Wyndham Championship Picks and Predictions: Look for Russell Henley, Adam Long to Find Success

Wyndham Championship Picks and Predictions: Look for Russell Henley, Adam Long to Find Success

The Wyndham Championship has been a staple of the PGA Tour since 1938, when it was founded as the Greater Greensboro Open. It had always been annually played in April or May until a schedule change in 2023 moved it towards the end of the season. The tournament has been hosted at a number of courses over the years before a permanent move to the Donald Ross-designed Sedgefield Country Club in 2008. The Wyndham Championship is the final PGA Tour event before the playoffs, meaning it will be the last opportunity for players to crack the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings and continue their season next week in Memphis.

Wyndham Championship Course Preview

Sedgefield Country Club

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Sedgefield Country is a very standard, short, positional Bermuda-grass golf course. Playing as a par 70 and tipping out to just 7,131 yards on the scorecard, the Donald Ross design is far from an imposing test, and the tournament has been won at 21-under par or better five of the last six years. Unlike what we saw last week at Detroit Golf Club, another Donald Ross design, there is very little advantage to wailing away with the driver at Sedgefield. Bermuda rough is far more tricky to control spin out of than Blue-grass, and I was able to find a large correlation between driving accuracy and success at this event. Eight of the last 10 winners ranked inside the top 15 in driving accuracy.

Sedgefield is a true placement golf course, and while hitting the fairway is step one, accurate short iron play is just as important. While the degree of difficulty on approach is low, the sheer volume of short iron shots is overwhelming. A whopping eight par fours measure between 400 and 450 yards, and nearly 60% of approach shots at Sedgefield have come from between 100 and 175 yards. Finally, the green complexes are likely the course's greatest defense. Ross is famous for his crowned greens, and Sedgefield consistently ranks as one of the more challenging lag putting courses on the PGA Tour. Ultimately, I will be looking to target players who are above average in driving accuracy, short iron play, and Bermuda putting, as a balanced attack of these three skill-sets has proven to be the roadmap to success at the Wyndham Championship.

Wyndham Championship Picks

Wyndham Championship Key Stats

• Driving Accuracy
• Long-term Proximity 125-175 yards
• Strokes Gained Putting: Bermuda Greens

Let's dig into my outright Wyndham Championship picks for the week.

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Wyndham Championship Picks and Predictions: Outright Winner

Russell Henley (+3400) (Bet $100 to Win $3400) (Bet $100 to Win $3,400)

*Odds available at Bet365 at time of publishing*

While Russell Henley broke the hearts of many bettors at last year's Wyndham Championship, it's time to forgive and forget. The three-time PGA Tour winner will continue to put himself in position on short, positional Bermuda-golf courses every year. We've seen recently how typical bridesmaids that check every box statistically, such as Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau, are bound to catch the right side of variance in due time. Henley is coming off a tenth-place finish at the Rocket Mortgage, where he gained seven strokes ball-striking, and he remains the best short-iron player in this field by a healthy margin. Now the Georgia native returns to his favorite putting surface and course that places a massive emphasis on driving accuracy and short iron play while carrying a palatable number in the betting market when considering the strength of the field. This was an easy one.

Adam Long (+6000) (Bet $100 to Win $6000) (Bet $100 to Win $6,000)

*Odds available at DraftKings SportsBook at time of publishing*

Adam Long is my favorite bet on the board this week, and he would be my sole pick to win this tournament. The former American Express winner is coming off a 16th-place finish at the 3M Open, where he gained 0.3 strokes off the tee and 6.6 strokes on approach, good for the second best iron week of his entire career. Long has now gained strokes off the tee in five straight starts and over 2.5 strokes on approach in back-to-back starts, which explains his four consecutive top-25 finishes. He's shown an ability to spike with the putter, gaining 9.1 at the Travelers just a few weeks, and keep up in easier scoring conditions by winning the American Express at 26-under par. The 34-year-old also remains one of the most accurate drivers of the ball in this field, and he's shown an ability to succeed on short, positional courses with multiple top-three finishes at the Mayakoba, to go along with some strong showings at Harbor Town and Colonial as well. The former Duke standout should be more than comfortable on a Carolina golf course, and the Washington Duke Inn golf course resembles the task at hand in Sedgefield this week.

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