Preview
Course Info
Designer: Donald Ross
Used Since: 2008
Fairways: Average
Greens: Small - Bermudagrass
Water Hazards: On 6 holes
Par 5's: 5th and 15th
Premium on: Approach play
Significant Info
Continue to exercise caution in relation to Covid-19 related withdrawals.
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.
Players from North Carolina have a strong record here with J.T. Poston winning in 2019 and Webb Simpson being somewhat of a course specialist. Carl Pettersson is another past champion with North Carolina links.
Weather
Thursday
Possible thunderstorm with a max wind speed of 7mph.
Friday
Partly cloudy with a max wind speed of 7mph.
Saturday
Possible thunderstorm with a max wind speed of 7mph.
Sunday
Possible thunderstorm with a max wind speed of 7mph.
Trends
Winning Score
Winning score in each of the last five years has been -21 or -22.
Course Form
A mixed bag, course form isn't essential. Three of the past five champions had no course form to speak of prior to winning (Si Woo Kim, Henrik Stenson and JT Poston). However, 2018 and 2020 champions, Brandt Snedeker and Jim Herman, had both posted top 12 finishes prior to winning.
Recent Form
Last year's champion, Jim Herman, had no form whatsoever coming into the tournament. However the previous four champions had each posted a top 45 finish the week before (three of those four had recorded a top 30 the week before).
World Ranking
The last five winners have ranked 318-158-88-9-114. Outsiders do win here.
Nationality
Since the event moved back to Sedgefield in 2008, we've had seven winners from the USA and six winners from a range of countries.
Stats Analysis
SG: Off The Tee
The last five winners have ranked 7-44-83-55-1.
Driving Accuracy
The last five winners have ranked 5-4-86-9-6. Accuracy is preferred over length.
Driving Distance
The last five winners have ranked 98-101-41-130-86. Distance is not essential!
SG: Approach
The last five winners have ranked 4-1-4-3-2. Approach play is key.
Greens In Regulation
The last five winners have ranked 1-3-23-3-8. As indicated above, approach play is key.
SG: Around The Green
The last five winners have ranked 94-28-10-47-63. We don't need to focus on this category this week.
SG: Putting
The last five winners have ranked 3-17-24-3-56. A hot putter helps but isn't essential.
In Play
Tough Holes
The 14th and 18th played as the hardest holes last year, both are par 4s measuring over 500 yards.
Birdie Holes
The two par 5's are ranked as the easiest holes on the course. The short par 4, 8th hole plays as the 3rd easiest on the course.
Closing Stretch
The 16th and 17th, averaged around 0.1 strokes under par last year but the 18th played 0.14 stokes over par.
Fast or Slow Start
You can recover from a slow start here. Winners in the last five years have placed 13th, 16th, 1st, 2nd and 41st after Round 1.
Only one winner int he last five years has been outside the top 10 at halfwy (Jim Herman last year).
Every winner in the last five years has been inside the top 5 through 54 holes. Three of those five have led with 18 holes to go.
In-play
Wyndham Championship In-Play Blog
15th August 2021, 12:40pm
| Player | Total |
|---|
| Henley |
-15 |
| McCumber |
-12 |
| Six Players Tied |
-11 |
Potential storms have led to tee times being brought forward today with leaders off at 2:12pm UK time. There has been a lot of overnight rain so the course should play soft with the chasing pack attacking pins.
Henley holds his lead which is now three over our 125/1 in-play tip Tyler McCumber. There is then six players four behind Henley and six players five behind. Henley is best price 10/11 to convert but we wouldn't be going near that price.
We've watched numerous 3rd round leaders beaten in recent weeks on tour, highlighting just how hard it is to get the job done from the front. As previously mentioned, Henley hasn't won since 2017 and looked was poor when co-leading the US Open a few weeks ago to finish 13th. In total, he's led twice through 54 holes and converted none.
The strength of the chasing pack is another reason to think Henley will need to be on his A-game to close today. There is too many to name them all but the likes of Simpson, Grace, Kisner and Na will surely have a good run at him with the conditions suiting attacking play.
We will add one play in the Skybet specials market which closes at 13:30.
