RADIO
Joe Nicely's under-the-radar DraftKings, FanDuel PGA DFS picks for the 2020 Wyndham Championship. His Horse for the Course for daily fantasy golf based on course history.
Welcome back PGA family and thanks for joining me here at RotoBaller! One of my personal favorites - and a Pony in this article last week - Collin Morikawa took down the first major of his career at the PGA Championship!
It was one of the most exciting final rounds that I can remember, with as many as 10 players having a legitimate shot to win on Sunday. TPC Harding Park was a course that we haven't seen much of, but provided an amazing tournament. I said it in a ton of outlets last week, but Morikawa is undoubtedly the real deal and this will most likely be the first of multiple major championships for the 23-year-old.
Horse For The Course is an article that highlights players in this week's field with elite course history and is part of our free PGA DFS content here at RotoBaller. For my favorite DFS plays of the week check out my Core Four article here at RotoBaller every Wednesday. It's part of our amazing PGA Premium package that includes an all-new PGA Research Station, Lineup Builder & Optimizer, and some of the best articles in the PGA DFS industry! You can sign up now using Promo Code: NICE for an extra discount at checkout!
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Wyndham Championship Overview
After the year's first major - and an exciting one to boot - there's naturally a little bit of let down the following week. The PGA Tour heads to North Carolina for the Wyndham Championship this week, and while we won't see a major-championship quality field this week, we still get a fairly decent field.
Brooks Koepka headlines this week's Wyndham and we have to wonder where BK's head will be after a disastrous final-round performance last week. Koepka will be joined by Webb Simpson, Tommy Fleetwood, and Justin Rose...but things take a sharp downturn after the top half-dozen or so guys and this field has more in common with the 3M Open than with the PGA Championship. Lots of juicy course history to review for this week's course, Sedgefield Country Club, so let's dive in!
You can also find out who the smart money is on by checking out Spencer Aguiar's PGA DFS: Vegas Report every week. And be sure to read all of our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS articles to help you win big!
The Course: Sedgefield Country Club
Par 70 - 7,127 Yards, Greens: Bermuda
This little Donald Ross gem has been a presence on the professional circuit since the 1930's and has now played host to this event for 13 consecutive years. At just over 7,100 yards, length won't be an issue for the players this week (Henrik Stenson won here three years ago without hitting his driver one time. Literally never hit driver all week!). Fairways and greens are the order of the day at Sedgefield. In true Ross fashion, these greens are some of the smallest on the PGA Tour schedule and do have tricky undulations, but this track routinely ranks as one of the easiest on the PGA Tour schedule.
It seems like we emphasize ball striking every week, but it is without a doubt crucial at Sedgefield. It's a bit of an outlier event in that I'm paying absolutely no attention to distance. I'll be focusing on ball strikers that are both accurate off the tee and precise with their irons on approach. J.T. Poston went bogey-free for the tournament last year and Sneds dropped a 59 here a couple of years ago. The winners over the past four years have been at least 21-under par and lots of birdies will be needed this week, so I'll also be searching for players that can go low.
Recent Champions & Winning Scores
- 2019: J.T. Poston (-22)
- 2018: Brandt Snedeker (-21)
- 2017: Henrik Stenson (-22)
- 2016: Si Woo Kim (-21)
- 2015: Davis Love III (-17)
The Horse
Webb Simpson
DraftKings: $11,200
FanDuel: $11,900
Notable Course History: 2nd ('19), T2 ('18), 3rd ('17)
Nothing fancy here, as Webb is truly a no-brainer this week at Sedgefield. Simpson is a North Carolina native that has been dominant in this event throughout his career. He's not finished outside of the top-three on this course in three years and must be considered an odds-on favorite again this week.
In addition to Simpson's sterling record at Sedgefield, we also must slot him in as our top option due to his sharp form this season. The vet has performed well both before and after the PGA Tour's COVID-19 layoff, posting a win earlier in the year at the WMPO and a recent victory at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head. His output since the restart has been slightly erratic - at least for Webb - but there are no indicators that he will play anything but great this week.
This week's field lends itself to "Stars & Scrubs" lineup builds and that's almost certainly the route we'll have to take in order to roster Webb, as he comes in second on the salary scale on both DraftKings and FanDuel.
The Ponies
Paul Casey
DraftKings: $10,300
FanDuel: $11,500
Notable Course History: T13 ('19), T3 ('15)
My personal feelings about Paul Casey aside (he always burns me), I do recognize that he's a great fit this week. Casey has only made two starts on this layout since 2015, but has played well in both, logging a T13 last year and a T3 in 2015.
It's been several weeks of frustration for Casey's DFS backers, as the Englishman missed the cut at both the Memorial and the 3M Open in ugly fashion. Another bad outing followed at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude, as the vet again looked absolutely lost with the putter...but then came last week at TPC Harding Park, where Casey was in contention until the end thanks to ultra-sharp iron play (+7.2 SG: Approach) and a putter that was dramatically improved (+0.9 SG: Putting).
