Wyndham Championship Preview: In Need of a Good Reed

We are days removed from golf's first foray into the Olympic Games in over a century; and oddly enough, the verdict is still out as to whether it was a smashing success. Justin Rose outlasted Henrik Stenson for the gold medal, in what I am told was a classic. I had to be told, because quite frankly, I wasn't interested. Without the biggest names in golf in the field and a PGA Tour event being held simultaneously, I simply didn't make time for it. That's no slight against Olympic golf though; the only non-PGA event I make time for is the Ryder Cup -- even the President's Cup is a tough sell for me. I'm sure I'm not alone in my thoughts, but those that either participated or watched seem to think it was a fantastic spectacle.

Even as I write this, I'm still on the fence as to whether or not it is a good idea to include golf in the Olympics. After this past weekend, it seems like a good idea, though. After all, Olympic golf was able to draw a decent amount of interest despite by far the biggest names in the game not participating. If Spieth, Day McIlroy, and Johnson were in the mix, it would be a lot more interesting.

Speaking of more interesting, how about changing the format? I'm sure I missed this debate already, but isn't the Olympics a great venue for Match Play? A gold medal match anyone? And what about teams? I'm sure there are legit reasons why a single-player stroke-play event was the way to go, but I'm also sure that there are ways to change that four years from now.

This week: Wyndham Championship - Sedgefield Country Club - Greensboro, NC

Last Year: Davis Love III shot a final-round 64 on his way to a one-stroke victory over Jason Gore.

PLAYERS TO CONSIDER

Webb Simpson

Simpson's career certainly hasn't taken off like many thought it would after capturing the 2012 U.S. Open, but he has managed to look like that player in certain spots. This is one of those spots, as success has come easy for Simpson at this event. Since missing the cut in his initial start here, Simpson has finished no worse than T22 in six starts.

Jon Rahm

Though he's made a name for himself in just a short time on the PGA Tour, Rahm has yet to make a huge splash. That could change this week as he seems very close to breaking through. Rahm played well again last week, but again, he was just missing a little something. He'll put it all together sometime soon and with a field void of any huge names, this looks like a good spot.

Wesley Bryan

Bryan earned a "battlefield promotion" from the Web.com Tour two weeks ago and has wasted no time getting accustomed to the PGA Tour, even holding the 36-hole lead at last week's John Deere Classic. While it's a lot to ask of Bryan to continue this hot stretch, he seems to be in the zone, so why not?

Bill Haas

The late-summer/fall season has been very good to Haas over his career and there's no reason to think that will change this year. He has played particularly well at this event over the years, with four straight top-20s entering this year's event, including three top-10s.

Ryan Moore

I'm rarely fond of backing the guy who won the week prior, but Moore has both the form and the track record here to be a contender this week. Moore won this event in 2009 and finished in the top-10 here last year.

PLAYERS TO AVOID

Justin Leonard

Though Leonard's game has fallen apart over the past decade, he's managed to play well at this event for the most part. However, it's only a matter of time before his play at Sedgefield falls off as well. Leonard enters this week having missed the cut at his previous three stops on the PGA Tour.

Billy Horschel

Horschel turned in an incredible effort during the Fed Ex Cup Playoffs two years ago, but that run started after the Wyndham and truth be told, his run that year was more due to a hot streak than an affinity for the course in play. Regardless, Horschel has never really fared well at this event, failing to crack the top-30 in any of his four starts.

Jason Gore

Gore finished runner-up here last year, but as we all know, he finds his game a couple times per season and this happened to be one of those times. The odds of finding his game again this year in the same spot are not good. Gore enters this week on a streak of four consecutive missed cuts on the PGA Tour.

Geoff Ogilvy

If you caught any of the televised action of the John Deere last weekend you may have witnessed a few of Ogilvy's shots, and that's because, believe or not, he was in contention for a bit. However, don't expect that to happen again this week.

Hideki Matsuyama

It's strange to see Matsuyama's name in the field this week, but I guess it shouldn't be as he has played here the past three years. His success in those three years was minimal though, as after an initial T15, he missed the last two cuts.

ONE AND DONE GOLFER

Last week: Jon Rahm (T25) - $47,226; Season - $8,832,401

This week: Wesley Bryan - If Bryan doesn't do something big this week, he won't be playing in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, so this might be the last chance to use him this season. You might as well strike while the iron is hot.

YAHOO PICKS

Points: 4450
Rank: 17,365

This Week:

Group A: Ryan Moore, Rickie Fowler

Group B: Webb Simpson, Patrick Reed, Brandt Snedeker, Jimmy Walker

Group C: Jon Rahm, Wesley Bryan

SURVIVOR PICK

Last week: Chris Stroud (T38); Streak - 2

This week: Jon Rahm - I wasn't comfortable using Rahm in this spot two weeks ago, but he's proven to be pretty reliable already, so even though he has no track record at this event, I'll go with Rahm this week.