The Cheat Sheet provides DraftKings fantasy golf players with course info, player history and the most noteworthy trends of the week to help them with their roster selections.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Summer Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
The Field
The Wyndham Championship is the last regular season event of the season. It’s a full-field tournament that will feature 150+ golfers and a regular cutline, where the top 65 players and ties will make the cut after Friday. This week is also important as only the top 70 players and ties in the FedEx Cup standings will get to play next week at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Anyone outside the top 70 after this week misses the playoffs and will have to play the fall series to ensure full status for 2025.
A lot of top names are skipping this week (and resting up for the playoffs) but SungJae Im, Shane Lowrey, and Jordan Spieth give this event some star power. Spieth is only 53rd in the FedEx Cup standings so he’s in need of some points and will certainly be under the gun this week to at least make the cut. Some other names on the bubble of the FedEx Cup this week include Davis Riley (72), Kurt Kitayama (74), and Nicolai Højgaard (80).
The Course
Sedgefield Country Club—Greensboro, North Carolina
Par 70, 7127 yards; Greens: Champion Bermuda
Sedgefield Country Club is a Donald Ross-designed course that’s hidden inside the suburbs of Greensboro, North Carolina and has been the host of this event since 2007. Sedgefield isn’t long at around 7100 or so yards, and in past years it’s yielded some low scores—including recently in 2018 when the winner (Brandt Snedeker) shot 59 in round one. The greens are Bermuda (since 2012) and they can be slightly tricky, but it should be noted that as they have matured, scores here have gotten lower. Of the last eight winners, seven have now reached 20 under-par or better at this event. This is important to note as players with affinities for Bermuda grass tend to have a big advantage as the green complexes always yield some monster-putting weeks.
The course itself is a nice mix of semi-challenging holes and some extremely moderate-to-easy ones. As a traditional par 70, there are two very reachable and very birdie-able par 5s on this track and any player hoping to be in the mix will have to play these two well under par for the week. Winners have tended to play these holes nearly a shot better than par for the week.
Eight of the 12 par 4s on the course measure in at under 450 yards in length and can be had for birdies by players going well with their irons. These holes aren’t drivable and they do require accurate tee shots and place a large emphasis on short iron play. That makes Sedgefield more of a positional course and a big reason why we have seen so many veteran winners at this venue over the last decade or so (four winners of 40+ years of age since 2015).
As for how important iron play is at Sedgefield, four of the participants from the 2021 six-man playoff gained over 5.0 strokes for the week on approach, and the top three finishers from last season all gained over 4.0 strokes on approach. Assuming you are capable of clubbing down and finding fairways, approach and putting are pretty much all that matters this week for the pros.
Other comparable venues with tighter fairways and Bermuda greens include Harbour Town Golf Links, Waialae Country Club, and TPC Sawgrass. Leaderboards at those courses are a decent starting point to see who might handle this week’s layout the best.
2024 outlook: There is rain in the forecast for the first three days this week and it will likely have a big impact on the course and how the event plays out. We have seen this course dry up in past years and stay somewhat firm but don’t expect that to happen this season. There is an 80% chance of rain on Thursday and a 100% chance of rain on Friday (as of writing). The winds on Thursday are also something to note as gusts may get as high as 15mph in the afternoon. The good news is that the weather is clearing up a bit on the weekend and Sunday now looks completely sunny with a high of 82F. Wave stacking will be difficult as the chances of stoppages will be high. Splitting exposure, or stacking equally over the two waves in classic lineup builds is likely the best way to approach GPPs this week.
Last 5 winners
2023—Lucas Glover -20 (over Russell Henley -18)
2022—Tom Kim -20 (Sungjae Im/John Huh -15)
2021—Kevin Kisner -15 (six-man playoff Kim, Scott, Na, Sloan, Grace)
2020—Jim Herman -21 (over Billy Horschel -20)
2019—JT Poston -22 (over Webb Simpson -21)
Winning Trends
- Eight of the last 12 winners of this event recorded a T12 or better at Sedgefield CC before their respective victory here.
- Of the last 12 winners of this event, only two have finished outside the top 15 in Driving Accuracy on the week (Reed 2013 and Snedeker 2018).
- Five of the past six winners of the Wyndham gained over 4.0 strokes on approach in at least one of their previous four starts prior to winning this event.
