RADIO
We have made it to the closing stretch of the PGA Tour season and we have several players vying for all-important FedEx Cup points this week that will be teeing it up at the Wyndham Championship. The host course is once again Sedgefield Country Club and the stage is set for drama on this short, but challenging Donald Ross layout that has stood the test of time. This has been one of the more predictive tournaments year after year and an event where we have a good understanding of the skill sets required for success.
Listen here friends, I own the Wyndham. If there is one tournament that I feel most confident in, it would be this one. I won the largest GPP tournament of my life on DraftKings a few years back and have hit numerous outright winners in the last five years. I don't love the idea of overly touting my own work, but this is one of those tournaments where I believe that I have a repeatable and proven stat model that has historically helped me land on the right golfers. It's golf, so anything can happen, but let's hope for another huge week at the Wyndham Championship in 2024!
As always with this article, my primary goal is to provide a place to start your research and preparation for the incoming week. I have carefully evaluated the field-to-project course fits and past results in team golf formats. This will give you a glimpse at how my brain operates when it comes to handicapping this unique event. Here are my top 10 players to watch out for and a brief write-up of my reasons why I think they will crush it this week in Greensboro, North Carolina.
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No. 10 - Denny McCarthy
Back in December, I had the honor of interviewing Denny McCarthy for my podcast, Preferred Lines. I asked him flat out what his favorite course on the PGA Tour schedule was and he quickly said, "It's got to be Sedgefield." Right then and there I bookmarked the note with intention of coming back to bet McCarthy this week no matter what. e played great at the Wyndham Championship from 2019-2021 but missed the cut last year while dealing with an injury.
McCarthy plays well at venues that suit his strengths. Sedgefield is one of them, just like the John Deere Classic a few weeks ago where he played very well. I am willing to write off a couple of poor showings in Scotland because he is not familiar with Links-golf. He's undeniably one of the best scramblers in the entire field this week and he loves bermuda grass putting greens where he feels like he can separate from the field with his elite putting. He could use a good week, and it's time to dig in the dirt!
🚨7 PM TONIGHT🚨
1 on 1 with Denny McCarthy
It finally happened!
First interview with a pro and I feel like it was always destined to be Denny. Hope you all enjoy it half as much as I did! No stones unturned.
Sub for me friends 🙏https://t.co/6NEjmNgLSz @_dennymccarthy pic.twitter.com/y7XuoHoU6X
— Joe I (@TourPicks) November 8, 2023
No. 9 - Cameron Young
I have struggled with figuring out what to do with this player all year in 2024. For the most part, I have just stayed away from betting or playing Cameron Young in DFS and it has worked out, but I still feel like one of these weeks he is just going to show up and boat race the field. He has a skillset that almost any player in the field would trade for, effortless power and precision approach play when he is dialed in.
I would have him ranked higher if it were not for his struggles with hitting the fairway at the moment. The incoming form is somewhat eye-catching. He did finish T31 at The Open Championship and posted two top-10 results right before that. But, it's really hard to attack this golf course from the rough. He also is having a terrible season with the putter and I don't see that turning around anytime soon. It's not a great concoction for Sedgefield, but I had to rank him in the top 10 on talent alone. This man unequivocally NEEDS a win.
No. 8 - Jordan Spieth
I simply cannot leave this player off the list. When you look at how badly he needs to have a good performance this week, it should be an event where we get an extremely motivated and focused Jordan Spieth. Spieth is currently sitting at #63 in the FedEx Cup rankings and much like his good friend Justin Thomas last year, is showing up to Sedgefield with a lot on the line and desperately needing a good week.
It's been such a weird year for Jordan Spieth. I think of him as the ultimate scrambler, yet he's ranked an abysmal 145th in the field in SG: Scrambling over the last 36 rounds. I also never thought of him as an accurate driver, but he's among the top 25 in the field of driving accuracy. Spieth is a scorer who can just manufacturer good scores with guts and will. He's going to need every bit of it this week if he intends to win and save his season that has been plagued with inconsistency.
Jordan Spieth and these marquee names headline 2024 Wyndham Championship field at final FedEx Cup regular-season event https://t.co/ul0X3ajWcJ pic.twitter.com/bxuggq5lRQ
— Golfweek (@golfweek) August 3, 2024
No. 7 - Cameron Davis
Here we are, now in August of the year 2024 and I have Cameron Davis as the highest-ranked Cam in the field. It felt for a while that he might win again this summer when I saw his name at the top of the leaderboard at the 3M Open for a good while before falling off on Sunday. It was still a good result in the end which followed up another positive performance at the Scottish Open where Davis finished T26.
The form is clearly there, indicated by his last 2 results coupled with the win he had a month ago at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. The swing looks totally in sync and Davis has all the tools to scramble and putt the lights out which is was you want from an outright ticket. Davis is top-5 in my stat model in terms of SG: Total at Sedgefield Country Club over the past 5 years and has finished no worse than 22nd during that span. I think we ride the hot hand and the confident player once again at what should be a favorable price.
