Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the Wyndham Championship
2018 Wyndham Championship Fantasy Preview
For a guy who has admitted golf doesn’t excite him all that much, Brooks Koepka certainly found his mojo in time for the Majors.
Almost ridiculously, three of Koepka’s four PGA titles are majors, as his relative stroll to glory at last week’s PGA Championship joins those two US Open victories in the can. The 28-year-old is, simply, the man for the big occasion.
He held his nerve amidst a classic Tiger charge, too. In a performance reminiscent of his dominant heyday, the big cat fired in a succession of birdies as the Bellerive crowd cheered him towards the unlikeliest of victories.
Brooks Koepka of the United States walks on the 18th hole during the…
Brooks Koepka of the United States walks on the 18th hole during the final round of the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club on August 12, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. Get premium, high Resolution News Photos at Getty Images
A wayward drive on seventeen ended those hopes, but once again added fuel to the fire that Tiger will win again, soon enough, on the PGA TOUR.
We’re into one of the most crucial weeks of the season, in some respects. The Wyndham Championship is the last chance that the players have to crash into the FedExCup top-125 standings, and book their spot in the curtain-call series of events in the upcoming weeks.
It may be a weak field that descends on Sedgefield CC – most of the big guns will take the week off ahead of the Northern Trust next week, but there will still be plenty of high stakes knee-knocking golf to enjoy nonetheless.
Last Week’s Fantasy Results
Our ‘Top-Tier 2′ pick last week was Brooks Koepka, and for a very good reason. Coming into the event as one of our clear favorites with the bombing ability off the tee, ol’ Brooks was undervalued to say the least, sitting at a cheap $9,600 on DraftKings.
His win offered DFS players a whopping 129.5 fantasy points, and certainly the boost needed to cash in.
Brooks Kopeka’s name sits at the top of the final scoreboard after…
Brooks Kopeka’s name sits at the top of the final scoreboard after the final round of the 100th PGA Championship at the Bellerive Country Club on August 12, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images
The winning recipe looks like it would have been Koepka, Tiger, Adam Scott … that is if you had enough trust in the dormant Aussie who hasn’t won a major since the 2013 Masters. Adam was only $7,600 on the salary list and ended up pouring in 97 fantasy points.
With the win, Koepka marks our 5th winner picked on the PGA TOUR this season.
The 2018 Wyndham Championship Field
As mentioned, this isn’t a high-class field and only two of the FedExCup top-30 – local boys Webb Simpson and Chesson Hadley – make the trip.
Henrik Stenson will attempt to defend his crown, while the young stud Joaquin Niemann once again gets the call up. Despite having plenty of FedExCup points in the bank, due to his status as a recently turned pro he actually needs to win at Sedgefield to confirm his place in the season finale.
Hideki Matsuyama was also an eleventh-hour addition to the field. Sat in 88th in the standings, his hand may have been forced with points to defend.
The so-called ‘bubble boys,’ i.e. those on the fringes of the top-125, include Sergio Garcia (131st), Shane Lowry (139th), Steve Stricker (141st) and Graeme McDowell (143rd). They will need a strong week to book their place in the Northern Trust.
Sergio Garcia of Spain plays his shot from the 16th tee during the…
Sergio Garcia of Spain plays his shot from the 16th tee during the second round of the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club on August 10, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images
This Week’s Course Preview
The Donald Ross design at Sedgefield Country Club is a largely nondescript affair, although his trademark small greens offer an insight into which kinds of players might thrive in Greensboro.
Playing at 7,127 yards for its Par 70, Sedgefield is a fairly tight off the tee too, so finding the right areas off the peg is key as you approach these tiny Bermuda greens. They typically slope from back to front and run quickly at about 12 on the stimp, and it’s no surprise that those who have a strong four days with the putter tend to get the job done here.
Stenson hit a variety of clubs off the tee last year and still left mid to short irons in, and so there is no real advantage to drafting bombers; indeed, wayward drives will be gobbled up by thick rough, which presents a real challenge getting back onto the greens in regulation.
