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Vincenzi’s 2024 Wyndham Championship betting preview: Why I can’t see past Sungjae Im this week

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The PGA TOUR makes its final regular season stop this week as it heads to Sedgefield Country Club to play the Wyndham Championship. Located in Greensboro, N.C., the course opened in 1926 and was renovated in 2007.

Sedgefield Country Club is a Par 70 measuring at 7,127 yards. Sedgefield is a Donald Ross design. The layout features fast rolling bermudagrass greens.

The Wyndham Championship will play host to 156 golfers, many of whom will be looking to punch a ticket to the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup rankings will earn a spot.

With many golfers having their spot locked up for the FedEx Cup playoffs, the field lacks some big names but is fairly solid overall. We will see the likes of Will Zalatoris, Shane Lowry, Sungjae Im, Robert MacIntyre, Sungjae Im, Billy Horschel, Brian Harman, Cameron Young, Justin Rose and Min Woo teeing it up.

Past Winners at The Wyndham Championship

  • 2023: Lucas Glover (-20)
  • 2022: Tom Kim (-20)
  • 2021: Kevin Kisner (-15)
  • 2020: Jim Herman (-21)
  • 2019: J.T. Poston (-22)
  • 2018: Brandt Snedeker (-21)
  • 2017: Henrik Stenson (-22)
  • 2016: Si Woo Kim (-21)

In this article and going forward, I’ll be using the Rabbit Hole by Betsperts Golf data engine to develop my custom model. If you want to build your own model or check out all of the detailed stats, you can sign up using promo code: MATTVIN for 25% off any subscription package (yearly is best value).

Key Stats For Sedgefield Country Club

Let’s take a look at the key metrics for Sedgefield Country Club to determine which golfers boast top marks in each category over their last 24 rounds.

Strokes Gained: Approach

Approach rates out as the most important statistic for Sedgefield. Being a relatively short course with easy to hit fairways, it is most definitely a second shot golf course.

SG: App Over Past 24 Rounds

  1. Keith Mitchell (+.98)
  2. Doug Ghim (+.88) 
  3. Ben Griffin (+.78)
  4. J.J. Spaun (+.77)
  5. Chez Reavie (+.73)

Birdie or Better: Gained

It is necessary for golfers to go low here at some point in the four rounds and birdie makers tend to play very well at Sedgefield. Seven of the past eight winners of the Wyndham Championship had a winning score of -20 or better.

Birdie or Better: Gained Over Past 24 Rounds

  1. Luke Clanton (28.1%)
  2. J.J. Spaun (27.7%)
  3. Sungjae Im (26.6%)
  4. Keith Mitchell (26.4%)
  5. Michael Thorbjornsen (26.4%)

Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermuda)

Very good putters tend to be very successful at Sedgefield Country Club. The Bermudagrass greens typically play fast and should favor golfers who have had success on that type of surface throughout their careers.

Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermuda) Past 24 rounds:

  1. Ben Griffin (+1.15)
  2. Chesson Hadley (+0.91)
  3. Erik Van Rooyen (+0.83)
  4. Harris English (+0.81)
  5. Maverick McNealy (+0.79)

Course History

This statistic will incorporate players who have performed well at Sedgefield Country Club in the past. 

Course History Over Past 36 Rounds

  1. Webb Simpson (+2.27)
  2. Sungjae Im (+2.22)
  3. Cameron Davis (+1.98
  4. Billy Horschel (+1.94)
  5. Eric Cole (+1.89)

Strokes Gained: Total (Donald Ross Designs)

Donald Ross designs have challenging green complexes and a unique feel to them. We often see golfers who excel at Donald Ross designs do so on a regular basis throughout their career.

Strokes Gained: Total (Donald Ross Designs) Over Past 36 Rounds:

  1. Min Woo Lee (+2.11)
  2. Cameron Davis (+2.02)
  3. Eric Cole (+1.85)
  4. Aaron Rai (+1.42)
  5. Davis Thompson (+1.27)

Wyndham Championship Model Rankings

Below, I’ve compiled overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed — SG: Approach (27%), Birdie or Better (22%%), SG: Putting Bermuda Fast (18.4%), SG: Donald Ross (18.4%), and Course History (14.3%).

