Last Stop Before The Playoffs, The Wyndham Championship
Ahh the Wyndham Championship. The end of the schedule. And, unfortunately, the most recent end of Tiger Woods. It has now been one full year since Tiger tee’d it up professionally. He was forced to play last year’s Wyndham for any hope at qualifying for the FedEx Cup playoffs. He needed a win and, for a while, damn near had it. After rounds of 64, 65, 68, Tiger was T2 going into the final round. A Sunday 70, which included a triple on 11, left him 4 shots short of Captain DLIII in a tie for 10th.
He then had back surgery and now cannot hit a wedge over water.
Tiger Woods?’ comeback isn’t going too well. He hit three straight shots into the water…from 102 yards away. pic.twitter.com/CSrxnj5zBR
— Chat Sports (@ChatSports) May 16, 2016
Fun while it lasted. We miss you Tiger. And yes, US Captain Davis Love III won last year’s Wyndham at the ripe age of 51. He unleashed an incredible final-round 64 to beat out Jason Gore (remember him?) by 1.
The Track
The Wyndham is held at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina. A 36-hole club, Sedgefield boasts a Donald Ross and a Pete Dye course. The Ross is where the boys play, a 7,130-yard par 70 with a rating of 75.3 and a slope of 143. That’s tough.
Sedgefield is the only Donald Ross course on the annual Tour roto. Opening in 1926, Sedgefield’s Ross course is old, traditional, experienced and — if you hit it in the wrong spots — tough.
At 7130, Sedgefield isn’t particularly long for these guys. If you’re crafty, you can get around mostly with an iron… like this dude last year.
Notable Holes
9th (416, par 4)
You all know how I feel about clubhouses. Especially American clubhouses. Sedgefield has, in my opinion, a beautiful one and the 9th brings you right to it. Therefore, I love the 9th. At 416, it’s not notably long but does play uphill. With a good drive it’s a nice birdie opp to get you steamrolling into the back.
(how fucking brutal is Rio’s clubhouse, still?)
15th (545, par 5)
The 15th is an awesome 5-par. And with its pivotal positioning late on the back nine, it’s even better. At 545, all these guys can reach in two with a good tee ball. But as you can see from the photo, any imperfectly struck second will likely find the aqua. A sick risk/rewarder coming down the stretch. Tickles my fancy.
18th (507, par 4)
At 500+ yards, the 18th at Sedge is my favorite type of closing hole — a difficult par 4. I don’t like to see guys strolling to the 18th only to play an easy par-5 to close it out. As I’ve written a hundred times, I want carnage, I want it late and I want it dramatically. This hole provides that.
Hitting an uphill approach off a downhill lie to a well-protected green (4 bunkers) is the challenge I like to see. Must play a good old-fashioned straight and long tee shot, smart approach, and hit a couple good putts to finish it off. Just the way it should be.
The Field
Jimmy Furyk is the hot talk in the streets right now. And by streets I mean expert picks for this week. With his last professional round being a PGA Tour record 58, Jimmy’s a popular choice for good reason.
With a driving distance of just 279 this year, Jim reminds us all that there are many ways to play this game — and play it well. Hard to root against the Tour’s dad this week (if he brought back the 5 Hour Energy hat I’d root exclusively for him every week.
In terms of stars, there aren’t a ton in the field this week. Especially not near the top of the world rankings. With the FedEx Cup playoffs coming up, only to be followed shortly after by the Ryder Cup, guys use this week for some time off.
Still, we do have the likes of Rickie, Jimmy Walker, Patrick Reed, Duf Daddy, Webb Simpson (US Ryder Cuppers/wannabe Ryder Cuppers), Ryan Moore (last week’s winner at the John Deere), and Justin Thomas teeing it up. Although the majors are over and this is the least prestigious tourney left this Tour season, lots of these guys are battling for crucial Ryder Cup and FedEx Cup points. Those mean a lot (and are the sole reason Rickie is here).
Rickie Fowler in the process of tweeting his commitment to next week’s Wyndham Championship after his round in Rio pic.twitter.com/UcjB8hNbeU
— Bob Harig (@BobHarig) August 12, 2016
Predictions
Winner
Bill Haas. Billy Haas always finds himself right on the bubble for Ryder Cup points and, once again, sits right there. At 14th on the list, he needs something special to get himself over the edge. He seems to pop up every few years and pull off something incredible — I think this year that’s a win in NC.
Winning Score
(-14) Last year DLIII won it at 17-under. Although I haven’t really studied the course conditions or the 5-day radar particularly closely, I think it’s going to play tougher this year. I’m a big Donald Ross fan and my emotional connection to that tricky-green, misaligned-tee-box genius wants to see his track hold up tough. 14-under wins it.
DFL
First off, how bout my DFL pick in the Olympics fucking withdrew? What is that shit? Must be a Stoolie. Literally the guy was 12-over thru 2 rounds then boom, only player in the field to WD.
It’s the Olympics dude. You don’t withdraw. Had that DFL locked up but whatever. I don’t count WDs as DFL wins. This isn’t a charity.
Anyway, DFL = Steven Bowditch. Quick update on Bowdo’s electric season:
Taking it well tho:
Love the guy but he stinks this year. And that’s the Wyndham Preview. I’m in Chicago for a golf tourney this weekend so won’t be on the couch tweeting. With the NYC move the following week, I imagine I’ll be permanently stuck in a maze of concrete with real-life golf nowhere in sight. Bad for Riggs, good for covering golf. Won’t miss a thing and with Portnoy and Nardini over our shoulders and Nate calling us out for any signs of lackluster work, I definitely won’t miss a thing.