Winners Stats and Course Overview
Lucas Glover (2023—20-under-par)
Lead in form (MC-T5-T6-T4-MC)
SG: OTT—+3.8
SG: APP—+9.1
SG: TTG—+12.7
SG: ATG—-0.2
SG: PUTT—+4.9
Eight of the Par 4s measure in between (or very close) 400-450 yards in length. With plenty of shorter holes, the approach shot distribution tends to fall far more in the 150-175 yard range and 125-150 yard range.
Driving accuracy tends to be higher than normal, with the field hitting over 65% of the fairways in 2019; four of the last five winners here have ranked in the top 10 in driving accuracy for the week.
Winners stats:
- JT Poston led the field in SG: APP stats in the 2019 Wyndham Championship and was second in driving accuracy as well; Glover led the field in DA and SG: APP
- 2022 winner Tom Kim was T4 in driving accuracy and led the field in strokes gained putting stats
- Of the six men from the playoff in 2021, three of them gained over 5.0 strokes on approach for the week.
- None of the last five winners of this event gained over 1.5 strokes around the green, but they all gained well over 3.0 strokes in putting and approach.
- Staying consistent off the tee is important, but the need to hit a lot of greens and hit your irons close — and then have a great week with the putter — is paramount to success.
Finding Values (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Odds to win are one factor to think about when picking players (but not the only thing, so be careful putting too much weight on them). This section is going to detail a few of the players who have the best fantasy value compared to their DraftKings Sportsbook odds of winning this week.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +3500 and $8,700
Comparables:
- Aaron Rai +3500 and $9,000
- Min Woo Lee +3500 and $8,800
- Cameron Davis +4000 and $8,900
Justin Rose +5500 and $7,700
Comparables:
- Erik Van Rooyen +6000 and $7,800
- Eric Cole +6500 and $7,700
- Keith Mitchell +6000 and $7,800
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
HORSES FOR COURSES
1. Webb Simpson (best finishes: win-2011, T5-2023, 2nd-2019) — On top of winning this event in 2011, Webb hasn’t missed the cut at Sedgefield in his last 12 starts, and has finished T5, T7, T3, 3rd, T2 and 2nd in the past six seasons. He quite literally named his daughter after this event (it’s true, her name is Wyndham Rose). He did WD from this event in 2022 but remains atop the SG: Total rankings for this event over the last six years.
2. Sungjae Im (best finishes: T2-2022, T6-2019) — Finished runner-up at this event in 2022. Im has three top 10 finishes at Sedgefield since 2019 and finished T6 on his first go around the course in 2019. He’s been trending well and will likely be eying this week as a good one to break his winless drought.
3. Si Woo Kim (best finishes: win-2016, T2-2021) — Kim won this event in dominant fashion back in 2016, shooting a 60 on his way to a five-shot win. His love for the venue was on display again in 2022 when he finished T2 (playoff). Overall, he has four top-5 finishes at this event in six career appearances.
4. Billy Horschel (best finishes: 2nd-2020, T4-2023) — Horschel is another veteran who has found a ton of success around Sedgefield. He’s accumulated three top-six finishes at this venue over the last five seasons and is only a few weeks removed from a runner-up finish at the Open Championship.
5. Chesson Hadley (best finishes: T8-2022, T15-2021) — Hadley has done well at elevating his game for the season finale. He’s finished T15 and T8 at this venue in two of the last three seasons and again enters the week in need of some FedEx Cup points. He’s played well in this area of the USA for much of his career and had a T2 finish at the now-defunct Palmetto Championship in 2021.
RECENT FORM
1. Sungjae Im ($10,700; T7-T4) — Im leads the field in BoB% over the last 24 rounds. He’s posted top-10 finishes now in five of his last seven starts.
2. Max Greyserman ($7,600; T2-T13-T21) — Greyserman nearly won the 3M Open a couple of weeks ago, ultimately finishing in second place. He’s finished T31 or better in six straight starts and gained 7.4 strokes putting in Minnesota.
3. JJ Spaun ($7,200; T9-T29-T45) — Spaun has played solid golf this summer. He’s now gained over 4.0 strokes on approach in three straight starts and comes in riding a five-event-made cut streak.
4. Cameron Davis ($8,900; T19-T26-win) — Davis won the Rocket Mortgage in early July and has followed that up with two more decent efforts. He gained 6.8 strokes ball-striking in Minnesota.
