Predictions: Wyndham Championship
By Blake Lovell
While the finish of the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits has gave us plenty to talk about, it’s time to focus on the Wyndham Championship, which gets underway in Greensboro tomorrow. No, this tournament doesn’t boast the outstanding field that we saw last week, but there are plenty of players that are looking to capture wins in hopes of improves their place in the FedEx Cup standings. Which player will improve his spot the most? Well, let’s predict!
Here’s my five favorites for the week:
Ryan Moore
We have to start with the defending champion of this event, though he hasn’t exactly played all that well as of late. He was in the lead early at Whistling Straits, but struggled on the weekend to finish way out of contention. He’s finished in the Top 10 four times this year, and though he hasn’t exactly had a great year, he should be able to draw from his experience at this course last year, and play well enough to be in contention.
Lucas Glover
Things haven’t exactly gone as planned for Glover this year, as he’s really been unable to put anything together after a fantastic 2009 season. He was in the Top 8 in the Ryder Cup standings before last week, but a missed cut now puts his inclusion in the event in the hands of captain Corey Pavin. So needless to say, he’s got quite a bit to play for this week, and perhaps the determination to make the team will drive him to be a contender this week.
Anthony Kim
I really don’t know that Kim is ready to be put back on the favorites list just yet, but I’m putting him here anyways. Like Glover, he’s looking to prove that he’s worthy of a captain’s pick from Pavin, but it still doesn’t look like he’s completely over the thumb injury yet. Kim was on fire to start the season, and if he can find some of that success in the next few weeks, it will be hard for him not to make the team. A win here would be a big step in the right direction.
Brandt Snedeker
Here’s another past Wyndham champion who will be looking to build off of some decent play at the PGA Championship last week. Though he finished just inside the Top 40, he had a shot a third round 67, but then struggled to a final round 76 to knock him down the leaderboard quite a bit. He’s such a great putter that it’s hard to ever count him out of a tournament, and since he’s won here before, that makes him a good pick to contend this week.
Carl Pettersson
Pettersson almost shot a 59 at the RBC Canadian Open several weeks ago, but winning the tournament was a nice consolation to that feat. He played very well at Whistling Straits, finishing tied for 24th, and seems to really be playing some great golf right now. There’s not as much pressure on him to win as there is for some of these other guys on the list, so he should definitely be in contention on the weekend.
And the winner is…..
Quite honestly, this one is a toss-up. This is one of those tournaments where you have no idea what to expect, and someone could come from out of nowhere to win. But of the group, I think that Pettersson has been the most consistent as of late. He’s got a great chance to build off of some nice play last week and pick up his second victory of the season.
Who is your pick to win this week at Sedgefield?
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