DeepDiveGolf - David Bieleski 
Over the past decade or so, whenever we preview the Wyndham Championship the real prize for many of the golfers has been the retention of their PGA Tour card. Although the main cut-off this year is the Top 70 for the FedEx Cup Play-offs, a number in this field will also have ensuring their place with the Top 50 on their mind. That grants them entry into the BMW Championship and, subsequently, all of the big money Signature Events in 2025.
Should golfers reside outside the Top 70, they still have a final chance to retain their playing privileges. They will return for the PGA Tour Fall Series, playing through until November to ensure they remain in the Top 125 players and the music keeps playing for another year. It promises to provide an electric atmosphere, and not least because the threat of former Hurricane Debby (now downgraded to a tropical storm) looms large over the Wyndham Championship which we will preview in our weather analysis.
2024 Olympics Men’s Golf Recap
It was another fabulous week for our golf betting tips at the Olympics, continuing a run of excellent results.
Among our first-round leader selections, Hideki Matsuyama, Tom Kim, and Sepp Straka, we saw remarkable performances. Matsuyama, tipped at 33/1, successfully claimed the first-round leader position, while Tom Kim finished a commendable third, cashing a FRL Top 5 at 7/1. Straka also delivered a notable performance, finishing as an honorable 6th.
Matsuyama’s journey didn’t end there; he went very close to winning the tournament at 35/1 for us, eventually securing a bronze medal. In a bogey-free 65, his putter went cold down the stretch. Despite a number of birdie looks, he finished with 6 consecutive pars and finished just two strokes off Scheffler’s winning mark. He cashed a full-place for us at +875.
Tom Kim was selected as our DeepDiveGolf Bookie Beater to finish within the Top 10 at +275. He duly delivered, securing our 5th Bookie Beater cash in 6 tournaments. Unfortunately, he does mean he didn’t secure his much desired exemption from military service in South Korea. Hopefully, he manages to achieve that in the coming years and we don’t see a promising young career derailed.
Scottie Scheffler remains a problem. What will be most concerning for his competitors is that he won the Gold medal in Paris whilst losing strokes putting. That is just the 4th occurrence in the last 4 years where that has been achieved. In the final round, he tied the course record at Le Golf National without really looking like he broke a sweat.
However, give me Matsuyama 35/1 or Tom Kim 30/1 in contention over Scheffler at 4/1 any day. He would need to win in those circumstances 7 times more often, suggesting betting value still continues to lie elsewhere.
Sedgefield Country Club Golf Course Analysis
We have plenty of data to delve in this preview of the Wyndham Championship, with Sedgefield Country Club having hosted this tournament for the last 16 years.
Further, the recipe for this course is rather straightforward. That is driving accuracy, short to mid iron acumen, and the ability to find a hot putter.
The course is characterized by its tight fairways and undulating greens, where accuracy off the tee is paramount. The course rates as one of the most correlated between driving accuracy and success. Key statistics indicate that when players find the fairway, the Greens in Regulation (GIR) percentage stands at an impressive 80%. However, this drops dramatically to just 55% if the player lands in the rough. A look at recent leaderboards quickly uncovers a long list of fairway finders. Bombers have rarely found success here. Not because distance is a disadvantage, but waywardness is, and you simply don’t need distance to score here.
The course is a relatively short as a 7,127 yard par 70. There are 8 par 4s from 400-450 yards. Subsequently, you will see a number of players club down off the tee to ensure they keep the ball in-play. Further, it sees a disproportionate number of shots from 100-150 yards.
Finally, this does have a tendency to produce low scores. Just one golfer has won the event since 2015 at a score higher than -20. As such, putting is key here and acumen on Bermuda grass is desirable.
Sedgefield Country Club Golf Course Comps
Pete Dye designed the other 18 hole golf course at Sedgefield Country Club, and it is through some of his other golf courses that strong course comps can be found when you preview the Wyndham Championship. Namely, TPC Sawgrass.
