Wyndham Championship Picks & Matchup Bets
Event: Wyndham Championship
When: August 13-16, 2020
Where:Sedgefield CC – Greensboro, NC
Watch: The Golf Channel/CBS
With just one week left ahead of the FedExCup Playoffs, this PGA Tour season is in its final sprint with the regular season wrapping up this week in Greensboro at the Wyndham Championship. There is a very noteworthy fall schedule yet to come, including two more Major Championships, but the race to East Lake and the TOUR Championship will dominate the next month, and some notable names are looking to make sure they get there. Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka, and Jordan Spieth are paired together for the first two rounds this week, and while all three are headed to the Playoffs, they need two good finishes to make it past the Northern Trust. Brandt Snedeker has won the Wyndham twice and could use another solid result to improve on his playoff standing. J.T. Poston will defend his 2019 title against one of the strongest Wyndham fields in recent history with former champs Patrick Reed and Webb Simpson among the public betting favorites.
Sedgefield CC has roots dating back to the Greater Greensboro Open days of the Tour but fell out of the PGA rotation as the modern game left the Donald Ross design behind. The course was re-tailored to bring it back to a championship level in the early 2000s and the 7,100 yard, par-70 layout has hosted this event since 2008. Modern-day length was added to the course, but what remained untouched were the traditionally small greens. Sedgefield becomes a ball-strikers haven with those compact targets, and the overall tee-to-green challenge is much more about hitting the correct shot, rather than the aggressive one. Those that can find the greens are rewarded with quality birdie looks, and the overall scoring pace has been fast in recent editions with winning totals reaching 21-under par in four straight years. Brandt Snedeker set the course record with a 59 in 2019, and J.T. Poston tied the tournament record when he hit 22-under last year.
Each week, we take a look at the online betting sites and highlight the best values on the board. We make a short, middle, and long odds pick to win and breakdown a couple of popular head-to-head matches that you can find at just about every golf betting outlet. Odds to win and pairings for this week can be found at Bovada. Here are our picks to win the 2020 Wyndham Championship.
Justin Rose (20 to 1 odds to win)
July was not kind to Rose as he went 15-over par in two starts, missing the cut in each but a return to form produced a 9th place finish at The PGA Championship. He will be making just his second start at Sedgefield with a T5 the result way back in 2009. I think he can recapture that level of performance, and it has to do with his proven history more than his recent trends. 2020 stats are a bit muddy for all players, but I think you can completely throw the stat sheet out for Rose this year. He finished T5 at the Hero in the early and added a T3 at the Schwab right out of the break to prove that he still has the top end ability even if the consistency has not been there this season. His 2018-19 play had him as high as 2nd in total strokes gained over that span, and he reached that same level in scoring average, and his best trait, the approach game, is what will pay at this course. His putter has remained quite effective, and he ranks 31st in putting average on greens in regulation and 25th in one-putt percentage. I think that continues into this week, as will the ball striking he showed at Harding Park, and that should mean a very strong finish. Bet your Wyndham Championship picks for FREE this week by taking advantage of a sweet 100% REAL CASH bonus where you can deposit anywhere from $100 to $300 and get rewarded with a dollar-for-dollar bonus! (Example: Deposit $200, they’ll add $200 more so your starting balance is $400). Find this great offer at MyBookie! (Must use bonus code PREDICT100)
Brendon Todd (33 to 1)
Todd’s season has been a bit of a roller coaster, but in the end, it could be one that produces a FedExCup Championship. After missing the cut in each of his first four starts, Todd won two of the next three stops, shooting a remarkable 44-under par in those victories. He stumbled to two more missed cuts immediately out of the gate when play resumed in June but hasn’t missed a cut in any of the five events since, notching four top-25 finishes, including a T15 at the St. Jude and a T17 last week. I’m not sure Todd has the gas to challenge in the biggest events, but the Wyndham features one of the weakest fields since play resumed, and the course favors an accurate player like Brendon. He enters the week 3rd in fairways, hitting the short grass nearly 72% of the time, and he should generally gain an edge through the week as Sedgefield features so many demanding drives. Todd is 23rd in strokes gained-putting and is 25th in scoring average. Like many veteran players, he is aces around the green, and he leads the Tour in scrambling to this point, which is a very underrated stat when scores are projected to be low. A few saved pars could be the spark to Brendon’s third win of the year.
Maverick McNealy (80 to 1)
I’m pulling the lever on one of the longest shots of the year this week, as I think Maverick is getting ready to be one of the next first-time winners on Tour. He was T5 at Pebble ahead of the stoppage and has two top-ten finishes since play resumed. One of those came at the Rocket Mortgage, and I see many similarities with that event compared to this week in terms of field strength and scoring pace. Mav runs at about the Tour average in ball striking stats but excels with the putter, ranking 11th in strokes gained and 16th in one-putt percentage. He sits 22nd in birdie average as a result and improves to 14th when counting total birdies on the season. With the ability to score clearly apparent, McNealy just needs to limit the youthful mistakes to max out on his potential. He is rather solid around the greens, ranking 17th in both sand saves and overall scrambling. It looks like the Tour is turning into a very young man’s arena, and I think Maverick is going to be part of the picture soon.
Head-to-Head Matches
Picks to win based on predicted score for all four rounds. Check with Bovada Sportsbook for single round matches and a variety of prop bets. Credit cards work there for deposits and they’ll give you a generous 50% real cash bonus up to $250 free!
Billy Horschel (-115) v. Kevin Kisner (-115) (pick to win: Horschel)
We have a pretty tight one on paper with both players strong in similar categories and both fitting the profile of a player that should do well at Sedgefield. Horschel has been a bit better since play resumed but has just a one-win advantage against Kisner over that span, going 2-1-2 against Kevin in the five events where both were in attendance. Horschel is the pick based on his advantage in greens hit heading into the week, and Billy is also about 50 spots ahead in scoring average. There isn’t much difference between the two on the greens, but Horschel’s edge in birdie attempts per round is paying off with more makes, and that should play well for him this week. Kisner is the steadier player, and I’d be considering him more seriously if the venue were tougher, but I don’t think there are enough trouble spots at Sedgefield to keep Horschel from eventually building a lead from those few more greens hit through the week.
Sergio Garcia (-150) v. Brandt Snedeker (+115) (pick to win: Snedeker)
Garcia, as a big favorite against anyone, is a little puzzling. Especially considering Sergio sits 136th in FedExCup points with just one week to play. Both he and Snedeker have made the same amount of cuts (9), but Brandt is 38 spots better on the playoff points list, so it is Snedeker who has had the better average result in 2020 despite missing three more cuts than Sergio. Garcia will clock in as the better ball striker of the two, but he is a long way back in the putting categories, ranking 203rd in strokes gained with Snedeker sitting at 26th. Snedeker also has the better recent record at Sedgefield with three top-10s since 2014, including a win in 2018. Garcia did have a win here in 2012, but only four of his last eight rounds at this course have been under par. I think Sergio will play pretty well as he tries to make the first playoff stop, but Snedeker is a horse for this course and should have both the higher floor and ceiling.
Good luck and good golf!
