Wyndham Championship Betting Tips
The Olympic medals have been dished out and that means a return to the PGA Tour for the last qualifying event before the start of the FedEx Cup, the Wyndham Championship.
Over 20 members of the world's top 50, plus defending champion Lucas Glover, headline a high-class field at the 7,127-yard par-70 lay-out at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Course
Sedgefield Country Club, Ross Course - Greensboro, North Carolina - Par 70, 7,127 Yards
On the back of a World Golf Championship followed immediately by a Major Championship, the PGA Tour post lockdown rollercoaster rides on to North Carolina, and the historic Donald Ross designed Sedgefield Country Club. Situated 90 miles northeast of the town of Charlotte, this historic gem was built in 1926, and underwent a substantial redesign to bring it in line with the challenges of modern golf in 2007. Since then it has played host to this terrific event, taking over from Forest Oaks in 2008.
A fairly easy par 70, with smaller than average undulating greens, Sedgefield is an eminently scorable venue. Winning numbers here typically sit in the low twenties under par for this standard of golfer. Par 4s are the key, and players will need to keep the ball in the fairway, and hit the greens to set up what will be ample birdie opportunities. The winner here typically averages a birdie on every 3.5 to 4 holes so this will be a sprint from the get go, and any round not in the 60s will severely impact a player’s chances of winning. With conditions expected to be calm, I expect low scores, and another chance that the record score of 22 under par is bettered this year.
In Sungjae we trust to take Wyndham glory
You have to go low to win the Wyndham and no one knows that better than Sungjae Im, who shot 15-under around Sedgefield two years ago, yet finished five shots adrift of fellow Korean Tom Kim.
That was a third top-ten finish in the last four years for Im, who has never been outside the top 25 at this event.
With his place in the FedEx Cup assured it means he is both playing well, but also free of pressure and can enjoy himself at a course where clearly he gets a good feeling.
He is the 14/1 favourite, but don't let that put you off because his form is rock-solid.
Im declined an invite to the Olympics so has been spared the jet-lag and is nicely rested not having teed it up since The Open at Royal Troon where the world No.20 came home on a brutal test in 66-69 for a tie for seventh.
That's nine top-12 finishes since his missed cut at The Masters, a show of consistency that makes you appreciate why he heads the betting in North Carolina.
Tip 1: Sungjae Im outright winner - 14/1
Breezy weather won't derail Billy
There's a lively weather forecast for this corner of North Carolina over the coming few days, but that won't worry Billy Horschel.
Horschel was one of the first to dispense with the extra layers in the wind and rain of Royal Troon and it didn't stop him finishing second.
A winner this year at the Corales Puntacana Championship and rested after a couple of weeks off, he should go well at a course where he was runner-up by a stroke to Jim Herman in 2020.
Tip 2: Billy Horschel outright winner each-way - 22/1
Aaron to be a Rai of sunshine in the gloom
Top-50 star Aaron Rai was flying before Troon, with a run which reads 2-7-4, and he was just undone, like so many, by the conditions on the Ayrshire coast.
But Rai is the model of driving accuracy and, if the rain does drop in serious quantities, then the biggest contenders are likely to be the ones who can keep the ball out of the rough.
Only one Englishman - Luke Donald - has ever made the podium at the Wyndham, but Rai has the Ryder Cup captain's game and ought to be a threat on a track like Sedgefield.
His previous trips to Greensboro have yielded nothing but he is a better, more consistent threat this year.