With this week’s tournament, the Wyndham Championship, being sort of a not-so big tournament, we’ll abbreviate predictions somewhat for the week. Also, we’ll add in some predictions for the JELD-WEN Tradition, which is the final major of the year for the Champions tour fellas.
And we’ll preview and make predictions tomorrow on the Solheim Cup, as it gets underway on Friday.
With all that in mind, here are your predictions for this week’s action:
The Wyndham Championship
THE SLEEPER
In a tournament that is essentially up-for-grabs, due to the fact that there aren’t many top players in terms of rankings playing, it’s hard to identify for sure who is a sleeper and who isn’t.
But according to the Vegas odds, Steve Flesch is a low pick for the week, but one that I think could be dangerous in this championship. Yes, he’s missed the cut in half the tournaments he’s played in this year.
However, Flesch played well for the most part at the PGA last week, and could bring some confidence into Greensboro, and pick up a victory.
THE CONTENDERS
Again, there’s a lot of contenders in this one, but let’s narrow it down to just four: Lucas Glover, Tim Clark, Sergio Garcia, David Toms.
These are the top four according to the oddsmakers, and this sounds about right to me.
I simply can’t pick Garcia, because he’s been all over the place lately. He missed the cut at Hazeltine, but played very well at the Bridgestone. So who knows which Sergio Garcia shows up this week. And therefore, I can’t risk making him my pick.
Toms is another pick that I like, but with Clark and Glover playing as well as they are right now, those are just much better picks at this point. Though Toms did make me look somewhat smart for a few rounds at the PGA last week, as he was one of my sleeper picks and finished tied for 36th.
THE WINNER
Lucas Glover. It’s as simple as that. Clark has played well of late, and is having a great season. But Glover is doing all the rights things, and finished fifth at the PGA Championship.
If Glover wants to start moving into that upper echelon of players, this is a tournament he needs to win. He’s already won a major this year. Now it’s time to win a tournament in which he is the favorite.
I think he does that this week.
THE JELD-WEN TRADITION
THE CONTENDERS
There are really no sleeper picks when it comes to the Champions tour, so here are the usual suspects as contenders: Fred Funk, Greg Norman, Bernhard Langer, Loren Roberts. Honorable mention: Tom Lehman, Tom Watson.
Roberts is a guy who could easily win this tournament, and it wouldn’t be an upset at all. He’s already won the Senior British Open this year, and I would expect him to play well. But he’s not pick.
Norman has come so close to victory in these tournaments, only to lose it in the final round. That’s sort of become an expected occurrence these days, so I’d really like to see him hold a lead and win this week. But he’s not my pick either.
THE WINNER
Funk is playing extremely well of late. He won the Senior U.S. Open, and should have won the Senior British Open.
But Langer has to win one eventually, and that’s why Bernhard Langer is my pick to win the JELD-WEN Tradition this week. He’s too good to not win one of these major championships, and this is a perfect time for him to do it.
Let me hear your picks for the week’s action! And don’t forget, we’ll have Solheim Cup predictions tomorrow. Have a great day everyone!
