Ricky Dimon
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This week is basically the calm between the two storms. The PGA Championship just concluded this past Sunday and the FedEx Cup playoffs begin next week. For now, we have the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C. on the schedule. Although the field is by no means spectacular like the ones we have enjoyed recently and the ones we will see on the horizon, there are plenty of intriguing names to whet the appetite of golf fans. Among the favorites at Sedgefield Country Club are Webb Simpson, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, and PGA Championship runner-up Paul Casey.
Let’s take a look at the best bets heading into first-round action on Thursday. And be sure to check out our outright winner picks on the PGA Tour picks page.
Tommy Fleetwood to beat Patrick Reed (-110)
Fleetwood has played only three tournaments this summer, so he may have the right balance of being well-rested but also no longer rusty. The 13th-ranked American has been improving with each start; he missed the cut at the 3M Open, finished T35 at FedEx St. Jude Invitational, and placed T29 last week at TPC Harding Park. Reed, meanwhile, is playing as much golf as humanly possible. This will be the 30-year-old American’s ninth appearance of the summer and he has missed the cut at only two events, so he has been turning in tons and tons of rounds. Why he didn’t feel like taking some time off before the FedEx Cup playoffs is a question that reporters might be asking this week in Greensboro. Reed has been in solid but unspectacular form, so this is a good opportunity to back Fleetwood in the head-to-head matchup.
Webb Simpson to beat Brooks Koepka in first round (-120)
What are Simpson’s last three results at the Wyndham Championship? Third place in 2017; second place in 2018; second place in 2019. And, oh yeah, he won it in 2011. Mix in the facts that Simpson is playing stellar golf this summer and this is basically his home tournament (he’s a Raleigh, N.C. native) and there is a whole lot to like about his chances this week. The same cannot be said of Koepka, who has been all over the place with his game since the PGA Tour returned. Part of that may have to do with a knee problem, and although he looked 100 percent much of the way at the PGA Championship he imploded with a final-round 74. Koepka always gets up for majors more than he does for smaller events, so letdown here would only be natural—especially given what happened last Sunday.
Brandt Snedeker to finish in the top 20 (+240)
It is true that Snedeker’s form is not amazing at the moment, but getting him at +240 here is too good to pass up. There is no other way to say it: the 39-year-old American quite simply loves this tournament. He is a two-time champion, having triumphed in 2007 by two strokes with a 22-under total and again in 2018 by three shots at 21-under (also finished third in 2016). Snedeker could not make it a trio last season, but he still placed a solid T39 with three rounds in the 60s and no score worse than 70. The Nashville, Tenn. native has made two straight cuts (FedEx St. Jude Invitational and PGA Championship), so he looks like he is on the verge of considerable success and there is no better place for him to achieve that than Sedgefield Country Club.