TPC Sawgrass and Sedgefield Country Club display some of the strongest correlations between two golf courses you will ever see.
To put the links in perspective, digest this fact for a moment. One third of all winners have won at both The Players Championship and the Wyndham Championship. Davis Love, Webb Simpson, Henrik Stenson, Si Woo Kim and Sergio Garcia have all won across both golf courses. Brian Harman won two junior events here in 2002 and 2003, finishing runner-up behind Scottie Scheffler in The Players earlier this season. You can go further and look at an even greater number who hold Top 5s across both events.
Another Pete Dye design, Harbour Town, is also a good guide. Carl Pettersson and Webb Simpson won at both. Davis Love, Kisner, and Si Woo were runner-up there. It asks similar questions, with a positional golf course where angles into small greens dictate that not only finding the fairways is important but precisely where in the fairway you are.
Additionally, you can look to a couple of recent TPC courses for guidance. Those are TPC River Highlands, host of the Travelers Championship, and TPC Deere Run, of the John Deere Classic. There are strong leaderboard correlations here. Both also have the added benefit of providing some indication of recent form when you preview the Wyndham Championship field. They also both often require low scoring to win, as is so often the case at the Wyndham Championship.
Hurricane Debby & the Wyndham Championship
With former Hurricane Debby looming large this week, weather will inevitably be a substantial conversation for many this week.
I always find it entertaining when the entire golf industry become fixated on the weather. Golf is perhaps the sport most exposed to the elements. It baffles me that you could ever consider betting on a golf tournament without first factoring in what influence the weather may have. We always make weather a large factor in our considerations, especially for DFS and golf betting purposes.
It frustrates me that the PGA Tour, and sporting organizations in general, don’t make some of these calls earlier. The forecast is abundantly clear and Hurricane Debby is a significant weather event. Had an early call been made, a round could have been completed on Wednesday or Thursday postponed already. That would provide all concerned some certainty of what to expect and when.
Wyndham Championship Weather Preview and Predictions
I will make some predictions here, some bolder than others.
First, there will be no play on Thursday afternoon. Further, I wouldn’t be surprised if there is no golf at all on Thursday. Friday morning could also be delayed, with heavy rains and high winds still predicted. There will likely also be time required to clear the golf course of any debris and deal with the amount of water predicted to fall. Current predictions are 4 to 6 inches of rain.
For tee-times, that would mean Thursday AM would become late Friday AM/Friday PM. Thursday PM would then first tee-off Friday PM, possibly finishing on Saturday morning. The weather on the weekend looks much better.
Do we get a full 72 hole tournament at the Wyndham Championship? As I have watched the forecast developing, I think probably not. The PGA Tour will be torn between giving those on the cusp of qualification for the FedEx Cup playoffs their best chance of doing so, yet not compromising the lead-up to that prestigious event.
I believe the tournament will be a Monday finish regardless, as I do not see them extending into Tuesday which is the last possible day for play. The question then becomes whether the weather allows for 72 holes to be completed within that timeframe.
Wyndham Championship Potential Weather Wave
For DFS purposes, I think it is almost guaranteed some form of substantial weather wave develops. One group of golfers is simply going to get the best of it here. I would recommend you build line-ups in both directions to cover the wide range of inevitabilities possible.
My personal view is that Thursday PM tee-times would be desirable. That is likely going to be contrarian to the majority of takes you will read this week. That is because Thursday afternoon forecasts to be the worst weather from our Wyndham Championship preview. However, it is my position that the weather will be so bad that play simply won’t be possible.
It reminds me a little for The Players Championship in 2022. The general public saw the heavier winds forecast for the afternoon, and all played the morning golfers. We took the opposite route, citing thunderstorms in the afternoon likely to delay play. We were correct, seeing a huge weather wave advantage develop for those who barely had to play on Thursday, and a huge amount of leverage for DFS and golf betting.
Wyndham Championship Preview Golf Betting Tips
Thank you for reading our preview and tournament analysis of the 2024 Wyndham Championship.
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