The final event of the 2020-21 PGA Tour season tees off this week in Greensboro, North Carolina with the 82nd edition of the Wyndham Championship.
Contested at historic Sedgefield Country Club, the field this week will include a handful of top-ranked stars but will primarily feature the Tour’s strong middle class – each jockeying to secure the best position possible heading into the three-leg, big-money FedExCup Playoffs.
While there are many players to like this week, including five of the world’s top-25 ranked players, these are the 10 golfers we feel are the cream of the crop – at this moment in time.
10. Russell Henley
The three-time PGA Tour winner held the 54-hole co-lead at the 2021 U.S. Open, but got unhinged on the Sunday front-nine, shooting a 4-over 76 and finishing T13… Henley deserves credit though, for not letting that collapse hurt his results. In three starts since, he’s posted two top-20s (T19-Travelers, T11-John Deere)… His irons have made the difference, evidenced by his third place ranking on Tour in strokes gained: approach-the-green and 15th in greens in regulation.
Odds: 33-1
World Rank: 56
FedExCup Rank: 46
Field Rank: 19
Last Six: MC, 11, 19, 13, MC, 71
9. Jason Kokrak
He might be the under the radar, but with August now underway, the 36-year old finds himself as one of six Tour players with two wins on the season… His most recent came in Texas at Charles Schwab Classic… He is quietly fifth on Tour in strokes gained: putting, and second in total putting.
Odds: 28-1
World Rank: 24
FedExCup Rank: 12
Field Rank: 5
Last Six: 34, 26, 12, MC, 1, 49
8. Will Zalatoris
Three top-10 finishes (T6, 2nd, T8) in the majors has been the highlight of Zalatoris’ breakthrough season… The 24-year old has fewer than 30 Tour starts under his belt, and just gained Tour status earlier this year… This will be his first go at the Wyndham but with 14 top 25s (8 top 10s) in 24 starts this season, it would be a surprise if he doesn’t make some kind of run… He currently ranks third on Tour in strokes gained: approach-the-green.
Odds: 25-1
World Rank: 29
FedExCup Rank: 26th
Field Rank: 6
Last Six: 8, 26, 77, MC, 59, 8
7. Brian Harman
Mostly off the strength of a world-class short game, Harman owns ten top-20 results in the 2021 calendar year… In his last 12 starts, he has two missed cuts, two of just three in 21 starts on the season, with each of his nine made weekends resulting in a finish inside the top 20… The left-hander has the Tour’s 13th best scoring average.
Odds: 28-1
World Rank: 41
FedExCup Rank: 32
Field Rank: 11
Last Six: 36, 19, MC, 5, 19, 18
6. Tommy Fleetwood
Finished T46 last week at TPC Southwind… On the season, the Englishman owns just two top-10s… The 30-year old stands in 136th place in the points standings and is not guaranteed a spot in the postseason. The reason for Fleetwood’s high ranking here is incentive to make playoffs, and history as a world class golfer.
Odds: 50-1
World Rank: 35
FedExCup Rank: 136
Field Rank: 8
Last Six: 46, 16, 33, 26, 17, 50
5. Rickie Fowler
Now outside the world’s Top 100 (No. 110), the affable 32-year-old sits in a tenuous position of 129th in the FedExCup standings, having never missed a single FedExCup playoff…
A T8 three months ago at the PGA Championship is Rickie’s only top 10 on the season, but at least he is showing flashes again. He just need to figure out how to put them all together.
Odds: 40-1
World Rank: 110
FedExCup Rank: 129
Field Rank: 41
Last Six: 34, 53, 32, MC, 11, 8
4. Louis Oosthuizen
At No. 7, the South African is the only top-10 ranked player in the field this week… He enters off a top 20 in Memphis, and four(!) runner-ups in his last eight starts, in addition to a T3, a T8… Oosthuizen has the Tour’s second-best scoring average and is putting out of his mind in 2021 (1st in strokes gained: putting).
Odds: 18-1
World Rank: 7
FedExCup Rank: 8
Field Rank: 1
Last Six: 17, 2, 3, 42, 2, 18
3. Patrick Reed
It’s been a solid, albeit underwhelming, year for the 2018 Masters champ, as he enters Greensboro off seven straight finishes outside the top 10 but six have been in the top-35 or better, so he’s never out of it… A win at the Farmers earlier in the season was his ninth career PGA Tour title – the first of which started here with an overtime victory in 2013… The enigmatic star is one of the top betting favorites this week, and absolutely nobody would be surprised if on Sunday he was posing with his 10th career Tour trophy, and second Sam Snead Cup.
Odds: 22-1
World Rank: 16
Field Rank: 2
FedExCup Rank: 22
Last Six: 31, 22, 34, MC, 32, 25
2. Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama very nearly added an Olympic medal to his 2021 awards mantle, one which includes a green jacket, losing in a playoff for the bronze… He then lost in sudden death again last week at the WGC stop in Memphis… One of the very best ball strikers in the world, the 29-year old star ranks 8th in strokes gained: approach and 10th in sg: tee-to-green.
Odds: 14-1
World Rank: 17
Field Rank: 3
FedExCup Rank: 14
Last Six: 2, 4, 26, 62, 23, 39
1. Webb Simpson
The North Carolina native enters the week as the betting favorite and at world No. 19 he’s the fourth ranked player in the field… Despite an off season (just three top-10s), his form at Sedgefield is hard to ignore: three straight top-3s (T2-2018, 2nd-2019, 3rd-2020).
Odds: 12-1
World Rank: 19
Field Rank: 4
FedExCup Rank: 48
Last Six: 15, 19, MC, MC, 30, 9
