus hitting fairways.
Good Drive Percentage (2024 PGA Tour season)
- Aaron Rai 87.89%
- Jhonattan Vegas 87.37
- Ryan Moore 87.01
- Patrick Fishburn 86.77
- Carson Young 86.18
- Greyson Sigg 86.02
- Daniel Berger 85.89
- Troy Merritt 85.86
- Ben Kohles 85.59
- Patton Kizzire 85.43
- Chan Kim 85.38
- Doug Ghim 85.37
- Nate Lashley 85.25
- Joel Dahmen 85.13
- Sam Ryder 84.88
- Ben Silverman 84.88
- Andrew Putnam 84.54
- Tom Whitney 84.54
- Mark Hubbard 84.52
Twelve of the 18 holes are par-4s and nine of the 12 are par-4s that range from 400-450 yards.
Strokes Gained Par 4s 400-450 Yards (Last 36 rounds)
- Mac Meissner 19.5
- Brian Harman 18
- Alex Smalley 15.9
- Sungjae Im 15.6
- Adam Svensson 15.1
- Andrew Putnam 14.8
- Roger Sloan 14
- Justin Lower 13.2
- C.T. Pan 11.7
- Ben Griffin 11.2
- Chad Ramey 10.9
- Pierceson Coody 9.9
- Davis Thompson 9.8
- Ryo Hisatsune 9.6
- Ben Silverman 9.5
- Aaron Rai 9.2
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout 9
Many of the greens at Sedgefield have sharp ridges and will run faster (12.5-13 feet) on the stimpmeter, so putting on this Bermuda can be tricky.
Strokes Gained: Putting — Bermuda Greens — Average Per Round (Last 36 rounds)
- Ben Griffin 0.82
- Thomas Detry 0.76
- Chad Ramey 0.74
- Denny McCarthy 0.72
- Billy Horschel 0.70
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout 0.65
- Harris English 0.61
- Justin Suh 0.61
- Chesson Hadley 0.59
- Brian Harman 0.50
- Maverick McNealy 0.49
- Mackenzie Hughes 0.47
- Max Greyserman 0.43 (12 rounds)
- Mac Meissner 0.43 (12 rounds)
- Ryan Fox 0.42
- Eric Cole 0.41
- Nico Echavarria 0.41
Because of the green speed, it is easier to three-putt than one would think on such a scoreable course.
Three-Putt Avoidance (2024 PGA Tour season)
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout 1.22%
- Victor Perez 1.22
- Min Woo Lee 1.49
- Brian Harman 1.56
- Andrew Novak 1.67
- Maverick McNealy 1.68
- Matt Kuchar 1.70
- Aaron Baddeley 1.71
- Mackenzie Hughes 1.72
- Austin Eckroat 1.77
- Garrick Higgo 1.78
- Emiliano Grillo 1.80
- Ben Taylor 1.81
- Pierceson Coody 1.85
- Thomas Detry 1.91
- Jordan Spieth 1.91
- C.T. Pan 1.93
- Denny McCarthy 1.96
- Tyler Duncan 1.97
- Taylor Moore 1.98
- Vince Whaley 1.98
- Lucas Glover 1.99
Somewhere in the 20-under par range is likely to win here, so avoiding bogeys and making plenty of birdies and eagles will just keep players in contention, particularly on what will be a soft course with all the rain.
Bogey Avoidance (2024 PGA Tour season)
- Henrik Norlander 12.13%
- Ben Silverman 12.27
- Aaron Rai 12.40
- Patrick Fishburn 12.59
- Doug Ghim 12.78
- Andrew Putnam 12.91
- Ben Griffin 13.01
- Chan Kim 13.08
- Greyson Sigg 13.22
- Jacob Bridgeman 13.27
- Andrew Novak 13.32
- Jhonattan Vegas 13.33
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout 13.56
- Sam Stevens 13.58
- Aaron Baddeley 13.64
- Billy Horschel 13.67
- Tyler Duncan 13.68
- Maverick McNealy 13.80
- Victor Perez 13.98
Birdie Or Better Percentage (2024 PGA Tour season)
- Keith Mitchell 25.30%
- Michael Kim 24.72
- Nick Dunlap 24.46
- Chan Kim 24.37
- Harry Hall 24.36
- Erik van Rooyen 24.24
- Jhonattan Vegas 24.20
- Hayden Springer 24.18
- Maverick McNealy 24.07
- Patton Kizzire 24.03
- Davis Thompson 24.02
- Sungjae Im 23.94
- Sam Ryder 23.88
- Jacob Bridgeman 23.77
- Pierceson Coody 23.68
- Matti Schmid 23.63
- Trace Crowe 23.61
- Thomas Detry 23.61
- Carson Young 23.61
- Max Greyserman 23.59
Selections
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (35-1, FanDuel)
Bezuidenhout finished 16th last week, which included Saturday’s second-lowest round of 64 while representing South Africa at the Olympics.
He has one of the best short games on the PGA Tour and will be able to navigate these greens, which may be a bit slower because of the incoming rain.
Aaron Rai (35-1, BetMGM)
Rai has had a very good summer and has not missed a cut since April. Those finishes include a T-2 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, a T-4 at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, a T-4 at the Genesis Scottish Open, a T-7 at the John Deere Classic and his best career major championship finish at the U.S. Open (T-19).
He is one of the best drivers on the tour from an accuracy standpoint. Rai is a fairway and green finder and on a soft course, that can lead him to victory.
Eric Cole (70-1, FanDuel)
Last year’s PGA Tour Rookie of the Year had a disappointing season in 2024 but is solidly in the Top 70.
Back-to-back recent top-10s at the Rocket Mortgage and John Deere plus a T-14 here last year on debut indicate a player that can contend.
Matt Kuchar (80-1, FanDuel)
Kuchar is the only player on the PGA Tour to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs each year since they began in 2007. He is 111th in the standings and would need a win here, but he is off his first top-10 since last November after being in the mix for the win at the 3M Open.
He led the field there for Approach and Greens In Regulation and his putting is still near the top of the PGA Tour.
Andrew Putnam (90-1, Caesars Sportsbook)
Putnam is 72nd in the FedEx Cup standings, so a solid finish will get him into the Top 70.
He ranked second in Strokes Gained Approach at the Barracuda last month then seventh in the same statistic at the 3M Open last time out.
Ben Kohles (100-1, BetMGM)
Kohles, who grew up in nearby Cary, N.C., made his PGA Tour debut in this event in 2012, so this is a “home game” for him.
He nearly got his first PGA Tour win in Dallas earlier this year before settling for runner-up and could contend for another one here with his accurate driving (second on tour this season).
Placement markets and/or matchups will be available Wednesday at VSiN.com/picks
