Wyndham Championship: Expert Picks

Wyndham Championship
When: August 18^th -€” 21^st

Where: Sedgefield Country Club
2015 Winner: Davis Love III (-17)

This is the final event before the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The format of this will go: I will select golfers based on the Yahoo format. I will select one A golfer, 2 B golfers and 1 C golfer that I think will do well as well as one dark horse pick, this should space out the selections and provide a vast field to select from for anyone who is in a format where you are limited to 10 starts per year.

Sedgefield CC -€” This course was designed in 1926 by Donald Ross -€” renovated in 2007 to increase it's length and make it commensurate with comparable PGA courses. The fairways are wide and easy to land on -€” the key to this week is to look at best Total Drivers, they have a track record of success here. This is similar to TPC Deere Run and River Highlands -€” the big difference is the greens are a bit trickier to land at Sedgefield. It is among the more challenging courses on the tour and players have to be calculated with their shots which behooves veterans of this course.

A: 
Keegan Bradley -€” After a slow 2014 season, Keegan rebounded quite a bit in 2015 and now after a similar struggle through the first half of 2016 he's clawed his way back into contention. He missed 6 cuts in the first 8 starts of 2016 but since then, has missed only four in his last 14. Among the last 14 starts has been 5 finishes in the top 25. Despite his track record of 0 previous starts here, I like his drive capabilities here. He is 1^st in total driving and if you look here -€” notoriously players who have good total drive metrics succeed (Paul Casey, Bill Haas, Charl Schwartzel, Webb Simpson). Second -€” its consistency -€” he's shot sub 70 in 7 of his last 8 rounds. Third it's drive (the emotional kind), the top 125 get invited into the first round at the Barlcays and Keegan is at 108. I'm sure he wants to move up that chart a bit and provide a buffer for the next cutoff which is 100 for the Deutsche Bank Championship

B: 
Webb Simpson -€” I mean...he did name his third kid "Wyndham" likely after the first tournament that he had a PGA Victory in 2008. If that isn't enough, his track record here 6^th (2015) 5^th (204) 11^th (2013) and 22^nd (2012). If there is such a thing -€” he's a top ten lock here.

Brandt Snedeker -€” Another player in an up and down year, he started out brilliantly with three consecutive top 3 finishes to start the year, and then another 3 top 25 finishes in his next 8 tournaments. The Players Championship turned his season sour where he missed the cut in 3 out of 4 tournaments. Since the US Open though, he has finished in the top 25 in 3 of his last 4. He has a long track record here with some solid finishes -€” 43^rd (2015), 5^th(2014), MC (2013), 28^th (2012), MC (2011), 8^th (2010), 5^th (2009).

C:
Bill Haas -€”  a 5x5 on Bill Haas: His last 5 tournaments: 3^rd (Quicken Loans National), 2^nd (CVS Health Charity), 38^th (World Golf Championship), 9^th (Open Championship) and 56^th (PGA Championship). His last 5 appearances here: 6^th (2015), 2^nd (2014), 20^th (2013), 7^th (2012), Missed Cut (2011).

Sleeper Pick:
Bud Cauley -€” After one of the most dominating rookie seasons, Bud has struggled to come back into full form as he is always close but a few shots short. Watching him last week at the John Deere classic, he looked about as comfortable as I've seen him play since 2011. He finished 3^rd here in 2012 and has missed the cuts in two appearances since then. Freddie Jacobson is the logical pick for this spot but I'm rolling the dice on Bud to have another strong performance here.

Last tournament results -€” Travelers Championship (156 total) -€” Picks: Moore, Z. Johnson, J. Kelly, Stricker and Wise
A: 1^st place
B: 34^th place; 133^rd place
C: 52^nd place
Dark Horse: 16^th place

YTD Avg: (Average field of 136 people)
A: 36^th place 
B: 33^rd place
C: 51^st place
Dark Horse: 49^th place

Fun factoid about this tournament: Charlie Sifford completed here in 1961 -€” the first time an African American golfer was permitted to play in a PGA-sponsored event in the South.