Daily Fantasy Golf Course Primer: Wyndham Championship
It will be tough to follow up the incredible display in San Francisco at the PGA Championship, but the PGA Tour rolls on and suddenly we have reached the 2019-20 regular-season finale. What a strange season it's been, after the first round at THE PLAYERS just about every significant event in the golf calendar has been canceled or rescheduled, right up until this week.
Golfers will get a crack at Sedgefield Country Club for their final chance at valuable FedEx Cup Points to get into the field or secure their place in the Playoffs. The 7,127-yard par 70 sounds like a similar measurement to what the field saw at TPC Harding Park last week, but the similarities end there. The Tour will travel all the way across the country, departing Northern California until its final destination in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Aside from a few big names hoping to stay in form (pending withdrawals of course), the field will feature a major drop in overall class as the best in the world have likely played each of the past two weeks and will be gearing up for the next three Playoff weeks. The DFS contests and betting odds still pay out the same, so we're back at it nevertheless.
The weather looks to be a bit soggy this week, with rain in the look-ahead forecast all week.
Let's dig into the course and see what stats we can use to build our daily fantasy lineups this week.
Course and Tournament Info
Course: Sedgefield Country Club
Par: 70
Distance: 7,127 yards
Fairways/Rough: Bermudagrass
Greens: Champion Bermuda
| Season | Par | Yardage | Average | O/U Par Avg | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 70 | 7127 | 68.175 | -1.825 | 41 |
| 2018 | 70 | 7127 | 68.69 | -1.31 | 40 |
| 2017 | 70 | 7127 | 68.813 | -1.187 | 37 |
| 2016 | 70 | 7127 | 68.972 | -1.028 | 37 |
| 2015 | 70 | 7127 | 68.858 | -1.142 | 40 |
Scoring conditions are usually pretty friendly at the Wyndham, largely due to the fact that the field reaches the green in regulation (GIR) at one of the highest clips on Tour. The field putted for birdie 73-75% of the time in each of the past five years, one of the highest rates on Tour every season.
Over the past couple of seasons, Detroit Golf Club (Rocket Mortgage Classic) has joined Sedgefield and East Lake Golf Club (TOUR Championship) as Donald Ross designs in regular rotation. That makes both stand out, with Detroit's scoring environment and field a more natural fit than the small, elite field the descends upon Atlanta to cap off the season. Also of note is TPC Sawgrass, notable for how much of golfers' performance is dependent on how well they hit their irons.
Key Stats
These stats will be the keys to success in the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club.
| Key Stats for the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield CC |
|---|
| Strokes Gained: Approach |
| Birdies or Better Gained |
| Strokes Gained: Par 4s (400-450 yards) |
| Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermudagrass) |
We can be pretty straightforward this week, ballstriking and specifically iron play will rule the day. With so many golfers getting to the green in regulation, golfers who gain via approaches are usually the ones knocking it closer than their competitors.
Likewise, they make those birdies by finishing the job with the short stick, so we have to weight putting on bermuda this week to separate. A look at the section below confirms we need a good roller if we hope to peg a winner this week.
Seven of the par 4s fall between 400 and 450 yards, with three others between 390 and 400. The Tour in 2020 looks a lot different than prior years, with many golfers opting for the driver even on these short par 4s and facing a simple pitch rather than clubbing down and holding a mid or short iron for their approach.
Course History Studs
Webb Simpson won here in 2011 and has six other top 10s, including finishes the last three years of 2nd, T2, and 3rd.
Brandt Snedeker holds the course record with a 59 that powered him to victory here in 2018. He also has four other top 10 finishes in his career here.
Si Woo Kim won in 2016 and was 5th last year, and like Simpson, he has a prior win at the correlated TPC Sawgrass.
Other golfers with multiple top 10s include Jim Furyk, Ryan Armour, and Rory Sabbatini.
Mike Rodden is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Mike Rodden also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mike_rodden. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