Obviously, we're always guessing when it comes to putting - especially with a player of Casey's inability - but it's not hard to envision him carrying tons of positive momentum from last week's outing with him to North Carolina. This course sets up perfectly for his ball-striking ability and it wouldn't be a surprise to see Casey in contention for the second Sunday in a row.
Harris English
DraftKings: $9,300
FanDuel: $10,900
Notable Course History: T39 ('19), T11 ('18), T50 ('17)
Harris English's course history at Sedgefield doesn't blow us away, but he's made five-straight cuts on this layout since 2015. That consistency, coupled with English's recent form, makes him a high-priority option for me this week.
The former Georgia Bulldog has been on an under-the-radar tear dating all the way back to the Swing Season when he posted four top-six finishes between September and November. English has been able to carry that momentum into 2020, notching three-straight top-25s prior to the COVID-19 layoff and four more finishes inside the top-25 in five outings since the restart. He's not a player that jumps out statistically, but he's gained strokes T2G in four straight and in 14 of 16 starts this season.
Balanced builds might not be the preferred route to take this week, but if you are leaning that way with roster construction, English is a terrific way to start your builds at $9.3k.
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Si Woo Kim
DraftKings: $8,600
FanDuel: $10,100
Notable Course History: 5th ('19), MC ('18), Win ('16)
Si Woooooo! He's about as inconsistent as they come if we're being honest, but when he's hot he possesses tournament-winning upside - as evidenced by his victory on this course in 2016. Rostering Kim comes with a certain level of volatility, so I definitely prefer to roster him in GPPs, but his talent is undeniable.
Kim is one the streakiest players on the PGA Tour and his career has been marked by glorious highs (a win at The Players in 2017) and ugly lows (missed eight of nine cuts during a stretch last year). He heads to Greensboro as a former champion of this event and in hot form. Kim gained a massive 8.7 strokes T2G last week at the PGA Championship en route to a T13. It was the third consecutive start in which he gained strokes both T2G and with his irons.
Will he be able to keep it going this week? That's always the question with this unpredictable, but talented young guy. Despite the volatility, I love the trending form and his strong course history, and will be willing to gamble on Si Woo in this spot.
Ryan Moore
DraftKings: $8,100
FanDuel: $9,600
Notable Course History: T6 ('18), T24 ('17), T10 ('15), Win ('09)
I'm not even gonna pretend to ever know what is up with Ryan Moore. He's an interesting character that has always played a seemingly-weird schedule, and last week was another example, as Moore elected to skip the PGA Championship after teeing it up in the 3M Open and the Barracuda Championship. I don't get it...
One Tour stop that Moore does routinely commit to is this one at Sedgefield. It's with good reason, as Moore won the Wyndham here in 2009 and has logged two top-10 finishes since 2015. We mentioned that his schedule is always funky, but he has teed it up multiple times recently and looked especially sharp in his two most recent starts, back-to-back T12s at the 3M and 'Cuda.
Moore gained over seven strokes on approach at the 3M and has now gained strokes with his irons in four-straight starts. This Sedgefield track requires precision off the tee and on approach...a perfect fit for Moore's fairways-and-greens style.
Joaquin Niemann
DraftKings: $7,900
FanDuel: $9,900
Notable Course History: T13 ('19), T33 ('18)
We've seen Joaquin Niemann go through horrible stretches with the putter before and the young Chilean is certainly in the midst of another slump with the flatstick at the moment. Niemann has lost strokes putting in five of his last six starts and, unfortunately, we don't have any way of knowing when he'll find the groove in that area.
What we do know is that Niemann has continued to strike the ball well, despite a run of lackluster finishes over his last several starts. He's gained strokes both T2G and on Approach in eight-straight starts dating back to the API in March. This Sedgefield track suits Niemann's excellent ball-striking style of play and his ranking of second in Proximity in this week's field indicates he will be able to give himself plenty of opportunities on these small Donald Ross greens. Obviously, we wish the putter was in warmer form, but this feels like a great "buy low" spot on Niemann, as his $7.9k DK price tag feels like a bargain when considering the strength of this field.
Brice Garnett
DraftKings: $6,700
FanDuel: $8,500
Notable Course History: T6 ('19), T20 ('18), T20 ('16), MC ('15)
As I've alluded to throughout this week's article, this slate might be shaping up to be a "Stars & Scrubs" kinda week. If we want to roster a couple of elite guys, we'll need to find some reasonable value options below $7k. Brice Garnett immediately jumps out due to his strong course history on this Sedgefield layout and his solid, if unspectacular, current form.
Garnett logged a T6 in last year's Wyndham and previously recorded T20's in both 2018 and '16. Admittedly, his results since the restart have been spotty - three missed cuts in five starts with a T17 and a T26 - but his ball-striking numbers have actually been good. He's gained strokes both on Approach and Off the Tee in four-straight starts, and heads to a golf course where he's very comfortable. Garnett actually grades out fifth in this field in SG: T2G over his last 12 rounds, and while this isn't the strongest field we've ever seen, he's a tremendous value play on both DK and FD.
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