  1. Sungjae Im
  2. Ben Griffin
  3. Shane Lowry
  4. Eric Cole
  5. J.J. Spaun
  6. Cameron Davis
  7. Brian Harman
  8. Troy Merritt
  9. Billy Horschel
  10. Thomas Detry

2024 Wyndham Championship Picks

Sungjae Im +1600 (FanDuel)

It’s been a long time since Sungjae Im has won a PGA Tour event (October 2021). Over the past few months, we’ve seen the South Korean regain the form that made him one of the most exciting young players in the world when he burst onto the scene in 2019. 

Every year, there are a few betting spots on the calendar that I have circled in red ink, and Sungjae at the Wyndham fits the bill perhaps more so than any bet I’ve made this season.

Over his past nine starts, Im has finished in the top 12 seven times, including three finishes in the top five. Not only is he performing well, but he’s doing so in big events against the best of the best. He finished T3 at the Travelers (signature event), T4 at the Scottish Open in a stacked field and T7 in the Open Championship. In his past 24 rounds, Sungjae ranks 7th in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and 3rd in Birdie or Better percentage. 

Sungjae now takes his spectacular form to Sedgefield Country Club where he’s been incredible over the course of his career. In five starts at the course, he has three top 10 finishes and is yet to finish worse than 24th. In the past 36 rounds, he ranks 2nd in Strokes Gained: Total at Sedgefield. Im isn’t long off the tee, which is not a major detriment at the course and putts extremely well on Bermudagrass greens.

It’s been a long time coming for Im, but I believe he finally breaks the seal at this week’s Wyndham Championship.

Eric Cole +7000 (FanDuel)

Eric Cole was one of the most interesting stories of 2023, winning the 2022-2023 Rookie of the Year Award and becoming the oldest player (35) to do so since Todd Hamilton in 2004.

Cole started the season off playing well once again, but his performance really tailed off from March to June. Over the past four weeks, he’s rounded into form once again. With finishes of T6 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and T7 at the John Deere Classic, Cole once again seems as if he can be a contender in the regular season finale. Last season, he finished T14 at the Wyndham Championship.

Over his past 24 rounds, Cole ranks 7th in the field in Birdie or Better Percentage. With soft conditions expected this week, it will be important for players to make birdie in bunches. He also ranks 4th in Strokes Gained: Total at Donald Ross designed courses, showing he enjoys this type of setup.

Longshots and veterans have both been commonplace on the leaderboard of past Wyndham Championships, and Cole fits the bill for both this week.

Ben Griffin +8000 (FanDuel)

Ben Griffin is the type of player who can compete on certain courses utilized on the PGA Tour due to his ability to score with short irons and his putter. With speed and distance playing an important factor at many of the Tour stops, players of his ilk will have a hard time putting it all together to win. However, Sedgefield Country Club is a course that cannot be overpowered and players like Griffin can compete.

In 2022, the UNC graduate finished 4th at this event, gaining significant strokes in every major statistical category with the exception of off the tee, where he was slightly below field average. Throughout the past few seasons, Griffin has been a specialist at short courses that feature Bermudagrass greens.

Over his past 24 rounds, Griffin leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting on Bermudagrass greens and 3rd in Strokes Gained: Approach. If this event turns into an iron and putting contest, the 28-year-old will have a chance to win.

Matt Kuchar +12000 (FanDuel)

Last year, a resurgent veteran in Lucas Glover won this event, and I believe Matt Kuchar is a player in a similar mold that could make some noise attempting to earn his way into the FedEx Cup playoffs.

The 46-year-old has a streak of 17 consecutive years making the playoffs, and it would take an extraordinary performance to earn his way into St. Jude. After contending deep into the final round of his most recent start at the 3M Open, I wouldn’t rule him out just yet.

At TPC Twin Cities, Kuchar gained 9.68 strokes on approach, which led the field and was the most he’s gained in an event since the 2011 (!) Bob Hope Classic. Of course, the performance could have been an aberration, but his approach numbers have been steadily rising over his past five starts. At the John Deere Classic the week prior to the 3M, he gained 2.90 strokes on approach in two rounds.

A Kuchar bet is more of a “course fit” play rather than a “course history” play considering he’s only played the course twice. However, there is no reason why the Georgia Tech product shouldn’t play great a course like Sedgefield. I believe the savvy veteran has one more run of great golf left in him.

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19th Hole

‘Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight’ – LPGA pro offers candid take following rough AIG Women’s Open finish

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An opening round of 77 left LPGA pro Jenny Shin with a mountain to climb at last week’s AIG Women’s Open.

