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Vincenzi’s Wyndham Championship betting preview: Adam Scott and Si-Woo Kim offer value on betting board

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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 2023 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 punch a ticket to the Fed Ex St. Jude Championship, where the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup rankings will earn a spot, which is a change from last year when the top 125 made it to Memphis. 

With many golfers having their spot locked up for the FedEx Cup playoffs, the field lacks some big names but is solid overall. We will see the likes of Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Russell Henley and Ludvig Aberg at this event.

Past Winners at The Wyndham Championship

  • 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)

5 Key Stats For Sedgefield Country Club

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

1. 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. Russell Henley (+27.6) 
  2. Adam Schenk (+25.9)
  3. Alex Smalley (+25.2)
  4. Hideki Matsuyama (+25.1)
  5. Mark Hubbard (+22.7)

2. 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. Six of the past seven winners of the Wyndham Championship have had a winning score of -20 or better. 

Birdie or Better: Gained Over Past 24 Rounds

  1. Adam Scott (+20.5) 
  2. Carson Young (+17.8) 
  3. Eric Cole (+17.7) 
  4. Scott Piercy (+17.4)
  5. Peter Kuest (+17.0) 

3. Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermuda and Fast)

Very good putters tend to be very successful at Sedgefield Country Club. The Bermudagrass greens will be very fast and should favor golfers who have had success on that type of surface throughout their careers. Last year, Tom Kim gained 12.4 strokes putting for the week. 

Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermuda and Fast) Past 24 rounds:

  1. Ben Taylor (+28.0)
  2. Brian Gay (+25.1) 
  3. Alex Noren (+22.8) 
  4. Andrew Putnam (+22.7)
  5. Ben Griffin (+18.4)

4. Par 4: 400-450

The most common par-4 distance on the course will be from 400-450. There are eight holes of this length at Sedgefield Country Club which is quite a large amount compared to other courses on TOUR. Tom Kim ranked 4th in this statistic last year prior to his win. 

Par 4: 400-450 Over Past 24 Rounds

  1. Denny McCarthy (+18.8)
  2. Ben Griffin (+13.4)
  3. Aaron Rai (+12.4)
  4. Thomas Detry (+11.6) 
  5. Brendon Todd (+11.1)

5. 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 24 Rounds:

  1. Taylor Moore (+2.8) 
  2. Chris Kirk (+2.7) 
  3. Taylor Pendrith (+2.3) 
  4. Russell Henley (+1.7) 
  5. Sungjae Im (+1.5)

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 Par 4: 400-450 (14.3%).

  1. Denny McCarthy (+3500)
  2. Adam Schenk (+7500)
  3. Adam Scott (+2200)
  4. Russell Henley (+2200)
  5. Ben Griffin (+8000)
  6. Adam Hadwin (+5000)
  7. Hideki Matsuyama (+1800)
  8. Stephan Jaeger (+3500)
  9. Alex Noren (+8000)
  10. Cameron Davis (+4000)

2023 Wyndham Championship Picks

Adam Scott (+3300, BetRivers)

Adam Scott is currently 80th in the FedEx Cup standings and needs a good performance this week to punch his ticket to next week’s playoff event at TPC Southwind. Needing to play well to advance your season doesn’t always translate to playing well, but it did for Scott at this tournament in 2021. Scott sat at 127th in the standings, with the top-125 making the playoffs. He lost in a playoff and had a 5-foot putt to win the event that unfortunately didn’t go down. He did however jump from 127th to 82nd in the standings with the tied for second place finish. 

Scott has had an up-and-down season but has put together some decent results over the past few months. He has four top-20 finishes in his past eight starts plus a 33rd place finish at the Open Championship. At Hoylake, the Aussie gained 2.8 strokes on approach and 1.2 strokes off the tee.

In his past 24 rounds, Scott ranks 1st in the field in Birdie or Better Gained. To be making more birdies than anyone in the field tells me that he’s close to putting it all together. If he can eliminate the bogeys this week, the 43-year-old should find himself in weekend contention at Sedgefield CC.

