Sleeper Picks: Wyndham Championship

NOTE: For the next three events, Rob will focus only on golfers needing a good performance to advance in the FedExCup Playoffs. In this first edition, all five below enter the Wyndham Championship outside the top 125 in points. Kyle Stanley … This is almost too easy except for the fact that he’s missed 11 of 19 cuts this season and has been flirting with the top-125 bubble since before the hiatus. The 32-year-old ball-striker is fourth on TOUR in fairways hit, second in greens in regulation and T29 in both proximity to the hole and par-4 scoring. (Sedgefield is a par 70 with just two par 5s.) In two of his last three starts at the Wyndham, he recorded a top 15 and his scoring average in his last 11 rounds on the course is 67.09. Currently 130th in the FedExCup and 19.630 points outside the top 125, he’s targeting no worse than a 36th-place finish to have a chance to play on. Zach Johnson … After making headway in late June and in two starts in July to climb inside the top 115 of the FedExCup, he was an early contender at the PGA Championship with a nifty 66 in the opening round. Alas, he followed with 76 to miss the cut by one. Now 129th in points, he needs at least a solo 39th-place finish at the Wyndham to consider returning to the Playoffs after falling short for the first time last season. While he’s made only three appearances at Sedgefield, he cashed in each and even rose to a T5 way back in 2013. Josh Teater … Gained entry as an alternate on Monday. It could be serendipitous since he placed T6 in last year’s edition with a balanced attack that showcased his muscle and strength on approach. Overall, he’s 5-for-7 at Sedgefield with a scoring average of 67.92 in 24 rounds. Sits 19th on the PGA TOUR in fairways hit, eighth in GIR and third in proximity, so the 41-year-old likely will be leaning on his experience in reading the consistent greens. At 139th in the FedExCup and 53.355 points to crack the top 125 without any other movement, he’ll need no worse than a two-way T15 to begin serious consideration of getting back to the Playoffs for the first time in seven years. Brandon Hagy … Just witnessed fellow Cal-Berkeley product Collin Morikawa bust through at the PGA Championship, so there’s an additional and unexpected motivational factor upon arrival at Sedgefield. Not that he needs it, however. He’s 150th in FedExCup points and chasing no worse than a solo sixth-place finish to give himself a mathematical shot of getting back to the Playoffs since going one-and-out in his debut in 2017. Hagy is long off the tee and a little better than average over the long haul with the rest of his game. Inconsistency defines his career thus far, in part due to missing most of the 2017-18 season with lingering tendonitis and a hairline fracture in his left wrist. But he’s also proven to be streaky with his back against the wall. Case in point, he went T5-T2 in the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Finals to lock up his PGA TOUR card in the event that he couldn’t fulfill the terms of his medical. (He didn’t.) Now, he’s fresh off a T12 at the Barracuda Championship. Kristoffer Ventura … He’s not quite the chip-and-a-chair guy in the field, but he can see him from his position at 159th in the FedExCup standings. He was a Sleeper for the 3M Open and missed the cut, but it’s his only stumble since play resumed. Looping in three starts on the Korn Ferry Tour, he’s a combined 5-for-6 with two top 10s and another two top 25s, including two weeks ago at the Barracuda Championship. The scorer unafraid to take it deep will need to floor it right out of the gate at Sedgefield where no worse than a solo fourth can send the rookie into the Playoffs.

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