However, fighting back with rounds of 69 and 67, Shin found herself six shots off the lead and just outside the top 10 heading into Sunday as she went in search of her first major victory.

Shin, who won the US Girls’ Junior at just 13, couldn’t back those rounds up on Sunday, though, and after playing her opening nine holes of the final round in level par, she then bogeyed three holes coming home to slip down the leaderboard and eventually finish T23.

Taking to X following the final round, Shin offered a frustrated and honest take on how she was feeling, posting: “Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish.”

Shin has made 11 cuts in 13 starts on the LPGA Tour this season, but has been plagued by frustrating Sunday finishes throughout the year. Shin ranks 102nd on tour this year out of 155 for Round 4 scoring in 2025.

Miyu Yamashita won the 2025 AIG Women’s Open with a composed final round of 70 to win her first major of her career by two strokes.

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19th Hole

How a late golf ball change helped Cameron Young win for first time on PGA Tour

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Cameron Young won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his first victory on the PGA Tour.

Young dominated all weekend at TPC Sedgefield, running away from the pack to win by six strokes and put himself in contention for a Ryder Cup pick in September.

Ahead of the event, the 28-year-old switched to a Pro V1x prototype golf ball for the first time, following recent testing sessions with the Titleist Golf Ball R&D team.

Interestingly, Young played a practice round accompanied by Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s Director of Tour Research & Validation, at TPC Schedule early last week with both his usual Pro V1 Left Dot ball and the new Pro V1x prototype.

Per Titleist, by the second hole Young was exclusively hitting shots with the Pro V1x prototype.

“We weren’t sure if he was going to test it this week, but as he was warming up, he asked to hit a couple on the range,” Pitts said. “He was then curious to see some shots out on the course.  Performance-wise, he was hitting tight draws everywhere. His misses were staying more in play. He hit some, what he would call ‘11 o’clock shots,’ where again he’s taking a little something off it. He had great control there.”

According to Titleist, the main validation came on Tuesday on the seventh hole of his practice round. The par 3 that played between 184 and 225 yards during the tournament called for a 5-iron from Young, or so he thought. Believing there was “no way” he could get a 6-iron to the flag with his Left Dot, Young struck a 5-iron with the Pro V1x prototype and was stunned to see the ball land right by the hole.

“He then hits this 6-iron [with the Pro V1x prototype] absolutely dead at the flag, and it lands right next to the pin, ending up just past it,” Pitts said. “And his response was, ‘remarkable.’ He couldn’t believe that he got that club there.”

Following nine holes on Tuesday and a further nine on Wednesday, Young asked the Titleist team to put the ProV1x balls in his locker. The rest, as they say, is history.

Check out Young’s winning WITB here.

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19th Hole

Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’

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Rickie Fowler fired an opening round of one-under par on Thursday at the Wyndham Championship, as the Californian looks to make a FedEx Cup playoff push.

Fowler is currently 61st in the standings, so will need a strong couple of weeks to extend his season until the BMW Championship, where only the top 50 in the standings will tee it up.

Heading into the final stretch of the season, Fowler has made an equipment switch of note, changing into new iron shafts, as well as making a switch to his driver shaft.

The 36-year-old revealed this week that he has switched from his usual KBS Tour C-Taper 125-gram steel shafts to the graphite Aerotech SteelFiber 125cw shafts in his Cobra King Tour irons, a change he first put into play at last month’s Travelers Championship.

Speaking on the change to reporters this week, Fowler made note that the graphite shafts offer “something that’s a little easier on the body.”

“I mean, went to the week of Travelers, so been in for, I guess that’s a little over a month now. Something that’s a little easier on the body and seemed to get very similar numbers to where I was at. Yeah, it’s gone well so far.”

Fowler has also made a driver shaft change, switching out his Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73 TX for a UST Mamiya Lin-Q Proto V1 6 TX driver shaft in his Cobra DS-Adapt X, which he first implemented a couple of weeks ago at the John Deere Classic.

However, according to Fowler himself, the testing and potential changes are not done yet.

“Probably do some more testing in some different weight configurations with them once I get some time. Yeah, I feel like we’re always trying to search, one, to get better but are there ways to make things easier, whether that’s physically, mentally, whatever it may be. So yeah, I thought they were good enough to obviously put into play and looking forward to doing some more testing.”

Fowler gets his second round at TPC Sedgefield underway at 7.23 a.m ET on Friday.

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