Wyndham Championship 2016 - PGA Tour

Hi All, 

Last Week’s Outlay 25 pts Last Week’s Return 38.5 pts (+ 13.5pts) Year To Date + 449.75

Well an exiting week last week with our 150/1 shot Marcus Fraser leading the Olympics at the half way stage; he wasn’t able to keep up with the pace over weekend, and it took a good birdie putt on the very last hole to see him place in 5th for us which was very nice, securing profit for the week, with Grillo just finishing outside the places in 8th. The above forms an interesting point regarding a few bits I have mentions over the past months, ensure you are getting the best deal for your stake, if you had of placed your bet with WilliamHill for example, rather than the recommended SkyBet etc, you would not of received a penny back. Secondly ensure you are clear regarding deadheat rules, this is why I have always favoured SkyBet, as unless they are not offering bonus places over and above the standard 5, they always pay out in full at ¼ odds for the top 5. Moving on to this week I have concentrated my attentions on the PGA tour, and selections can be found below.  

Wyndham Championship, PGA Tour – 10 pts Outlay 

at Sedgefield Country Club, 7,127 yards, par 70 – Thursday August 18th to Sunday August 21st 

The Wyndham is the last counting event before the FedEx Cup Playoff series begins next week with The Barclays so the players are looking to finish inside the top 125 on the Last Week’s Outlay 25 pts Last Week’s Return 38.5 pts (+ 13.5pts) Year To Date + 449.75 rankings to secure their playing privileges for next season and to gain a place in the field at Bethpage Black next Thursday. 

Following on from last week's similar test at the John Deere Classic, the Wyndham is another event in which length is not the be all and end all. Finding the fairways at Sedgefield, in order to best attack the small greens, is of more importance than hitting it miles off the tee. In the eight renewals here, since the event returned to Sedgefield, 16th (Patrick Reed) is the worst any winner has ranked for Driving Accuracy. 

Davis Love III ranked fifth for Par 4 Scoring 12 months ago and the runner-up, Jason Gore, ranked 16th and that was first time since 2008 that the number one ranked player on the par fours didn't finish first or second so that looks a key stat. 

NOTE: Please do be careful and aware of who you are betting with for the golf, amazingly a lot of the higer profile companies change week by week on wha place terms they offer for the medal places, however, this week PaddyPower & StanJames are still offering places on the top 7 and 6 respectively!

NAP – WEBB SIMPSON 25/1 (PaddyPower) 2.5 pts EW 

The 2011 winner, Webb Simpson, absolutely loves Sedgefield Country Club and it would have been very difficult indeed not to back him. His form figures here read 8th, 1st, 22nd, 11th, 5th and 6th and he was beaten by just two strokes last year, despite missing eight putts from inside six feet!

With the anchoring ban coming into force, Webb was transitioning from long to short putter last year and how the short stick behaves will determine how he performs this week. There have been some very encouraging signs with the putter of late - enabling him to finish 3rd at the Dean & Deluca Invitational, 6th at the Quicken Loans National and 13th at the USPGA Championship and it’s hard not to see him do really well this week.

NB – BRANDT SNEDEKER 28/1 (StanJames & BetVictor) 1.5 pts EW 

Sitting in 6th place in the FedEx Cup rankings Brandt Snedeker arrives to a course in which he shot a course record equalling 61 as recently as last year; this coupled with a 5th place finish in 2014 where he shot all four rounds in the 60s shows he has no troubles in navigating his way around Sedgefield. With six top 10 finishes to his name this season, including a win, 2016 form is as good as ever, and with the short game skills Brandt possess he will be sure to be near the top of the leaderboard come close of play Sunday evening.

IWAC – BILL HAAS 28/1 (PaddyPower) 1 pt EW 

Another Sedgefield specialist Bill Haas is in good enough form to go close once again. For the last four years in a row, Bill has not been outside of the top 20 once, with form of 6th, 2nd, 20th and 7th to his name, including two rounds of 65 and a 64. Sitting in 31st position in the FedEx cup rankings, it has been a solid enough season so far without being spectacular; there have been six top 10 finish in addition to a runners up finish at the Valspar in June. I mentioned in the earlier event introduction that accuracy off the tee usually proves to be a worthy stat here, and with averaging over 62.8% for fairways hit, this also goes in Bill’s favour this week.

This Week’s Outlay – 10 pts 

Have a nice week, and good luck if following, 

Stu @PriestleyStuart