Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, & Predictions – 2017 Wyndham Championship

Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the 2017 Wyndham Championship

The 2017 Wyndham Championship Fantasy Preview

If you have a head for numbers, you’ll probably already know that 2017 has delivered four quality majors, three first-time winners, and a fourth for whom the career grand slam eludes him….for one more year at least, anyway.

The general consensus is that the PGA Championship was an unrivalled success, with a cracking host venue (roll on the Wells Fargo Championship next year!) and a deserving winner in Justin Thomas, who held off a variety of rivals on Sunday to clinch his first major title.

So that’s Sergio, Brooks, and JT in the major club for 2017 – not bad company at all!

There’s still plenty of golf to enjoy this year, with just one more opportunity for the players to book their place in the FedExCup playoffs this week at the Wyndham Championship, before the four FedExCup events themselves play out and the curtain falls on the season with the President’s Cup.

Remember, the top 125 players in the rankings qualify for the FedExCup, so the Wyndham Championship will be a tournament of upmost importance to many in the field. Will that provide the ultimate inspiration?

Last Week’s Fantasy Results from the PGA Championship

Although he did put forth a solid run at this year’s U.S. Open not many put their trust into JT after a long string of let downs these past few weeks on Tour. Regardless, Justin’s win was an impressive one and we tip our hat to the 24-year-old now major champion.

Ultimately, our 1-2 punch of McIlroy (T22) / Matsuyama (T5) wasn’t enough to overtake the bold JT/Kisner/Reed combo that won it for most.  Matsuyama looked promising going into Sunday but saw his chances slip away on the back nine.

Although McIlory’s performance was considerably disappointing given his record at Quail Hollow, we’re still happy to report just two missed cuts in the main picks and one missed cut coming from our Tuesday Sleeper Report.

Our shining star on the Sleeper Report was Francesco Molinari who weighed in at a $6,800 salary and finished T2 with a total of 95 fantasy points (just 9 shy of Justin Thomas).

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The 2017 Wyndham Championship Field

After the brilliance of the PGA Championship, this week’s event has the feel of munching on a Big Mac while watching the diners of The Savoy across the road tucking into Filet Mignon.

But, there’s a chance for some to redeem themselves after Quail Hollow capitulation (Kevin Kisner, Chris Stroud), for others to play their way into much-needed form ahead of the FedExCup showdown (Henrik Stenson, Brandt Snedeker, Russell Knox), there’s opportunities for young guns to burst onto the scene like Si-Woo Kim did in winning here a year ago (Byeong-Hun An, Hai-Tong Li, Sung Kang) or perhaps one of the older, wiser heads will prosper (Jason Dufner, Ryan Moore, Brandt Snedeker, Bill Haas).

For the likes of Graeme McDowell, Sam Saunders, Geoff Ogilvy, and Rory Sabatini, there is a chance to gatecrash the FedExCup party with a strong showing in North Carolina.

This Week’s Course Preview

Those who participated in the PGA Championship won’t have far to travel to the Wyndham as the PGA TOUR stays in North Carolina, switching from Charlotte to Greensboro and Sedgefield Country Club.

This is your run-of-the-mill Par 70 by all accounts, measuring 7,127 yards and played out on a typical heathland stretch. There really is nothing special to note here: the course has been playing progressively easier since the Bermudagrass was planted in 2012, with Si-Woo Kim winning at -21 last year which featured a round of 60.

Fairways are easy to hit and while the average-sized greens can play fast there’s been plenty of rain in North Carolina, as we know, and that is likely to slow things down somewhat.

The emphasis is on good iron play here, and a premium on quality ball strikers as emphasised by a 1-2-3 of Si-Woo, Luke Donald, and Hideki Matsuyama 12 months ago.

Donald Ross was the man responsible for the original layout at Sedgefield, and he also was the prime designer for a number of relevant courses including East Lake (annual host of the Tour Championship), Oakland Hills (2016 US Amateur Championship), and Pinehurst No 2 (US Open 2014, US Amateur Championship 2008).

Weather Forecast for Greensboro, North Carolina

Rain was a feature at the PGA Championship, as was a host of other stormy features, and that is the theme once again this week unfortunately.

More wet stuff is in situ on Monday and Tuesday, and while there is brief respite on Wednesday the rain may yet return for Thursday and possibly Sunday.

There could be a slight advantage for the late starters on Thursday with scattered thunderstorms forecast for around 11am (as ever, keep your eyes peeled on the local predictions). If this is how the first day pans out, then the softer greens in the afternoon should accentuate what is already a low-scoring course.

Friday and Saturday look kind of similar in the early forecast: a mixture of sun and cloud with winds set at around 7 mph, although Saturday morning is expected to be exceptionally humid at around 90%. We might get a sweat on just watching!

It’s early days of course, but the Sunday forecast is not special with rain around in the morning before clearing away in the afternoon.

Last Year’s Results from the Wyndham Championship

Where to Play Fantasy Golf for the Wyndham Championship this Week

There aren’t that many opportunities left to play DFS golf in 2017, truth be told, with the FedExCup events, the traditional curtain closer, on the horizon.