Round 4 Bet
- 1pt Each Way Hudson Swafford WITHOUT HENLEY 33/1 @ Skybet (1/5 1-4)
Swafford was on our radar after round one but his good start was mainly based on a hot putter. Since then, his iron play has been on fire and he now ranks 1st for approach and 5th tee to green. The putter has let him down last couple of rounds but if it heats up today it could all come together. He was won twice on tour, as recently as the 2020 at Corales so we have no concerns over his ability to handle pressure.
14th August 2021, 13:55pm
| Player | Total |
|---|
| Henley |
-14 |
| Simpson |
-10 |
| Sabbatini |
-10 |
| Piercy |
-10 |
| Three Players Tied |
-9 |
Henley ranks 1st for both tee to green and putting stats so it is no surprise he is so far in front at halfway. There's no doubting he will be hard to beat from here if he keeps it up but with Webb on his heels, the job is far from complete.
Simpson looked like he was doing nothing through 13 holes but he played his last five holes in five under par, which itself is a warning to Henley how quickly things could change here.
Our 150/1 pre-event play Scott Piercy also sits in 2nd, as does Olympic Silver medallist Rory Sabbatini, but both might need a bit of help from Henley if they are to contend.
Round 3 Bet
- 1pt Each Way Tyler Duncan 50/1 @ Betfair (1/5 1-4)
Duncan sits in 5th place, five shots behind Henley. He improved his tee to green stats by 6 shots yesterday and ranks 3rd for putting overall. He was 13th here last year so we know the course suits, and won the RSM Classic at the end of 2019 to show his quality when the course suits.
13th August 2021, 10:15am
| Player | Total |
|---|
| Henley |
-8 |
| Thompson |
-6 |
| Kang |
-6 |
| Potter Jr |
-6 |
| Piercy |
-6 |
| Swafford |
-6 |
| Kirk |
-6 |
| Hadwin (through 16) |
-6 |
Russell Henley leads the way at Sedgefield after a bogey free 62 and is now 5/1 favourite to win. He ranks 2nd tee to green, 4th around the green and 10th for putting so it's no surprise to see that add up to a strong score.
Russell also has three top 20's here in his last five attempts. He is a three time winner on tour but not since 2017 despite a few opportunities so that will play on his mind this week. One of those was the US Open earlier this year where a final round 76 left him in 13th place.
Next in the betting is course specialist Webb Simpson who has started nicely with a 65. He's currently available at 6/1. Webb has been trending in the right direction in last couple of events with finishes of 19th and 15th and looks close to winning his first title since last summer at the Heritage. He would be preferred to Henley at the prices but this is still wide open with plenty of players in contention.
Our pre-event picks are off to a flying start with 150/1 Michael Thompson, 150/1 Scott Piercy and 400/1 Andrew Landry all within three of the lead.
Conditions look perfect all day with warm temperatures and minimal wind so we should see more good scoring.
We mentioned in the preview that you can recover from a slow start - winners in the last five years have placed 13th, 16th, 1st, 2nd and 41st after Round 1. With that in mind, we will add a couple of outsiders at juicy prices.
Round 2 Bets
- 0.5pts Each Way Andrew Landry 125/1 @ Bet365 (1/5 1-5)
We don't often top up on our pre-event bets but we can't help ourselves here at this price. Andrew ranked 1st for approach, 1st tee to green and 115th for putting and still shot 65! He has won twice in the last three years on the PGA Tour and is fearless in contention. Currently three shots off the pace, he can play his way into contention this weekend.
- 0.75pts Each Way Ted Potter Jr 100/1 @ Boylesports (1/5 1-6)
Ted is one shot closer to the lead and all aspects of his game appear in good shape. He ranked inside the top 32 of every strokes gained category apart from around the greens. He is also a multiple winner on tour and very much of the Jim Herman profile where he does nothing for a while then pops up with a strong result.
- 0.75pts Each Way Tyler McCumber 125/1 @ Boylesports (1/5 1-6)
Tyler arrived extremely out of form and is probably the basis of his price considering he sits in 2nd place. However, it was this time last year where he found his game, finishing 2nd at Corales and 6th at Sandersons. We have strong memories of him holding himself well under pressure at Corales and was unlucky to be pipped by Swafford. He did everything well yesterday and we're backing him to continue his good play at a massive price.
