Aug
A look at the Wyndham Championship
We’re in the one-week gap between two of the season’s premiere events and the start of the FedEx Cup series, meaning that the guys who didn’t qualify for the WGC-Bridgestone or PGA Championship have this one, last chance to get into the top 125 in time for next week’s playoffs.
First let’s note that the obvious favorite is TPC champion and Ryder Cup probable Webb Simpson. Now without further ado, let’s take a look the guys who have the most riding on this event, i.e. those ranked near the 125-player cutoff for the FedEx Cup.
| FedEx rank | Player | Rating | Trend | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 115 | Sam Ryder | 312.9 | up | |
| 116 | Ryan Blaum | 403.4 | up | |
| 117 | Brian Stuard | 260.0 | down | |
| 118 | Scott Brown | 435.1 | down | |
| 119 | Sean O’Hair | 515.5 | down | |
| 120 | Sam Saunders | 429.5 | down | |
| 121 | Bud Cauley | not entered | ||
| 122 | Jhonattan Vegas | 505.9 | down | |
| 123 | Seamus Power | 364.4 | down | |
| 124 | Martin Piller | 193.4 | down | |
| 125 | Tyrone van Aswegen | 301.9 | down | |
| 126 | Chad Campbell | 383.2 | down | |
| 127 | Robert Garrigus | 384.1 | down | |
| 128 | Corey Conners | 322.2 | down | |
| 129 | Nick Taylor | 350.6 | down | |
| 130 | Tom Lovelady | 212.9 | down | |
| 131 | Sergio Garcia | 820.9 | down | |
| 132 | Harris English | 316.5 | down | |
| 133 | Lucas Glover | not entered | ||
| 134 | Benjamin Silverman | 256.0 | down | |
| 135 | Derek Fathauer | 277.1 | down | |
| 136 | Johnson Wagner | 346.5 | up | |
| 137 | Aaron Baddeley | 347.0 | down | |
| 138 | Talor Gooch | 279.4 | down | |
| 139 | Shane Lowry | 691.8 | up |
“Rating” is the player’s Hawley Rating. “Trend” indicates whether the player’s Hawley Rating is generally up or down over the last half of the season.
A couple of names stand out. The first two shown, Ryder and Blaum, seem likely to remain inside the line. Ryder had back-to-back top-10s in the Barbasol and Deere in July. Blaum has been more erratic but has managed to get inside the top 30 four times since the start of June. Currently on the outside looking in, Johnson Wagner and Shane Lowry have the best upward trends. Wagner has made the last six cuts with a tops of 16th in the Deere. Lowry missed the cuts in the U.S. and British Opens but otherwise has top-20s in the PGA, Barracuda, Canadian, Irish, and French events.
Simpson, winner here in 2011, is a North Carolina native. Within the last eight years, he has four top-10s in this event in addition to the 2011 win. Also he has solid play in his summer resume. His reward for four rounds in the 60s in last week’s PGA was merely a 19th-place finish. Prior to that he was 12th in the British, 10th in the U.S. Open, and 20th in the Masters.
Henrik Stenson, the second pick, is on a downward trend since his fifth in the Masters. He was sixth in the U.S. Open, 35th in the British, and missed the cut last week in the PGA. Veterans Ryan Moore and Stewart Cink have been playing well through the summer, Cink with three finishes in the top five (PGA, Travelers, FedEx) since June. Moore has been in the top 20 in the British, Greenbrier, and Memorial.
Greens in regulation and driving accuracy are the stats that correlate most closely with success on the Sedgefield CC course in Greensboro NC, per the Hawley course fit statistics. Entries whose stat profiles indicate good fits for the course include Henrik Stenson, Arjun Atwal, Ryan Moore, and Ryder. Note that Atwal is having a terrible season. Not far behind are Charles Howell, Ryan Armour, and Steve Stricker.
