Prop Farm: Public support mounting for former champ Si Woo Kim at Wyndham Championship
4 Min Read
Just when you think you have a minute to catch your breath on the golf calendar, everything is on the line with the regular season concluding this week at the Wyndham Championship as we gear up for the FedExCup Playoffs. It’s been a wild ride, including Scottie Scheffler’s dramatic win last week at the Paris Olympics, and we're not done yet. Fire up the tractor and let's see what we can find in the farms of Greensboro, North Carolina.
One thing we are bound to find is a healthy amount of rain. Tropical Storm Debby is looking a lot like "Debby Downer" if this forecast holds up. It rained on Tuesday in Greensboro and is supposed to rain again on Wednesday, and Thursday is calling for a downpour. The forecast does not show the rain letting up until Saturday.
It is very possible that the weather has bettors having second thoughts about running to the window. "A bit of a lull this week," said Las Vegas golf oddsmaker Jeff Sherman. "But support stands out from the public on Si Woo Kim.”
It seems there is a similar pattern down the street at Mandalay Bay. "Off the back of the high with Scottie winning last week, it's been pretty quiet so far," said Senior Manager Tristan Davis. "Sungjae Im has been our best bet player at +1400 with Billy Horschel next in line at +2500.”
I happen to love the way the Wyndham Championship sets up, with so much on the line for so many in the field. I played two players for an outright win this week as well as a top-20 finish, who are both in the throes of some FedExCup postseason uncertainty - those being Seamus Power (+9000) and Mac Meissner (+8000).
Golfbet Roundtable: Picks and predictions for the Wyndham Championship
I don't find it responsible to put too much emphasis on motivational angles in one's handicap. It is not likely that a player is going to play better simply because they know that they have to. Oftentimes it can go the other direction with the added pressure. Power sits at 68th in the FedExCup standings. He's obviously a part of the top 70 currently but he knows that he'll have to hold serve this week if he wants to remain qualified for the Playoffs. He's had very consistent success here at the Wyndham and other correlated courses I used this week - nothing too flashy but a great deal of cuts made and steady play. I like that recipe just knowing he'll need more of the same to make it to Memphis next week.
It is a bit different for Meissner, the TOUR rookie, who sits 93rd in the standings. Certainly, it is known that he'll have to make a push this week to make the top 70, but I like the characteristics of his game and how they fit this course and I like his current form. Meissner has two top-20 finishes and a top-five in his last four starts. I don't believe he is a bad play at all to have a good week. A top-20 finish seems reasonable. Maybe we get a top-10? And if that's the case, he'll have a chance to win as a +8000 long shot.
Drew O'Dell, senior data analyst at BetMGM, pointed out that Im – the outright favorite this week – is leading the pack in all categories. "Sungjae Im is responsible for 11.1% of the ticket count, 18.5% of the handle, and is our biggest liability," he said.
Akshay Bhatia is the runner-up in all three areas at BetMGM, and a combination of Aaron Rai and Billy Horschel share the honors for the third position.
"Matchups and top-10 finish markets have been fairly quiet so far,” added veteran oddsmaker Nick Bogdanovich, “but Cam Davis and Cameron Young have been getting plenty of action to win it."
The two Cams did not make my card, but I did land on four additional players for both an outright win and a top-20 finish - none of which are in any sort of peril of missing out on the postseason. Two of them are having solid, clean seasons, having only missed one cut all year each, but are both players who very much fall into the "Horses for Courses" category and that is the aforementioned Kim (+2500) and Brian Harman (+2800).
My two others are young up-and-comers who arrive in great form and I believe are going to get their first PGA TOUR victory sometime soon - and that is Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+3300) and Thomas Detry (+4500).
Speaking of Detry, Davis did note a couple of head-to-head matchups that have seen some movement. "We did make a move on Detry to beat Min Woo Lee, going from -105 to -115. Also, Keith Mitchell to beat Adam Svensson has had a trickle of support, going from -105 to -115, " he said.
Like any good farmer, now we just pray that the weather cooperates.
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