This article is part of our FanDuel PGA DFS Picks series.
Wyndham Championship
Course: Sedgefield Country Club (7,131 yards, par 70)
Purse: $7,300,000
Winner: $1,314,000 and 500 FedExCup points
Tournament Preview
The good news for everyone teeing it up at the Wyndham Championship is that the unstoppable force of Tony Finau will not be in Greensboro to challenge them. After having won the 3M Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic with birdie after birdie, Finau will take this week off to rest for a push at the FedExCup title. There are many in this 156-man field at the Wyndham Championship looking to jump into the top-125 and secure their spot in the playoffs, as well as lock up a card for next season. It doesn't get any more dramatic than what Chesson Hadley did a year ago by firing a final-round 62 that included a hole-in-one at 16 to jump to No. 125 on the dot and make the playoffs by a single point.
Sedgefield Country Club will play host to this event for the 15th consecutive year following a restoration of the now 96-year-old club back in 2007. This will be the second straight week that players will tee it up on a Donald Ross design course. Will Zalatoris is the highest ranked player in the field at the Wyndham Championship as he seeks that elusive first PGA Tour win. Other notables looking to improve their FedExCup point position going into the playoffs include Billy Horschel, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Webb Simpson, Harold Varner III, and Sungjae Im. Recent champions at Sedgefield looking for more success in Greensboro include Kevin Kisner (2021), J.T. Poston (2019), Si Woo Kim (2016), and Davis Love III (2015) who won his third Wyndham Championship title at age 51.
It is annually one of the most compelling final rounds of the year with all the uncertainty of the FedExCup playoff bubble. Add into that the fact that the tournament has been decided by one or less strokes in seven of the last nine years. Sedgefield Country Club is a place where players can take it really low, as five straight editions were won with scores of at least 21-under-par prior to the 2021 playing where the epic six-man playoff was conducted for those finishing at 15-under-par. Playing in August in the South, it's almost impossible to go four straight days without at least a brief thunderstorm or two. That typically keeps the golf course soft and allows players to really be aggressive into the greens. This year should be no different. Temperatures will top out in the low-90's with the greatest threat of a storm being over the weekend. Wind will also not be much of a factor at all.
Recent Champions
2021 – Kevin Kisner (-15)
2020 – Jim Herman (-21)
2019 – J.T. Poston (-22)
2018 – Brandt Snedeker (-21)
2017 – Henrik Stenson (-22)
2016 – Si Woo Kim (-21)
2015 – Davis Love III (-17)
2014 – Camilo Villegas (-17)
2013 – Patrick Reed (-14)
2012 – Sergio Garcia (-18)
Key Stats to Victory
- SG: Approach
- GIR Percentage
- SG: Putting
- Scrambling
Champion's Profile
Like a lot of Donald Ross designs, everything is right in front of you at Sedgefield Country Club. There are not really a lot of tricks out there, which is what PGA Tour players love. The main defense of the course is the green complexes. The greens are pretty average in size for PGA Tour standards, but do feature a fair amount of undulation. Most of the greens are elevated and a poor approach shot can leave you with a tricky pitch off tight Bermuda grass. This is a week where you want players who rank high in the iron play stats. That will tend to give you more quality looks at birdies on these greens. Speaking of the greens, they will be prepped to run a typical 12 on the Stimpmeter. The putting surfaces here are as smooth as there is all season and they are a favorite amongst Tour players. Sedgefield is not an overly demanding driving course, so that's not something I really focused on in selecting players this week. Like the last few weeks on Tour, scores will be very low so choosing a player who ranks high in birdie average certainly can't hurt.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Will Zalatoris ($11,900)
I talked about the importance of iron play this week and there's no better player on Tour in that department than Zalatoris. He leads this season in SG: Approach and ranks second in SG: Tee-to-Green. Zalatoris is also ninth in GIR percentage and 12th in birdie average. He got off to a slow start in Detroit last week, but put together a strong final-round 65 to jump into the top-20.
Russell Henley ($10,900)
Well, we took the best iron player on Tour this season, so how about the man who is No. 2 in SG: Approach? Henley is a fine choice this week, having missed last year's playoff by a stroke after leading at the end of each of the first three rounds. He also notched a T9 the year before at Sedgefield. Henley is coming off a top-10 last week in Detroit and his short game is better than people give him credit for.
Harold Varner III ($10,500)
This North Carolina is an absolute birdie machine. Varner ranks 28th in SG: Approach, 17th in SG: Around-the-Green and 14th in putts per round this season. After an inconsistent start to the season, Varner has now made 11-of-12 cuts with eight top-30 finishes in that stretch. He has only missed one cut in six tries at Sedgefield and owns a pair of top-10 finishes as well.
Scott Stallings ($10,100)
Another week, another really good number for a player coming off three straight top-10 finishes. He doesn't have a great record at Sedgefield, but to be fair this is about the most consistent he has played throughout his entire career. Stallings has ranked top-12 in SG: Tee-to-Green each of his last three starts. That ball-striking has paired very well with a putter that has been strong all season.
Longer Shots with Value
Denny McCarthy ($9,800)
McCarthy isn't the iron player as some others on this list, but his play this season and this price is too good to pass up. The 29-year-old has finished top-seven in three of his last five starts. McCarthy ranks top-20 this season in SG: Putting, sand save percentage and par-4 scoring average. He has made the cut in each of his four attempts at Sedgefield with three top-25 finishes.
Adam Long ($9,600)
The memo on Long during his time on the PGA Tour is incredible inconsistency. He has flipped that over the summer, however, as Long has notched four straight top-25 finishes. Over that stretch he has flashed a lot of skills. At the 3M Open he ranked fourth in SG: Approach and first in GIR's, at the John Deere Classic he led the field in scrambling and at the Travelers Championship he ranked second in SG: Putting.
C.T. Pan ($8,900)
Pan has been very consistent all the way through the bag this season. He ranks top-70 on Tour in SG: Approach, SG: Around-the-Green, proximity to the hole, driving accuracy and scrambling. Pan has made the cut in 11-of-14 starts and has five top-30 finishes in that stretch. Pan has made the cut in all four of his tries at Sedgefield including a runner-up finish back in 2018.
Matthew NeSmith ($8,600)
NeSmith is a solid option to fill out a roster. He made the cut in nine of his last 10 starts, a stretch that included a trio of top-20 finishes. NeSmith has been an elite iron player throughout his brief PGA Tour career, and that should play to his advantage at Sedgefield.
Strategy Tips This Week
Based on a Standard $60K Salary Cap
Given his incredible history in this event, I expect a lot of people to be on Webb Simpson this week. But looking at his recent play, ownership and a $11,600 salary, I just think there are better options to look at that also carry a lower salary. This field is not quite as top heavy as last week and the majority of the value is loaded $9,500-$10,5000 range. You could very easily pick six players in that range and have a very strong top-to-bottom lineup with a solid chance of getting all of them to the weekend. Si Woo Kim ($10,300), Aaron Wise ($10,000), Joohyung Kim ($9,800), and Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($9,600) are some other guys not mentioned above in that range that are strong options as well.
