The Wyndham Championship is a pretty straightforward event. Golfers need to make a ton of birdies just to make the weekend, as the cut often comes in around -4 or -5. Once they have made the weekend, they need a special round just to move up a few places and ensure a good week. The venue is a short par 70 that has not been updated in years, and it features tighter fairways and smaller Bermuda greens but also plenty of short par 4’s — and a couple of short par 5’s — for the players to exploit. Excellent iron play and putting is really what allows players to dominate Sedgefield, but it is important to understand how important it is to find fairways off the tee as well.
Eleven of the last 13 winners of this event have finished 15th or better in driving accuracy for the week of their win, so power here simply has to take a back seat. For DFS purposes, that means it is also a week to exploit ownership gaps on veteran players who may not have a ton of power off the tee but do have veteran guile on the greens to light up a track like Sedgefield.
Below we will go through some of the best under-the-radar pivot plays at various price points for the Wyndham Championship. We will also look at some names that are perhaps trending too hot in the ownership department and may warrant a fade in larger GPPs. As always, we will use Stokastic’s PGA DFS projections and PGA DFS ownership projections to help make our decisions for the fade/pivot list at the Wyndham Championship.
PGA DFS Fades & Pivots | Wyndham Championship
Sedgefield Country Club Stats and Info
- Par 70 with smaller Bermuda greens that will play just over 7,000 yards; Donald Ross venue correlates well with other Bermuda venues like Hilton Head and TPC Sawgrass.
- Three of the six playoff participants from 2021 gained over five strokes on approach for the week.
- Eight par 4’s that measure between 400 to 450 yards.
- Each of the past four winners at Sedgefield gained over three strokes putting and over three strokes on approach; none of the past four gained over 1.5 strokes around the greens.
2023 Wyndham Championship PGA DFS Fades and Pivots
High-Range PGA DFS Fade: Ludvig Aberg
Projected DFS Golf Ownership at DraftKings: 15.7%
Aberg is projecting as one of the more popular plays in the $9,000 range, with over 15% ownership. However, the trend with Aberg has not been great over his last two starts, as he struggled at a more wide-open links venue in Scotland and also could not find his footing at a driver-heavy track in Minnesota last week — where he shot over par in both weekend rounds. Aberg’s driving prowess will not matter as much at Sedgefield given its shorter setup, and with how his game has been, he may even struggle to find the weekend if his approach play does not snap back in a hurry. He has not dipped a ton in Stokastic’s PGA DFS projections, but he is also not the slam dunk he was a couple of events ago when available at much cheaper prices. Regardless, at 15%-plus ownership levels, pivoting off Aberg makes plenty of sense given the less-than-suitable track and his lack of recent form.
High-Range Pivot: Adam Scott
Projected DFS Golf Ownership at DraftKings: 17.5%
Adam Scott comes in off a week of rest and should be revved to keep trying for a late-season win at a familiar venue. Scott has looked close to putting it all together at various points this season, landing top-10 finishes at the Byron Nelson, Wells Fargo and Memorial over his last eight starts. He was also in second place after Round 1 at the Travelers just last month and has plenty of experience playing Sedgefield, having lost in a playoff at this venue just two years ago. Scott himself will carry ownership but likely will not get too popular since he did not play last week and only managed a 33rd at the Open in his last start. He comes in ranked first in birdies or better gained over the last 50 rounds of play and is the kind of veteran talent that has hit at Sedgefield numerous times in the past. Scott makes for a solid pivot off the younger Aberg, who will have his time soon but looks far more likely to get tripped up by the setup.
Mid-Range PGA DFS Fade: Beau Hossler
Projected DFS Golf Ownership at DraftKings: 11.4%
Beau Hossler has over 10% PGA DFS ownership projections, which shows how crazy this event may yet get. Yes, Hossler has been playing better of late and did manage a 13th place at the 3M. However, despite the small successes, he really is not showing much outside of a putter that continues to make up for a subpar long game. He lost strokes on approach again last week and has ultimately lost strokes on approach in six of his last eight starts — not great for an event where dominant iron play has been a staple of nearly every winner for the past decade. Hossler remains an outsider for the PGA DFS projections as well, which give him the worst value score in the $8,000 range on DraftKings. He is a simple pass at double-digit ownership.
Mid-Range Pivot: Adam Hadwin
Projected DFS Golf Ownership at DraftKings: 8.1%
Hadwin is coming off two missed cuts, but those results have not gone unnoticed on DraftKings, where his price has slid down to $8,000 flat. Stokastic’s PGA DFS projections have also taken notice and give him the best value score in the $8,000 range, which shows that perhaps the adjustment was a bit too severe. Hadwin finished 10th at this event in 2021, and while his approach play dipped last week, he has proven to be far more consistent in that department than Hossler, ranking 18th in this field in strokes gained on approach over the last 24 rounds. At under 10% owned, Hadwin will be a great pivot target on which to buy the proverbial ownership dip while the fear of two missed cuts in a row continues to wreak havoc with people’s psyches.
Low-Range PGA DFS Fade: Thomas Detry
Projected DFS Golf Ownership at DraftKings: 13.9%
Thomas Detry returns to action after a solid showing at the Open where he grabbed a share of 13th place. Detry’s foray onto the PGA Tour has been far from a disaster, and he may yet find the winner’s circle in the USA at some point. However, it is worth noting that his only top-10 finish on the PGA in 2023 came in an alternate-field event at Corales this season and also that he has not cracked the top 20 in an event based in the USA since the 2022 Sanderson Farms. Given he is ranked 89th in strokes gained on approach and 101st in overall ball striking, it is not hard to imagine Detry struggling in his first go around Sedgefield. He is not someone to fade outright, but at 13%-plus in Stokastic’s PGA DFS ownership projections, being underweight on him definitely looks like the right call.
Low-Range Pivot: Eric Cole
Projected DFS Golf Ownership at DraftKings: 11.8%
Cole has been a popular target for many over this early-summer run. He has not broken through yet but also has not been a bust by any stretch. He comes in having made seven straight cuts and has shot four rounds of 68 or better in his last two competitive starts. It is tough to say why Cole is not projecting for higher ownership, but perhaps fatigue has finally set in for the crowd who has been chasing his first win. Regardless, Stokastic’s PGA DFS projections still like him and have Cole ranked as one of the top values on the site for, regardless of the salary range. Given the tight, technical setup, the 11% ownership projection looks like a small gift and makes him a great pivot off a couple of other players who are currently trending above him in ownership — but below him in the actual PGA DFS projections.