Si Woo Kim (+3300, BetRivers)

You’d be hard pressed to find any golfer that loves a course more than Si Woo Kim loves Sedgefield Country Club. The South Korean won the event in 2016, and since then has come close on multiple occasions. He’s finished 5th in 2019, 3rd in 2020, and lost in a playoff in 2021. 

Despite missing cuts at the Travelers Championship and The Open Championship, Si Woo has gained strokes on approach in eight consecutive events. In his past 24 rounds, he ranks 10th in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and 12th in Birdie or Better Gained. He also has two top-four finishes in his past seven starts, so I believe he’s playing better than the last two results would indicate.

In 2021, Kim had the worst statistical performance of his career in his start at the WGC St. Jude. He lost 16.8 strokes on approach and 7.8 strokes putting. The following week he lost in a playoff at the Wyndham Championship. In 2019, he missed five consecutive cuts prior to finishing 5th at the Wyndham Championship.

Si Woo is a player that loves certain courses and can quickly shake off recent poor performances and rebound when the situation is right. When in contention, there are few players in the field I’d trust in the field to actually win the tournament than the four-time PGA Tour winner.

Denny McCarthy (+3500, DraftKings)

Given his recent form, an argument could be made that Denny McCarthy is the best value on the betting board. He missed the cut in his first ever Open Championship start but I don’t think it’s wise to hold that against him. Prior to the Open, Denny had three top-seven finishes in his past four starts.

In his past 24 rounds, McCarthy ranks 22nd in Strokes Gained: Approach, 17th in Birdie or Better Gained and 1st in Strokes Gained on Par 4’s 400-450 yards. Sedgefield Country Club is a course that doesn’t require much distance off the tee, and a hot putter can carry a player to victory. He’s also had some success at the course, finishing 9th in 2020 and 15th in 2021.

In the field, McCarthy ranks 1st in Strokes Gained: Total this season. He’s simply been one of the best players on Tour this year without a win, and the Wyndham Championship is a perfect spot for him to finally break through with a victory.

Harris English (+6000, FanDuel)

I must admit that this is more of a “gut feel” than anything else. When it comes to Harris English, sometimes “gut feel” is all you have to go on. The 34-year-old isn’t the type of player to blow you away with ball striking statistics but finds other ways to get the job done. When English won the Travelers Championship, he only gained 1.5 strokes on approach. When he won the Sentry Tournament of Champions earlier that season, he only gained 1.0. For English to win, he needs to get extremely hot with the putter and there’s reason to believe he can do that. 

English has solid but unspectacular course history, with his best recent finish being an 11th in 2018. However, he plays courses in the area extremely well and has done his best work on shorter tracks where hitting the ball a long way isn’t an absolute necessity. Last month, English gained 10.3 strokes putting at the U.S. Open and finished in 8th place, which was his best major performance since 2021.

After falling out of form for about 18 months, I believe English is on the way to being a consistent performer once again. If he struggles are now in the past, Sedgefield CC is a great course to take a gamble on his skill set.

Alex Smalley (+6500, FanDuel)

Alex Smalley is another player that I expected to be much shorter in the betting market but will gladly take the added value we’re being given this week. Smalley is a member at Sedgefield Country Club and has played the course over 100 times. He’s also been quite good at the course professionally, finishing 29th and 13th in 2021 and 2022. 

In addition to the course familiarity, Smalley is also hitting the ball really well over his past five starts. In that time, he’s gained an average of 4.7 strokes on approach per event and 5.1 strokes from tee to green. He also ranks third on approach in the field in his past 24 rounds.

The Duke product has shown his potential recently, with two top-10’s in his past four starts. Smalley was able to get into the final group on Sunday at the John Deere Classic in June but couldn’t convert his strong performance into a win. I believe that experience should prove valuable if he finds himself in contention once again this week.

Chesson Hadley (+20000, FanDuel)

We are now officially in Chesson Hadley season. The Raleigh, North Carolina native typically heats up at this time of year, and it’s happening once again in 2023. Last week, Hadley finished in 27th place at the 3M Open, and gained 5.7 strokes on approach, which was his most in the category since 2019. 

