By: Cameron McCann
2020 Wyndham Championship Betting Predictions
Normally, the first major of the PGA season signifies the beginning of golf season for many. Second week of April, courses around the world are opening up, and The Masters green jacket is awarded.
2020 is a very different time and after the first major of the year, we are one tournament away from the FedEx Cup Playoffs. After this week’s results, the first of three playoff events will take place.
The FedEx Cup features a progressive cut meaning the top-125 in the FedEx Cup standings will make next week’s Northern Trust. Then the top-70 will go onto the BMW Championship, and to decide the winner, the top-30 players will compete at the final event of the season, the Tour Championship.
Some notable names competing this week that are on the outside of the top-125 looking in are: Shane Lowry, Sergio Garcia, Zach Johnson, Matt Wallace and Jhonnattan Vegas.
The tour will be at Sedgefield Country Club in North Carolina this weekend and there is plenty of course history to look at. The Donald Ross designed course was made back in 1926 and hosted 26 PGA tournaments before it was re-modeled in 2007. Since the re-modeling it has hosted 13 events and I will be looking at those tournaments to see what type of players fit this course.
Best Betting Trends for the 2020 Wyndham Championship
What I found is that players are going to score low here. The last four winners shot at least 20 under par so we will be targeting birdie makers. It’s a short par-70 and players will need to value accuracy over distance off the tee. Only seven other courses played on the PGA tour valued driving accuracy more than it is at Sedgefield CC.
I will also be looking at bermuda grass putting and bogey avoidance as both will be critical to putting up a low score. Also weighing success on par-4s between 400-500 yards as 10 of the 18 holes fall under that distance.
Let’s look at some bets I like this weekend:
Brendon Todd – Outright Winner (+3500)
The Toddfather. I haven’t been betting Todd since the restart, but I have found myself wondering why I didn’t, as he seems to be in contention every Sunday. No we’re getting him in a weaker field (both his wins came in weak fields) and he looks like a good course fit.
He ranks 3rd in this field in driving accuracy and nearly dead last in driving distance. Good thing you don’t need to be long on this par-70.
What I really like is that he’s ranked 8th in SG: putting in the field over the last 24 rounds and ranked 3rd on fast bermuda greens.
He’s coming off a 22nd, 15th and a 17th in the last three events and those were stacked fields on tough courses. If Todd continues his from I see no reason why he won’t be near the top of the leaderboard on Sunday.
Russell Henley – Outright Winner (+5000)
Russell has been dialed in with his tee to green game lately. He is ranked first in the field in SG: approach and tee to green which explains three finishes in the top-35 in his last five events. What has been failing him has been his putter.
I’m buying into him here because we are getting him on his best putting surface, bermuda. He’s played here at Sedgefield CC and gained strokes putting in two of three events. He finished 31, cut and 46 here but he was never playing this well tee to green. If his putter shows up I think he’ll be contending on Sunday.
Best Wyndham Championship Prop Bets
Henrik Norlander top-20 (+300)
Norlander is coming off a small break, the last tournament he competed in was the 3M Open at the end of July. He was playing well since the restart finishing 23rd or better in three of five events. He ranks 5th in the field in driving accuracy which will be important.
Bermuda greens are also his preferred putting greens, being the only surface he gains strokes on average. He has a missed cut and a 16th at this event so I know he can compete here. He’s been playing the best golf of his life this year so I like his chances to finish at least top-20 here.
Jim Furyk top-20 (+350)
Furyk is coming off a win but it wasn’t on the PGA tour. It was in his debut event on the senior’s Champions tour. Furyk is somewhere in between being too good for the senior’s tour and a little too old for the PGA tour.
The reason why I think he can still contend at Sedgefield is that it’s the exact same distance as where he won last week. A short par-70 is what suits Furyk at his age. This also is a weaker field, so he won’t be blown away by the younger talent.
Furyk also finished 4th here in 2018 and 10th in 2016. He has gotten older but his game hasn’t fallen off that much. And you don’t need to be long off the tee at Sedgefield CC.
