Weekly Preview: Wyndham Championship

Wyndham Championship

Sedgefield Country Club
Greensboro, NC

The PGA Tour heads to Greensboro, NC this week on the heels of the first major of the year. What a major it was. To say that Sunday leaderboard's was stacked is an understatement. Sure, the top-ranked players in the world were nowhere to be found, but the PGA Tour is so loaded right now, that even without Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy in contention there was plenty of firepower at the top. The days of the likes of Shaun Micheel and Ben Curtis winning majors appear to be long gone. 

Sunday's winner, Collin Morikawa is beginning to pull away from Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff as the clear leader of the Class of '19. While they all have wins, Morikawa is the only one with a major, and we all know about impressive made-cut streak that recently ended. It will be interesting to see the heights he can reach and if he will maintain his lead over Wolff and Hovland throughout his career. 

As for this week, we have the Wyndham Championship, which serves as the bridge between the first major of the season and the FedExCup Playoffs. It's the last chance for some to earn a playoff spot, and you can bet there will be drama all over the leaderboard with a top-20 result possibly making the difference between playing next week and sitting at home.

LAST YEAR

J.T. Poston shot a final-round 62 on his way to a one-stroke victory over Webb Simpson.

FAVORITES

Webb Simpson (10-1)

Simpson has only won this event one time in 11 starts, but make no mistake, this is his event. Simpson has made the cut here in 10 of 11 starts and he's finished inside the top 10 seven times. He finished no worse than third here each of the past three years. Given how well he has played this year he's the clear favorite.                      

Brooks Koepka (14-1)  

Koepka played well last week, and for a moment it looked like a three-peat was in order. At the end of the day, though, he ran out of gas -- or just lost his swing. Whatever the case, he wasn't able to close the deal in his latest attempt at a major championship, and that appears to be a result of the state of his game. Put it this way: if Koepka can't find that final gear at a major, what are the odds he can do it at Sedgefield CC?

Patrick Reed (16-1)

Reed has had an interesting season. Though he has just one win, he still sits sixth in the FedExCup Standings. That's due to his consistent, albeit not spectacular, play since his win in February. He has been a fixture on the periphery for months now, always lurking but never quite making that final push needed to become a real factor. That could change this week, as the level of competition is not what it was in recent weeks.

THE NEXT TIER

Paul Casey (20-1)

There's certainly a chance Casey suffers a PGA Championship hangover, as he came awfully close to winning his first major. However, he seems pretty level-headed and should rebound well. Casey has a decent track record here, and he has played his best golf at this event over his three most recent starts. Each of those starts resulted in a top-20, with a peak of T3 in 2015. He hasn't played here that often, but when he has, at least lately, he's been pretty good.

 Justin Rose (25-1)

It has not been a good season for Rose, as he sits outside the top 100 in the FedExCup Standings, but he's coming off a good showing at the PGA and he knows that he needs to make a move to improve his position. His track record here is scattered, with two missed cuts and two top-10s in four starts. It's a bit unnerving that hasn't played here much over the past decade, but the high finishes provide reason for optimism.

Harris English (25-1)

English started the season on fire, with four top-10s in his first five starts. While he has slowed some since, he has remained pretty consistent. English missed the cut in his first start after play resumed, but since then he has posted a top-20 in each of his four starts, including a T19 this past week at the PGA. His track record here is good, but not great, with no missed cuts but only one top-10 in six starts.

LONG SHOTS

Kevin Kisner (40-1)  

Kisner struggled going into and coming out of the hiatus, but he appears to be hitting his stride just in time for the Playoffs. He posted a T25 at the latest WGC Event and a T19 at the PGA Championship this past week. While those aren't great results, it does look like he's trending in the right direction. His track record here is pretty good, with two top-10s and no missed cuts in five tries.

Tom Lewis (80-1)  

This is a bit of a shot in the dark, but that's kind of what you are looking for in a long shot, right? Lewis caught the attention of the golf world with his runner-up at the WGC event a couple weeks back, and although he missed the cut at the PGA, he did open with a solid round of 67. Sure, we'd like more consistency, but when you are looking for guys in this rage you want upside, which Lewis appears to have.

ONE-AND-DONE LEAGUES

Highly-owned Pick: Webb Simpson - This is the spot for Simpson. If you've held out this long, there's no reason to wait any longer, as he will not have a better chance to win. Simpson was a big favorite heading into last year's Wyndham Championship, and while he failed to win, he performed well as the favorite, finishing just one shot behind the winner.                            

Moderately-owned Pick: Paul Casey - Casey should be pretty popular this week, given that he has played well here in the past and just recorded the best major finish of his career. As long as there's no carryover from the near-miss Casey should be fine. Like Simpson, this is the best spot left for him on the schedule.

Lightly-owned Pick: Harris English - With only a handful of events left on the schedule, and most of them of the high-profile variety, English isn't someone that many OAD players will be looking at. But if you need to make a move this week, he could be your guy. English hasn't found that final push much since the calendar flipped, but he's usually in the mix, which means he's cashing decent checks nearly every time out.                                  

Buyer Beware: Brooks Koepka - Just one week removed from being a popular pick, we are back in a familiar spot with Koepka, as we again have to worry about motivation and quite honestly, the overall state of his game. His game is in good shape, but he doesn't have his best form, otherwise he presumably would have made more of a push this past week. If you didn't use Koepka last week, you might as well wait for the U.S. Open.      

Last Week: Brooks Koepka - (T29) - $69,500

Season Total: $5,239,571  

This Week: Kevin Kisner - I like Kisner this week, but if I'm being honest, I wish I had a better option. Then again, there don't appear to be many great options outside of Simpson, and most OAD players have already used him. Kisner is trending in the right direction, so who knows, maybe he finds his best form in North Carolina.

FANDUEL PICKS  

Upper Range: Webb Simpson ($11,900)
Middle Range: Kevin Kisner ($9,800)
Lower Range: Adam Long ($8,700)

SURVIVOR LEAGUES

Last Week: Brooks Koepka 

Streak: 1

This Week: Kevin Kisner - There are only a handful of golfers that have played this event more than 10 times, so the fact that Kisner has only played here five times shouldn't scare you in this format. He's a perfect 5-5 in made cuts and is generally a reliable a pick in this format when he's playing even reasonably well.