Chesson’s return to form couldn’t come at a better time, as Sedgefield Country Club has been the course where he’s played best over the past few seasons. He finished 15th and 8th in the past two years here and gained 5.6 and 2.9 strokes on approach in those starts. Hadley feels comfortable in this region and has some other good finishes in the area in recent years including a 2nd place finish at the Palmetto Championship in 2021.

Currently sitting at 126th in the FedEx Cup rankings, Hadley could use a big week at Sedgefield.

Doc Redman (+21000, FanDuel)

Just a few years ago, Doc Redman looked like a “can’t miss” prospect on the PGA Tour. The former U.S. Amateur champion began his career with multiple strong finishes and was one of the best young iron players in the game prior to falling completely out of form over the past few seasons. 

When he was playing well, Redman played arguably his best golf as a professional at Sedgefield Country Club. The Raleigh, North Carolina native finished 3rd and 21st at the course in two of his past three starts at Sedgefield and also finished in a tie for second at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree Golf Club in South Carolina.

Redman has shown a slight resurgence of late and has finishes of 9th and 30th in his past two starts and gained 5.1 and 4.7 strokes tee to green in those starts. Doc is still just 25-years-old and has the opportunity to get things moving in the right direction at an event that suits him extremely well.

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19th Hole

“Is it a Titleist?” – Jerry Seinfeld shares never-before-heard details of iconic scene

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On Thursday, legendary comedian Jerry Seinfeld joined the Rich Eisen Show and shared an awesome story from a “Seinfeld” episode titled “The Marine Biologist.”

In the episode, a golf ball goes into the blow hole of a whale. According to Seinfeld, that was never in the episode’s script.

Seinfeld recalls saying the night before the filming of the episode, “What if what puts the whale in distress is Kramer’s golf ball?”

“He’s hitting golf balls at the beach. George is at the beach with a girl, we haven’t connected them!”

“We write that speech the night before at two o’clock in the morning…The sea was angry that day my friend.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Rich Eisen (@richeisen)


Kramer finishes the iconic scene by asking “Is it a Titleist?” Seinfeld told Eisen the show sought Titleist’s permission to mention its name, saying the ball had to be a Titleist. Fortunately for lovers of the iconic show, the company agreed.

If (somehow) you’re unfamiliar with the scene, check it out below.

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Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game ‘on a much more global basis’

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While speaking with Bloomberg, golf legend Phil Mickelson acknowledged that he is inching close towards retirement.

“I’m 53 now,” Phil said, “and my career, you know, it’s — if I’m being truthful, it’s on — it’s — it’s — I’m a — it’s towards its end.”

Mickelson added that one of his focuses now is helping other young players.

“Now, I would like to help others find the same enjoyment and fulfillment that the game has provided me. I’d like them to experience that as well.”

The six-time major champion credited LIV with reaching new markets in golf to help it grow.

“I think that’s exciting for everyone involved in the game because we are going to reach markets that we didn’t reach before. I think it’s going to inspire more golf courses, inspire more manufacturers selling clubs and equipment, but also inspiring young kids to try to play golf professionally. I just see that the game of golf is going to grow on a much more global basis because of the excitement and the presence that LIV Golf has.”

Mickelson is playing at this week’s LIV Singapore and shot a first round 72 (+1).

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Tiger explains why golf has ‘negative connotations’ for daughter Sam

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While Tiger Woods’ son, Charlie, has certainly inherited his father’s love for golf, his daughter, Sam, has not.

On Wednesday, Tiger made an appearance on The Today Show with Carson Daly and explained his daughter’s relationship with golf.

“Golf has negative connotations for her. When she was growing up, golf took daddy away from her. I had to pack, I had to leave, and I was gone for weeks. So, there were negative connotations to it.

“We developed our own relationship and our own rapport outside of golf. We do things that doesn’t involve golf. Meanwhile, my son and I, everything we do is golf related.”

The nine-minute interview touches on plenty of other subjects, such as Tiger’s relationship with his late father, Earl.

It’s arguably the most open we’ve seen the 15-time major champion in an interview and is most definitely worth watching.

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