Preview

Course Info

Opened in 1926, Sedgefield is a Donald Ross designed course.  As with all Ross designed courses, the greens are small and undulating.

The Wyndham Championship was founded in 1938 and is the sixth oldest event on the PGA Tour.

The course is a par 70 with two par 5s and four 3s.  Water in play on six holes.  There are eight par fours measuring between 400 and 450 yards, so length is not essential to win around here.  

The 2019 Wyndham Championship was notable as the first PGA Tour event since 1974 where the winner did not record a bogey or worse.  The course has also seen a 59 with Brandt Snedeker having achieved this feat in 2018.  

Significant Info To Be Aware Of

Continue to exercise an abundance of caution (credit: Chase Koepka and the PGA Tour) in relation to Covid-19 related withdrawals.  

This tournament follows the US PGA so we should be mindful that players in contention last week may well be suffering mental fatigue.  

Trends

Past success is a great indicator of future success at Sedgefield.  There are several examples of players who play particularly well here year after year.  The best example of this is Webb Simpson who has a win and several runner-up placings in recent years. 

The highest winning score since the Wyndham Championship returned to Sedgefield in 2008 is -14.  the lowest score is -22.  We need to look for players who are capable of making plenty of birdies.

Players from North Carolina have a strong record here with J.T. Poston winning last year and Webb Simpson being somewhat of a course specialist.  Carl Pettersson is another past champion with North Carolina links.
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Stats Analysis

Driving Accuracy is paramount here.  With small greens, playing from the fairway is key.  Almost every year the inner ranks inside the top 10 for Driving Accuracy.  Look for shorter, accurate players rather than power players this week.

In Play

It is important to keep up with the leaders this week.  With bogeys harder to make than birdies, leaders generally convert here having already recorded good scores in previous rounds.  Since the tournament returned to Sedgefield only four 54-hole leaders have failed to convert.

When leaders have failed to convert, we have seen several instances of 3+ shot comebacks.  As you'd expect from a course where a 59 has been recorded, someone can go low and snatch a win from well off the pace if they get hot.  Don't write off a player if a few back.

Six To Watch

Brendon Todd - 35/1 @ William Hill
Brendon ticks a lot of the boxes this week.  He is a North Carolina native, he's playing exceptionally well at the moment and statistically this test should suit him down to a tee.  His results have been poor here to say the least, but he last played in 2016 and he was a completely different player then.  His odds are slim but the drop in field quality should suit him.

​Branden Grace - 110/1  @ Bet365
Branden was tied 2nd after 36 holes at the Barracuda Championship two weeks ago before he pulled out after testing positive for Covid-19.  He'll be raring to go again this week and if he can resume the way he played then he'll be a threat around Sedgefield.  An element of risk is attached to him as we are unclear how much the virus will have affected him but he's one to keep an eye on early on. 

Brice Garnett - 125/1  @ Bet365
Brice has a really solid record at Wyndham having recorded three top 20 finishes in his last three appearances.  He's a PGA Tour winner who has the game to win again on the right course.  Having finished 26th at the 3M Open, his last event before this week, we think he's one to look out for on a course that suits his game down to the ground.
 
Mark Hubbard - 150/1 @ William Hill
Mark has been quiet of late but is worth a speculative play at these odds.  A Korn Ferry Tour winner in 2019, he came close to a win at the Houston Open late last year so we know he can contend if given the opportunity.  He finished 51st at the US PGA last week and this test should suit better.  He was 13th at the Rocket Mortgage Classic earlier this season at Detroit Golf Club, another Donald Ross design.  He also finished 24th the last time he played here in 2017.

Denny McCarthy - 150/1 @ Betfred
Denny is the best putter on the PGA Tour, ranking 1st for Strokes Gained: Putting.  He has been solid if unspectacular at Sedgefield to date, recording finishes of 36th and 22nd the past two years.  There's reason to think he could improve on that this year given he appears to be playing more consistently tee to green, he ranked 39th in Strokes Gained: Approach at last week's US PGA.  We know he can putt, he just needs the opportunities and he's worth keeping an eye on.

​Nate Lashley - 200/1 @ William Hill
Nate is the kind of player who goes off the boil for long periods of time before popping up and recording a good finish.  His last four top 10 finishes have followed results of WD, 69th, 28th and MC so he's a player to be backed if the test suits.  The test this week very much suits his game and he is a past winner at a Donald Ross course (2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic).  He gave notice of his potential this week with a 37th place finish at the US PGA, where he ranked 29th in both Strokes Gained: Approach and Strokes Gained: Putting.  His 2019 PGA Tour win came on his next start after a Major, let's hope history repeats itself this week.

In-play

In-Play Blog

15th August 2020

1pt Each Way (1/5 1,2,3,4,5) Tyler Duncan - 66/1 @ Betfair
1pt Each Way (1/4 1,2,3,4) Mark Hubbard - 66/1 @ 888Sport
0.5pts Each Way (1/4 1,2,3,4) Tom Lewis - 200/1 @ Betway

14th August 2020

-8 Varner III
-8 Hoge
-8 Sloan
-6 English

Three players are tied at the top with round 1 yet to be completed at the Wyndham Championship due to inclement weather.  Webb Simpson and Patrick Reed lurk at -4 and -5 respectively and go into the 2nd round as joint favourites with Harold Varner III. 

Several of our Six to Watch are nicely placed going into the 2nd round with 200/1 Nate Lashley at -4, 150/1 Mark Hubbard at -4 and 150/1 Denny McCarthy at -3.  We'll see how they progress today.

1pt Each Way (1/4 1,2,3,4,5) Andrew Landry - 90/1 @ Bet365
0.5pts Each Way (1/4 1,2,3,4,5) Jim Herman 300/1 @ Bet365

Andrew won impressively earlier this season at the American Express to follow up his 2018 win at the Valero Texas Open.  He finished 19th here last year so we know he's comfortable here and wedge play is a strength of his game so the course suits.  He was 7th in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green yesterday and a warmer putter could have seen him post a score a couple lower.  90/1 is a fair each way bet. 

Jim is the type of golfer who misses the cut most weeks but pops up with a win when least expected.  In the last five years (including 2020) he has missed over 50% of cuts but remarkably has won twice!  He played nicely yesterday, ranking 21st for Strokes Gained: Tee to Green so he's worth a very small play at these huge odds.