5. Patrick Fishburn ($7,200; T6-T3-T15) — Fishburn is an underrated player who has finished T6-T3-T15 in his last three starts. The American gained 4.8 strokes on approach in Minnesota.
DRAFTKINGS DFS STRATEGY
Cash Games: Harman and Davis a nice value duo
With some wild weather in store for the week it does feel like a balanced approach may be a better way to approach this event — as opposed to loading up on a single name or two. Both Brian Harman ($9,300) and Camaron Davis ($8,900) are playing solid golf of late and have proven results at this event and other shorter course tracks on the PGA. Starting lineups with these two gives you the option of loading up on another 9k player or simply rounding out lineups with low 7k – high 8k named players. In the 7k range, both Doug Ghim ($7,300) and Matt Kuchar ($7,300) stand out as names to consider for this format. Ghim is hitting the ball extremely well and starting to make cuts again while Kuchar has gained strokes on approach in each of his last five starts and gained 10.1 strokes at the 3M Open in that area.
Tournaments: Cameron Young a strong pivot option
We haven’t seen Cameron Young ($9,700) for a few weeks, but it was just a couple of starts ago that he was competing for the win at the Rocket Mortgage late on Sunday, before falling to T6. The American hasn’t played Sedgefield before so he’s unlikely to be a popular pick but isn’t overly expensive at under 10k in this field. He’s also been gaining on approach in his last few starts. I mentioned Nicolai Hojgaard ($8,200) below as another GPP option and also like the idea of risking the upside potential for youngster Michael Thorbjornsen ($7,200) at his current level of salary. He’s been boom or bust since joining the PGA but has gained over a stroke on approach in three straight starts and posted a 2nd place just last month at the Deere. Other names to look at include Matthew NeSmith ($6,700 – see below), CT Pan ($7,000), and Brandon Wu ($6,300).
MY PICK: Nicolai Højgaard ($8,200)
Hojgaard is the type of young talent we have seen take apart Sedgefield in past seasons. In 2013 Patrick Reed booked his first-ever PGA win at this easier Donald Ross-designed par 70 and in 2016 and 2022 Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim followed suit, reaching 20 under or better to nab their first PGA wins. The Dane comes into this year’s event off an inspired performance at Le Golf National, where he tore apart the shorter par 71 to the tune of a course record on Saturday and finished the Olympic event in solo 7th.
Overall, Hojgaard has shown improved ball-striking over the last six weeks, gaining multiple strokes on approach in five of his last six starts, including a +6.5 effort at the Scottish Open a few weeks back. He’s struggled with his putter but gained 6.7 strokes putting on the greens at Sedgefield last season, en route to a T14 finish.
Two of Hojgaard’s three wins on the European Tour have come when the winning score has reached 21-under par or better so for now, these are the type of PGA events where betting on his upside makes the most sense to me. After a runner-up finish at Torrey Pines in January he was as short as +1600 to win in Corales, so his +5000 outright number on the DraftKings Sportsbooks also looks like a decent spot of value. For DFS, I like the idea of building around him at $8,200 as he’ll provide good leverage off lineups that choose to go heavy on the players in the high 7k range.
MY SLEEPER: Matthew NeSmith ($6,700)
NeSmith has always struck me as the type of player who has enough game to grab a win at one of these weaker field events. He’s a great iron player who comes in ranked 2nd in proximity form 175-20 yards and 26th in overall proximity in short-term form, and, over his last two events, has gained 11.2 strokes on approach combined. He’s also shown much more confidence with his putter of late, having gained over a stroke on the greens in four of his last six starts; which includes a +8.2 stroke effort at the ISCO Championship, where he lost in a playoff.
From a style perspective, NeSmith is pretty close in profile to last year’s winner Lucas Glover, and his leadup is reminiscent to Glover’s 2023 form, who came in having also gone close at the ISCO in one of his final two starts before the Wyndham. NeSmith has never challenged at the Sedgefield but has played this event five times previously and posted runner-up finishes at Copperhead and TPC Summerlin, two other accuracy-driven venues.
At $6,700, he’s a perfect kind of boom or bust value to use in large field GPPs for DFS and makes for a good ladder betting target in the top 10 (+1600) / top 20 (+650) department on the DraftKings Sportsbook as well.
your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Summer Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is wavegoodbye) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skills and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
