Paulie’s Picks: 2020 Wyndham Championship

This week, in its final stop before the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the PGA Tour heads to Sedgefield Country Club for the Wyndham Championship. Sedgefield is an old-school Donald Ross design that emphasizes precision over distance. Players who succeed here typically keep the ball in play off the tee and excel in their approach play and putting.

Let’s look at few players in the Wyndham Championship field who fit that mold:

DraftKings

Kevin Kisner $8,300

Even though TPC Harding Park wasn’t a great fit for him, Kevin Kisner quietly finished 19th at last week’s PGA Championship. He relied on stellar iron play and putting, gaining five strokes in each category. Those are the two most important metrics this week. Plus, he finished in the top 10 in two of his past three starts at Sedgefield.

Ryan Moore $8,100

Moore has finished T-12 in each of his past two events, and in the top 10 in three of his past seven appearances at the Wyndham Championship. In this field, he is 12th on approach and fourth in fairways hit. That is the perfect combination to give him plenty of birdie chances and an opportunity to contend this week.

One-and-Done

Webb Simpson

If you still have Webb left, use him this week. He has finished first or second in six of his past 20 starts. At this event, which he loves so much he named his daughter after it, Simpson has finished eighth or better seven times in the past ten years, including a win and two runner-ups. He is by far the highest ranked player in my model this week, as he is accurate off the tee and into greens, and his putter can be deadly.

Brendon Todd

No, #ToddWatch commander Brendan Porath is not sponsoring this pick. I think Todd’s game is ideally suited to Sedgefield Country Club, where accuracy off the tee is more important than pure distance. Also, as we’ve seen recently, Todd has the ability to go unconscious with his irons and putter. Players of a similar type—Simpson, Snedeker, etc.—have thrived at this venue. Besides, Todd is on a heater: he has already won twice this season and has come close to earning a few other trophies. I would not be surprised to see him get his third win of 2019-20 this week.