This week’s Wyndham Championship at the Donald Ross designed Sedgefield Country Club near Greensboro, North Carolina is the last chance for golfers to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs by getting inside the top 125 in the standings. After a busy summer, many of the top players are taking the week off to get ready for the playoffs leaving opportunities for some players outside of the qualifying number to record a high finish and make it into the first playoff event.
Last year, Jim Herman made the cut on the number, shot a 61 on Saturday and then overcame a four shot deficit by firing a final round 63 to defeat Billy Horschel by a stroke, jumping from 192nd to 54th in the point standings. He was one of three players to work their way inside the top 125 with their performances in the Wyndham.
Abraham Ancer birdied the second playoff hole to win last week’s WGC – FedEx St. Jude Invitational for his first PGA Tour title after it appeared that third round leader Harris English was going to run away with the tournament until a pair of back nine double bogeys derailed his chances. Entering this week’s tournament, the top player in the FedEx Cup standings was Collin Morikawa, followed by Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Harris English and Jon Rahm.
With four second place finishes, it’s only a matter of time until Louis Oosthuizen collects a win in the United States to add to his 2010 Open Championship victory.
Betting Odds
Former U.S. Open, Players Championship and 2011 Wyndham winner Webb Simpson leads the betting odds at +1000, followed by Masters winner and recent Olympian Hideki Matsuyama at +1400. Hard luck story Louis Oosthuizen, with four runner up finishes in 2021 with two in the majors, is next at +1600, with former Wyndham and Masters winner Patrick Reed at +2200, just in front of two-time 2021 victor Jason Kokrak and Brian Harman.
Will Zalatoris, who is playing due a sponsor’s exemption is at +2800 and will need a win in the Wyndham to make it into the playoffs since he is not yet an official PGA Tour member. Popular Rickie Fowler at +5500 sits on the bubble spot of 125th in the standings and will most likely need to at least make the cut to avoid missing out on the playoffs for the first time in his career.
Favorite Picks
With those four second place finishes, it’s only a matter of time until Louis Oosthuizen collects a win in the United States to add to his 2010 Open Championship victory. He’s eighth in the FedEx Cup standings and seventh in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and well positioned to pull off a win that would vault him into the lead going into the Northern Trust.
Patrick Reed has won the Wyndham before and for such a high profile player, he seems to be operating under the radar in 2021, despite a win at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier in the season that has him at 22nd in the FedEx Cup and 16th in the OWGR. His last top ten finish was in the Memorial in June and he finished tied for 31st in last week’s WGC – FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
Will Zalatoris finished in a quiet tie for eighth last week and with a win he can play for a shot at the Tour Championship, even if the odds are long to pull it off. With eight top ten finishes in 24 starts, the first year Tour player also has experience at Sedgefield, where he missed the cut in his only appearance in 2018.
