Welcome back to the BettingPros PGA Podcast.
We’re going to deliver a betting preview of the Wyndham Championship in just a moment. But first, a quick recap of the Rocket Classic.
Rocket Classic Recap
Michael Thorbjornsen wins a shootout in Detroit. He finished 18-under par, two shots better than Xander Schauffele.
Thorbjornsen got hot in crunch time, shooting 5-under 30 on the back nine Sunday at Detroit Golf Club as part of a final-round 63. He put himself in position to win with consecutive birdies on the par 5 14th and par 3 15th holes, then added a birdie on the par 4 18th when he rolled in a 26-foot putt.
There were a lot of other players in contention early on Sunday, including Xander, Davis Riley, Rasmus Højgaard, Patrick Cantlay, Michael Kim, and Rickie Fowler. But the 24-year-old Thorbjornsen grabbed the tournament by the throat for his first career PGA Tour victory.
Course Preview: Sedgefield Country Club
And now we come to the Wyndham Championship – one last chance for players to accrue enough FedExCup points to land in the top 70 and qualify for the playoffs.
It used to be the top 125, but it’s more exclusive now with only the top 70 advancing. Some of the big names have already secured their playoff spots and will take the week off, but we’ll still get a pretty deep field this week.
The event will be played at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina. It’s a par 70 course measuring 7,131 yards.
Like Detroit Golf Club, Sedgefield Country Club is another Donald Ross design. It’s a pretty short course. Nine of the par 4s are 442 yards or shorter.
There are only two par 5s. One measures 542 yards, while the other is just 529 yards. There are also a couple of long par 3s. The par 4 18th stretches to 507 yards, but there are going to be a lot of holes where players leave the driver in the bag and where they’ll have short irons or wedges into the greens.
There’s a premium on driving accuracy at Sedgefield because the fairways are narrow. The rough is pretty thick, and poorly placed drives could be blocked out by the trees on a number of holes.
We’ve been getting a lot of bentgrass greens lately, or bentgrass/Poa annua blends. We’re back to Bermuda this week, and the greens at Sedgefield are fast and undulating.
Cameron Young is the defending champion. He blitzed the field last year, finishing 22-under par to win by six shots. Aaron Rai won the Wyndham Championship in 2024 at 18-under par. Lucas Glover won in 2023 at 20-under, while Tom Kim also finished at 20-under when he won the event in 2022.
The forecast this week calls for temperatures in the mid-80s throughout the tournament with humid conditions. There are no major rain threats in the forecast, though we could see a pop-up shower or thunderstorm or two. The wind should be light for most of the week.
Bo McBrayer on Sedgefield Country Club
You have to say Sedgefield with your pinky up. Sip tea. Pinky up. It sounds exclusive.
Top 70. You’ve got to make yourself exclusive for next week by doing well at Sedgefield.
Greensboro is a pretty nice area of North Carolina, up in the hills and forests. Donald Ross is going to give you fast, undulating, sloped Bermuda greens.
You have to hit the fairway here. It’s really difficult to hit the fairway, but if you’re in the fairway, this is a birdie fest. If you’re out of the fairway, you’re going to make a bunch of pars, and it’s not going to be good enough.
Judging by an average winning score of 20-under par, that means you have to average 65 over the four days to win this tournament. That’s a pretty good clip of birdie-making.
Cam Young last year, like you said, completely blitzed the field. He got red hot, hit all the fairways, and found a hot putter, which broke his trend.
Overall, we’re looking for accurate players off the tee, really good ball strikers, and somebody who’s also coming in putting well, especially on Bermuda. If I’m looking at the last 20 to 24 rounds, I’m only interested in putting on Bermuda.
Otherwise, it’s all about proximity on approach, making birdies, and finding fairways.
It’s a really straightforward course and really short. The best player is going to win this tournament. It’s going to be a fair test of who’s playing really well right now.
I have a lot of surprises on my betting card this week.
Hard Rock Best Bets of the Week
Speaking of which, it’s time for our Hard Rock Best Bets of the Week, presented by Hard Rock Bet Sportsbook.
Pat Fitzmaurice’s Best Bet
My Hard Rock Bet of the Week is…I said I was going to quit this guy. I lied. It’s Tom Kim at 38-1.
I like the price for a past champion here, whose accuracy off the tee and with his approach shots should play well at Sedgefield. I think the young man can get it done with his sterling iron play.
Pat Fitzmaurice’s Wyndham Championship Picks
- Hard Rock Best Bet: Tom Kim (+3800)
- Cameron Young (+820)
- Mac Meissner (+5000)
- Blades Brown (+6000)
- J.T. Poston (+6700)
Bo McBrayer’s Best Bet
I’m going with Blades Brown at 60-1. He’s super talented and I think he breaks through this week.
This is the Tom Kim parallel – I’m not going to quit Blades Brown like you said you’re going to quit Tom Kim. There are too many similarities in how they play golf and their age at the time of playing this tournament for the first time. I think Blades Brown is primed to win the thing, and that would be a massive payout at 60-1.
Bo McBrayer’s Wyndham Championship Picks
- Hard Rock Best Bet: Blades Brown (+6000)
- Mac Meissner (+5000)
- Eric Cole (+6900)
- Zac Blair (+10500)
- Luke Clanton (+12000)
- Kristoffer Ventura (+15000)
- Lucas Glover (+15500)
And that’s all for this week’s BettingPros PGA Podcast. Please join us again next week for the first event of the FedExCup Playoffs, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, when we’ll be bringing you a full betting preview.
Until then, so long everyone.
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