This is an easy layout having said that, with the last four winning scores here reading -22, -21, -17 and -17. It’s noticeable that the scoring has gotten better as the switch from Bentgrass to Bermuda came in 2012, with Si-Woo Kim, the 2016 champion, carding a round of 60.
Henrik Stenson and Kevin Na walk the 18th hole during the final round…
Henrik Stenson and Kevin Na walk the 18th hole during the final round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club on August 20, 2017 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images
Weather Forecast for Greensboro, NC
It’s a game of two halves this week in Greensboro, with Monday though Friday looking warm, dry and with plenty of sunny spells.
It’s the weekend where the forecasters are a little more uncertain. Saturday’s prediction is for ‘scattered thunderstorms,’ which look likely to head in around lunchtime. Oddly, the chance of rain never goes above 50% throughout the day, but it would be fair to expect a shower or two at some point.
And there’s a similar feel on Sunday too, with those scattered thunderstorms expected to move in at some point during the afternoon.
Last Year’s Results from The Wyndham Championship
The Wyndham Championship throws up a trend that may benefit those who can have a bet in-running: each of the last ten winners was placed inside the top-10 on the leaderboard at the halfway stage.
Henrik Stenson continued that theme last year. He was neatly placed heading into the weekend and then put his foot on the gas, closing out 66-64 to fire -10 on the weekend and win from one stroke from Ollie Schneiderjans, who also finished fast.
Local favorite Webb Simpson was four back on -18, while the trio of Ryan Armour, Kevin Na and Rory Sabbatini were tied in fourth on -17.
Where to Play Fantasy Golf for The Wyndham Championship this Week
The big bucks of major week may be behind us, but there’s still plenty to play for this week with some intriguing and lucrative contests.
- PGA $425k Champ Series Club Twirl: There’s $100k for the winner here, and most importantly the other payouts are more generous than is often the case too. The top 25% of players will earn $70 (for a $44 entry), while the top 110 will take home a $250 bounty.
- PGA $40k Albatross: This feels like one of those weeks where even the big spenders won’t have a huge advantage, such is the difficulty of picking a winning roster. So, maximise your advantage in a single entry contest like this, where you could win $4k from a $12 entry.
This Week’s Fantasy Notes for The Wyndham Championship
The Wyndham Championship throws up such an array of different champions it can be hard to know where to start our search this week!
Sam Snead and Davis Love III have both won this tournament in their fifties, and yet five of the last nine winners were all picking up their maiden PGA TOUR title. It would seem that age is just a number at Sedgefield.
And the number of outsiders and long-shots that have won here in recent times is extraordinary: four of the last five champions were priced at 100/1 or greater with the sportsbooks.
Why is that? Sedgefield certainly isn’t a difficult course, and so there’s not the usual ‘cream rising to the top’ feel that you see at more complex layouts. The switch to Bermuda greens arguably helps many in the field too.
The recipe judging by the stats of recent winners is find the fairways (length is irrelevant), approach well with mid to short irons and putt like a demon; both Stenson and Si-Woo Kim ranked second for Putting Average in their victorious efforts.
Arguably the key stat is Par 4 Birdie or Better Leaders: there are only two Par 5s, but with a winning score of late teens or early twenties under par, clearly headway must be made on the standard holes too.
As for correlating courses, Donald Ross layouts are few and far between on Tour. His East Lake stretch hosts the FedExCup curtain call that is the Tour Championship, and Oak Hills hosted the PGA Championship in 2013.
Other points of interest may be the Wells Fargo, which is also played in North Carolina, and oddly the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town. That’s a resort-style layout, so there’s no obvious similarities, although former Wyndham champions Webb Simpson, Si-Woo Kim and Luke Donald have all finished second at Harbour Town too.
Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win The Wyndham Championship
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Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2017-2018)
Total Top 3s
Total Top 10s
Total Top 25s
Total Winners Picked
Total Runners-Up Picked
Total Made Cuts (Includes Sleepers)
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