Weekly Preview: Wyndham Championship

Wyndham Championship

Sedgefield Country Club
Greensboro, NC 

The PGA Tour heads to North Carolina for the final "regular season" event of the campaign.

For most in the field, the Wyndham Championship is just another stop, but for those jockeying for a spot in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, this tournament becomes the most important on the schedule. This week's event also provides many golfers the opportunity to improve their chances of making the TOUR Championship at the end of the season, so even though the playoffs don't start for another week, there is still a lot on the line. 

As expected, the field is a little thin, and that's due to the Wyndham Championship's spot of the schedule, tucked between a WGC event and the postseason tournaments. For anyone playing this week and last, it's going to be a long stretch of golf, with no break for five weeks. That's enough to scare most of the top players off, but there are some brave souls on hand, including the favorite, Webb Simpson, who as you'll see soon, has a superb track record here. 

The field may be thin, but we have plenty of course history to work with. Working against us are the two most recent winners, Jim Herman and J.T. Poston. Long shots have proven they can win, so you'll want to extend your research beyond the golfers at the top.

LAST YEAR

Jim Herman shot a final-round 63 on his way to a one-stroke victory over Billy Horschel.

FAVORITES

Webb Simpson (12-1)

Simpson is the clear favorite, and if he were playing better, the first number would be only a single digit. The reason is his insane track record at Sedgefield. Simpson has won this event just once, but he finished no worse that T3 in his past four starts here. Go back seven starts and he's finished outside the top six only once! His game has been off for the better part of the season, but he might be trending back in the right direction after posting top-20s in his two most recent starts -- both which included quality fields.

Hideki Matsuyama (16-1)

Matsuyama's track record here is a bit scattered, but his recent play has been stellar, which is why he checks in behind only Simpson on the odds chart. Matsuyama has finished top-15 here three times and has missed the cut three others, so that doesn't help us much. However, his recent play would lead us to believe he's in for a quality showing. Matsuyama recorded a runner-up this past week at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, and he just missed out on a bronze medal at the Olympics a week prior. It looks like he has fully recovered from his Masters hangover.

Louis Oosthuizen (18-1)

Oosthuizen has withdrawn from this week's event.

Oosthuizen is making a run at the theoretical Ironman Award, as it seems he is teeing it up every chance he gets. Outside of the Olympics, Oosthuizen has played in every tournament since the Open Championship. He has been on a roll since the U.S. Open in June, and although he slowed a little this past week, he did manage another top-20. With that said, rolling objects are bound to come to a stop at some point, and considering he hasn't played this event before and the playoffs are on the horizon, I would guess a letdown could be in store.

THE NEXT TIER

Patrick Reed (25-1)

Reed has withdrawn from this week's event.

While Oosthuizen has played a lot lately, he's got nothing on Reed, who has played each and every week since the Open, including the Olympics two weeks ago. Reed's level of play during that stretch has not matched Oosthuizen's, but his track record here gives him a bit of an edge this time around. Reed won this event in 2013 and has a total of five top-25s in six starts.

Jason Kokrak (30-1)

Kokrak has had quite the campaign, as he sits sixth in the FedExCup Standings entering this week. His two wins this season have locked him into the TOUR Championship in a few weeks, so anything from here on out is just gravy. Kokrak has not played all that well since his most recent victory in late May, but all but one of those starts came in a major or WGC event. Getting back to a regular Tour stop might be what he needs to get back on track.

Brian Harman (30-1)

It's hard to tell if Harman's recent stretch of hot play has come to an end, or if it was just rust that led to his T36 this past week. He did miss the cut at the John Deere Classic a few weeks prior, so perhaps the hot streak is over and it's back to playing well in certain spots. This could be one of those, though, as Harman shot in the 60s in seven of his past eight rounds here. He's just outside the top 30 in the Standings, so motivation will not be a problem for him.

LONG SHOTS

Si Woo Kim (40-1)

Herman won this event last year and nobody saw that coming, so if you can pick out the Herman for this year, more power to you. I'm going to stick with the fundamentals of recent play or track record -- with the emphasis on the "or" in this case, as Kim certainly has the history but doesn't currently have the form. His results here are second only to Simpson, so this could be the spot where he rediscovers his game.

Robert MacIntyre (50-1)

MacIntyre is a better bet in a major, but his skills can't be denied. He is another European golfer that appears to have what it takes to succeed stateside, and it's now on him to prove he can do it. There have been more than a few players in that category that never panned out, and only time will tell if MacIntyre can. The early returns look positive, though.

ONE-AND-DONE LEAGUES

Highly-owned Pick: Webb Simpson - Sometimes it's tough to figure out where the masses will land, but this is not one of those weeks. OAD players wait all year to deploy Simpson in this spot, so anyone that still has him is going to use him. His play hasn't been great this year, but he loves this tournament and will surely bring his best effort to the course.

Moderately-owned Pick: Hideki Matsuyama - The Masters champion was not having a great season before his win at Augusta and hasn't played all that well since -- until recently that is, which is why he's likely still available for a lot of OAD players. His track record here is not great, but he does have a top-3 on his resume, so he has proven he is capable of going low at Sedgefield.

Lightly-owned Pick: Si Woo Kim - His recent play is probably enough to scare most OAD players away, but his results here are hard to ignore. Kim won this event in 2016 and posted a top-5 each of the past two years. He was awful this past week, which is why he won't garner a lot of attention. With that said, his ceiling is high, so if you need to make a move he's your guy.

Buyer Beware: Louis Oosthuizen - I've been on Oosthuizen for most of the past two months, but I think the ride is about to come to an end. I'm not really sure why he's playing in North Carolina, as he's bound to play each of the next three weeks as well and has had only one brief break since the last major.

Last Week: Collin Morikawa - T26 - $89,000

Season Total: $7,117,832

This Week: Si Woo Kim - I don't have a lot to choose from, as I've used most of the favorites already, so I'm going to take my own advice and choose a golfer with a lot of upside. I need to make up a lot of ground at this point, so even if Kim misses the cut, that won't do as much harm as a quality result would do a lot of good.

FANDUEL PICKS

Upper Range: Webb Simpson ($12,100)
Middle Range: Si Woo Kim ($10,600)
Lower Range: Brandon Hagy ($8,400)

SURVIVOR LEAGUES

Last Week: N/A

Streak: 3

This Week: Brandt Snedeker - Simpson is the obvious choice in this format if you still have him, but I used him in the fall. As such, I'll go with Snedeker, who like Simpson has a sterling track record in this event. Snedeker has made the cut here in 11-of-13 starts and has a win on his resume as well.