For the final event before the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the PGA TOUR is hosting the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club (par 70, 7,131 yards, Bermuda greens) in Greensboro, North Carolina this week. Just like Detroit Golf Club this past week, Sedgefield CC was designed by Donald Ross, and this course has been the only venue to host a Wyndham Championship since 2008. Last year at Sedgefield CC, Kevin Kisner (-15) came out victorious from a six-man playoff, which tied for the largest playoff in PGA TOUR history.
With narrow tree-lined fairways for almost every hole, clubbing down off the tee to improve your accuracy is a very common strategy at Sedgefield CC. In fact, Kisner was the third consecutive champion at this track to finish the event outside the top 50 in driving distance, showing us that off-the-tee stats are essentially irrelevant for research at this venue. However, having an excellent showing with your irons is unsurprisingly a must at Sedgefield CC, with five of the past six Wyndham victors ranking inside the top four in SG APP during their wins.
As a par 70, Sedgefield CC is home to 12 par 4s and only two par 5s, and as always with this type of course, having a terrific week on the par fours will be critical for success this week in Greensboro. Specifically, we should be searching for golfers who thrive on 400-450-yard par 4s, with eight of the 12 at Sedgefield CC landing in this range. Including Kisner last season, four of the past five Wyndham winners have finished the tournament in the top three in SG on the 400-450-yard par 4s at Sedgefield CC.
With most of the best players on the PGA TOUR preparing for the FedEx Cup Playoffs, only four of the top-25 ranked golfers in the world are listed in the field for the Wyndham Championship. Nonetheless, this should be an exciting event, as all the players competing in this regular season finale will be looking to improve their FedEx Cup ranking before the postseason kicks off with the Northern Trust next week. For that tournament, which is the first of three for the FedEx Cup Playoffs, only the top 125 players in the FedEx Cup rankings following the Wyndham Championship will qualify.
Below, I present to you four sub-$7.5K DraftKings value plays that I will be attacking for the Wyndham Championship.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $1M Pitch + Putt [$250K to 1st]
Martin Laird ($7,400) – Coming off a missed cut at the 3M Open, this is a great time to buy low on Laird. That poor result should translate into low rostership for the veteran, and while missing the weekend is never ideal, it’s worth noting Laird was only one stroke off of the cutline at TPC Twin Cities that week. Prior to this, Laird had finished T13, T30 and T3 in his previous three starts while shooting under par in all but one of those 12 rounds. Ranking 31st in SG APP, Laird has been a very reliable player with his irons this season, and at Sedgefield CC, the 39-year-old owns a 7-9 record in terms of made cuts, including a pair of top-20 finishes — if we exclude his first-round WD in 2017. Returning to a venue he loves, a bounce-back performance feels inevitable for Laird this week.
Callum Tarren ($7,300) – In his last five starts, Tarren has finished T6, MC, T22, T7 and T20, with that latter result coming this past week at the Ross-designed Detroit Golf Club for the Rocket Mortgage Classic. During all four of these recent top-25 finishes, Tarren gained strokes on APP. In addition to his impressive work in the ball striking department, the 31-year-old ranks 18th in SG on par 4s and 13th in SGP over his last 24 rounds. Tarren has vaulted himself up 222 spots in the world golf rankings since the start of the new year. To put a cherry on top, he should be extremely motivated to post a high finish this weekend, given he is just inside the line to advance to the postseason, currently sitting 116th in the FedEx Cup rankings. While this will be his debut at Sedgefield CC, Tarren is criminally underpriced for his upside in this weak field.
Michael Thompson ($7,000) – Highlighted by a T11 in 2018, Thompson has made five of seven cuts at Sedgefield CC, and he returns to Greensboro this week in very encouraging form. The Alabama alum has only missed one weekend in his last eight starts and has posted three straight top-30 finishes coming into this event. In all three of these top-30 finishes, Thompson collectively gained strokes on APP and with his putter. Thompson is a very safe investment to advance through the cut this week and needs to be backed at this cheap price tag.
Hayden Buckley ($6,900) – Buckley travels to Greensboro this week riding a streak of six made cuts. During this span, the 26-year-old has finished inside the top-30 on four occasions, including an impressive T14 at the U.S. Open last month and a T24 at Detroit Golf Club this past week, which was Buckley’s first attempt on a Ross creation since joining the PGA TOUR. At all six of the tournaments during this run, Buckley gained strokes on APP, and he shot even par or better in 18 of his 24 rounds. Buckley showed us last week he has all the tools to flourish on a Ross design, and he is a very tough value play to overlook at this sub-$7K salary.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $1M Pitch + Putt [$250K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Hunta512) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
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