No. 6. Akshay Bhatia
This is likely a lower ranking than you expected on Akshay Bhatia for the Wyndham Championship, but there seems to be something about Sedgefield Country Club that has given Bhatia trouble. He has missed three consecutive cuts at the Wyndham. More than that, there are some worthy questions about incoming form after he struggled at the 3M Open despite being one of the favorites and also missed the cut at the British Open.
On paper, this should be an ideal course fit for Bhatia. He loves North Carolina golf, and this course brings about some comparisons to other courses on the schedule where Bhatia has excelled like TPC River Highlands just a few weeks ago. His engine runs on driving accuracy, and he ranks as one of the best in the field at consistently finding the fairway which we know is directly correlated to success at Sedgefield Country Club. It would hardly surprise me if he gets this course figured out and has a great week ahead of him.
No. 5 - Robert MacIntyre
I don't believe the stat models will tell you the full story about how well Robert MacIntyre is playing golf at the moment. The only thing that truly matters at the end of the day is winning. MacIntyre has managed to do that twice this summer in big-time events, winning the Canadian Open and his home game at the Scottish Open where he won in dramatic fashion on the 72nd hole.
I do worry about his tendency to get rather loose with the Driver at this course specifically, but you can't ignore how he is managing to still gain OTT despite missing fairways. It's because he is an incredibly adept scrambler and plays with imagination and a shot-making ability that is superior to the majority of his peers. Confidence is one heck of a drug, and MacIntyre's blood is full of it right now.
No. 4 - Billy Horschel
2024 has been an underrated and resurgent year for Billy Horschel after hitting rock bottom with his game the year prior. Expectations were high two weeks ago when he showed up to TPC Twin Cities in great form but was forced to WD on Thursday after an illness. You cannot deny the trending form though, Horschel was the surprise star of the British Open after finishing in 2nd place to Xander Schauffele.
We shouldn't forget his win earlier this season at the Corales either. Winning matters, especially when it has been a while like it was for Horschel. The confidence and smile is back and he'll bring those assets to Sedgefield Country Club where he dominates. Horschel is the #1 ranked player in the field in terms of SG: Total at the Wyndham Chmpionship since 2019. He has three top 6 finishes in the last five years and I believe he is primed for another run at the trophy in 2024.
Billy Horschel just shot a bogey free 4 under on the front 9 to take a share of the lead at The Open Championship. He plays the Dunhill Links every year and the links practice is clearly paying off 👏
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) July 20, 2024
No. 3 - Shane Lowry
Sedgefield is such a unique routing that is different from your standard run-of-the-mill PGA Tour venue and Shane Lowry historically plays his best on these types of positional golf courses. The main reason is that Lowry is hyper-accurate and consistent off the tee. What he lacks in power, he makes up for with above-average accuracy. He's also extremely proficient with his wedges and given the abundance of approach shots that come from inside 150 yards, Sedgefield should be an ideal course fit for Lowry.
It looked at one point like he was going to run away and hide with the Claret Jug at Royal Troon. All in all, Lowry has had a great season. He won the team event with Rory McIlroy and finished inside the top 20 in three of the four Major Championships this season. He finished 6th at the PGA Championship and The Open Championship. This tournament could be the icing on the cake for Lowry who travels to play the Wyndham after being the flag bearer for Ireland in the Olympics.
No. 2 - Brian Harman
At the No. 2 slot in the power rankings, we have yet another seemingly perfect course fit for a player. It's now been just over a year since Brian Harman won the British Open and I have a feeling that he makes another run at a trophy this week. He remains the top-ranked OWGR player in the field, currently ranked 15th in the world.
His form has been highly unpredictable this season. It all hinges on some erratic iron play. That said, when it's good, it's really good. I still have Harman ranked Top 5 in the field in terms of strokes gained approach over the last 28 rounds. He is also in the top 25 in long-term driving accuracy. The best parts of his game should be highly rewarded and Harman has to be licking his chops headed into the Wyndham Championship.
No. 1 - Sungjae Im
Mr. Wyndham Championship. Now that Webb Simpson is no longer a viable option to win PGA Tour tournaments, the top horse for the course this week is definitely Sungjae Im. He has recorded four top-15 finishes in the last five years. Im has executed his plan to attack this golf course to perfection and the only thing missing on his resume at Sedgefield Country Club at this point is a WIN.
Sungjae Im primarily does his damage on the par 4s. When you factor in that everyone is going to score on the par 5s, players can really separate when they can make birdies on the par 4s. Im is ranked 4th in the field in terms of Par 4 birdie-or-better rates over the last 30 rounds. His game has been trending positively in the past 6-8 weeks and he seems to be back in total control of his swing. This feels like the week where course form and current form come together and Sungjae Im wins the Wyndham Championship.
A 7-under 63 for SungJae Im to start the Wyndham Championship 👏
He’s currently the favorite at +340 to win 👀pic.twitter.com/Olzy0pBhod
— Golfbet (@Golfbet) August 4, 2022
Enjoy the Wyndham Championship and thanks for reading! Good luck, RotoBaller family!
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