That’s not something that has escaped either DraftKings or FanDuel, with a stacked slate and millions of dollars in prize money up for grabs. Here’s the pick of the bunch from DK:

• PGA $600k Dogleg: There may not be an opportunity to win a million bucks this week, but there’s still a rather handy $100k top prize in this $33 contest, which features a minimum payout of $1000 for the first 25 players home.
• PGA $300k Club Pro: If you’re feeling flush after a strong few weeks of gaming, then this $333 contest is a worthy way to reinvest your winnings. The field size is just 1001 players, and the top prize is a juicy $50k!

This Week’s Fantasy Notes for the Wyndham Championship

The equation for success appears nice and straightforward at Sedgefield this week: play better than anyone else!

A daft statement we know, but the top three in this tournament last year also ranked first, second and third, in the same order, for Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, which is commonly accepted as the best metric for analysing who is playing well and who isn’t.

These Donald Ross greens are smaller than the norm – a Ross trademark, and so a good tee shot is going to give a nice look in to the greens, but none of the stats suggest that length is particularly important; after all, Davis Love III won here in 2015.

Si-woo gained a huge +3.84 strokes on the field from tee to green and +2.29 on approach, so dialling in the short irons is essential this week. If you can get your ball close – and a top pro should really with an eight or nine iron in hand – then putting becomes more irrelevant than normal.

You can look to other Donald Ross creations for guidance – we’ve listed some of those above, and here’s another interesting bit of info to consider: three of the most recent winners at Sedgefield in Ryan Moore, Davis Love III and Arjun Atwal had all missed the cut here the year prior to their triumph! Most unusual.

As for a profile of a winner, this tournament has seen everyone from talented youngsters (Si-Woo and Patrick Reed in 2013, who beat a pre-pubescent Jordan Spieth in a playoff), journeymen pros (Camilo Villegas) and wily old foxes (Davis Love III) take the spoils, so there is no obvious angle to follow in.

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Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win The Wyndham Championship

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Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win the Wyndham Championship

Top Tier Pick #1: 

Kevin Kisner (Odds: 20/1, FPPG: 69.8, GPFP: 64.89 Salary: $11,300)

Going close to winning your first major is both a blessing and a curse.

It’s a blessing in the sense that it means you are playing high quality golf, and that is certainly the case for Kisner, who was outstanding for the entirety of the PGA Championship. Indeed, if we were to be mischievous, we might suggest that he would have gone very close to lifting the trophy if his final pairing had been alongside Thomas or Matsuyama rather than Chris Stroud, whose Sunday demise must have had some kind of impact upon Kisner’s own game.

The curse comes from the psychological perspective: why didn’t I do this and that differently, the 33-year-old will naturally reflect. Those sorts of wounds can take some time to heal, but in Kisner’s defence he has already surfaced on Twitter to thank well-wishers and share some banter with Thomas.

And we don’t have to go far back to find that ‘Kiz’ is not afraid to bounce back at the first time of asking. In August 2015, he finished second at the prestigious HSBC Champions event – disappointing no doubt, but in his next start he claimed the RSM Classic with a tremendous -22 final score.

The context is completely different, of course, but this suggests that Kisner is one to get right back into the saddle after falling down.

What else can we say about his chances this week? Well, we know the South Carolinan is outstanding from tee to green, ranking 14th on tour for that metric and 18th for Strokes Gained: Approach.

We also know that his short and steady game is ideally suited to Sedgefield, which has been reflected in his last three visits to the course (10-8-46).

There is every danger to this pick that Kisner will just bottom out after the disappointment of last week, but here’s a statement we can make with some certainty: nobody in this field is better placed than him to lift the Wyndham Championship trophy on Sunday.

Key Stats:

• SG: Tee-to-Green – 14th
• Approaches from 150-175 Yards – 17th
• SG: Approach – 18th

Top-Tier Pick #2:

Ryan Moore (Odds: 28/1, FPPG: 51.8, GPFP: 41.48 Salary: $9,600)

After suffering a season-affecting injury in the early summer, Ryan Moore has bounced back well with a T28 at the WGC-Bridgestone backed by T13 at the PGA Championship last time out.

He was outstanding from tee-to-green at both events, as you might expect from a five-time PGA TOUR winner, and at Quail Hollow in particular he was outstanding: ranking seventh for SG: T2G.

So Moore heads to Sedgefield with plenty of confidence and the knowledge that he has won here before, albeit back in 2009, while a T10 in 2015 assuages any doubts about his game since the switch to Bermudagrass.

Other decent showings at Donald Ross designed courses, including a pair of top-tens at TPC River Highlands and solo second at East Lake last year, whet the appetite for a really strong week from the 34-year-old.

Key Stats:

• Driving Accuracy – 25th
• Approaches from 100-125 Yards – 35th
• SG: Approach – 35th

Mid-Tier Pick #1:

Byeong-Hun An (Odds: 55/1, FPPG: 68.0, GPFP: 49.81 Salary: $8,900)

Like Moore, Byeong-Hun An was outstanding from tee-to-green at Quail Hollow, ranking 16th, and his style of golf is very similar to that of his compatriot, Si-Woo.

