The PGA Tour heads to North Carolina this week for the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club
The PGA Tour heads to North Carolina this week for the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club.
With the FedEx Cup play-offs starting at The Barclays next week, it's a significant event for those outside the top 125 in the FedEx Cup rankings.
The PGA Tour's fall series no longer exists, so not only will the players who remain outside the top 125 miss out on a lucrative run of tournaments, they'll also face a trip to the Web.com Tour Finals - the replacement for the now-defunct Q-School - at the end of the month.
That said, a number of top names and in-form players have made the trip to Sedgefield following the USPGA Championship.
Indeed, the likes of Ernie Els, Brandt Snedeker, Patrick Reed, Nick Watney, Webb Simpson and Francesco Molinari are all in the field this week.
The Wyndham Championship is one of the oldest tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule. It was first contested in 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open and Sam Snead was the winner. Snead won the tournament seven further times, lastly in 1965. Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros and Sandy Lyle have all been winners.
The Wyndham has been staged at Sedgefield Country Club since 2008, and low scores have been a common feature of the tournament. The winning totals from the last four years were -18, -18 and -20 and -14.
Venue: Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro, North Carolina Date: August 14-17 Course stats: par 70, 7,130 yards Purse: $5,300,000 Winning share: $954,000
TV Coverage:
Thursday 14 - 8:00pm, Sky Sports 4 Friday 15 - 8:00pm, Sky Sports 4 Thursday 16 - 6:00pm, Sky Sports 4 Friday 17 - 8:00pm, Sky Sports 4
Player Watch:
Brandt Snedeker - Showing signs of coming into form after joining Butch Harmon's stable. He's had top 15s in the last two weeks at the WGC-Bridgestone and USPGA Championship, plus two career top 10s in the Wyndham Championship.
Carl Pettersson - The Swede is the all-time earnings leader at the Wyndham Championship. He won in 2008, has enjoyed two top 4s since and is also in decent form.
Brooks Koepka - The powerful American finished 15th last week at the USPGA, ranking 6th in Greens in Regulation, and he needs a win to qualify for the play-offs.
Skills required:
Putting – this event sees low scoring and an abundance of birdies. To enjoy success here players will have to get the flat-stick working well, particularly with the new, faster, greens.