He finished T18 on his sole start to date at Sedgefield, and was T5 at another of Donald Ross’ designs at TPC Four Seasons for the Byron Nelson earlier this year.

Anyone who ranks inside the top-30 on tour for strokes gained both from tee-to-green and n approach has to be of interest this week, and An – a winner of the BMW Championship in the UK – may take inspiration from Si-woo capturing his maiden PGA TOUR title here 12 months ago.

Key Stats:

• SG: Tee-to-Green – 16th
• SG: Approach-the-Green – 18th
• Par 4 Birdie or Better Leaders – 39th

Mid-Tier Pick #2:

Billy Horschel (Odds: 60/1, FPPG: 48.4, GPFP: 36.38 Salary: $7,700)

He remains reliably, almost wilfully, inconsistent, but on his day Billy Horschel is as good as anybody in this field, as being a four-time PGA TOUR winner and FedExCup champion testifies.

That fourth title came earlier this year at the Byron Nelson, for whom Donald Ross designed the host course, and a fourth followed shortly after at the St Jude Classic. Horschel’s form has bobbed along since but you can’t keep a player of this quality quiet for long.

He enjoyed himself here 12 months ago, his round of 64 on Saturday being one of the highlights of the week, and his T5 finish then is something that could well be repeated this week.

Key Stats:

• Greens in Regulation – 22nd
• Approaches from 100-125 Yards – 32nd
• SG: Approach – 74th

Low-Tier Pick:

D.A. Points (Odds: 220/1, FPPG: 47.9, GPFP: 38.31 Salary: $7,000)

After opening 68-73 at the PGA Championship people were starting to wonder if 750/1 shot D.A. Points could secure the unlikeliest of major victories. He fell away over the weekend, but that’s to be expected from a short hitter on what became a grueling test of strength and power.

In fact, you look at Points’ resume in 2017 and it’s littered with missed cuts and poor performances, but that is no great surprise from a player who averages 276.6 yards off the tee.

But when he is dialled in, Points is excellent. He won the Puerto Rico Open earlier in the year in a field which was even sparser than this, believe it or not, and delivered top-25s at the Houston Open and Wells Fargo.

He’s finished in the top-20 in two of his last three visits to Sedgefield, and last year he ranked eighth for strokes gained from tee to green.

Key Stats:

• Approaches from 125-150 Yards – 23rd
• SG: Approach – 29th
• Driving Accuracy – 41st

Sleeper Pick for the Wyndham Championship

Emiliano Grillo (Odds: 70/1, FPPG: 52.0, GPFP: 60.87 Salary: $7,500)

There has been little in Grillo’s game of late to suggest a big performance is imminent, but quite frankly he is far too good to be priced at $7,500 in this field, and with low ownership likely he could just be our golden goose this week.

The 24-year-old is typically excellent off the tee and on approach, and while his short game often leaves a lot to be desired that might not be such a handicap on a course where most Par 4 and Par 5 greens can be landed in regulation with consummate ease.

The Argentine has missed three of his last five cuts but those were all majors, and in the more hospitable and birdie-friendly conditions at Sedgefield he should relax sufficiently to play some good golf.

Top-15s at the Arnold Palmer and THE PLAYERS Championship show his quality, and Grillo brings anything approaching his A-game to Greensboro than he could shoot very low numbers indeed.

Key Stats:

• Total Driving: 19th
• SG: Tee-to-Green: 50th
• SG: Approach: 53rd

Alternative Sleeper Pick for the Wyndham Championship

Rory Sabbatini (Odds: 120/1, FPPG: 55.1, GPFP: 44.05 Salary: $7,200)

We’ve been tracking Sabbatini’s upswing for quite some time, and there’s a lot to be said for drafting a guy whose form reads 17-23-55-19-14 heading into a low-quality event like this.

Sabbatini’ improvement can be attributed to improved confidence which has enhanced his tee to green numbers no end, and let’s not forget this is a six-time PGA TOUR winner we’re talking about; here lurks a quality operator.

When in the zone – as he is right now – the South African peppers fairways and greens and scores as well as anybody, and if he can cut out those silly mistakes then he could he easily compile a low, low score at Sedgefield.

Key Stats:

• Driving Accuracy – 42nd
• Par 4 Birdie or Better Leaders – 46th
• Greens in Regulation – 49th

This Week’s Sample DraftKings Lineup

Note: Sample lineups provided as examples only.  Be sure to mix-and-match players to best fit individual contests.

This Week’s Sample Lineup

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Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2016-2017)

[skill_bar heading=”Total Top 3s” percent=”7.90%” bar_text=”20 out of 252 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 10s” percent=”21.42%” bar_text=”54 out of 252 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 25s” percent=”39.68%” bar_text=”100 out of 252 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Winners Picked” percent=”16.67%” bar_text=”6 out of 36 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Runners-Up Picked” percent=”13.88%” bar_text=”5 out of 36 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Made Cuts (Includes Sleepers)” percent=”76.19″ bar_text=”192 out of 252 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″]

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Cover Photo via Instagram