Fantasy Golf: The Wyndham Championship Preview

Like many men of a certain age, the thought of doing just about anything that requires driving and parking anywhere other than the office or the golf course has become cringeworthy to me. And now even the office has become an issue since that chain smoking Karen from the building next door has started planting her rusty piece of shit Chevy Tahoe in our reserved spaces. I'm currently fighting battles on too many fronts so I am picking them carefully these days but her day is most definitely coming.

I also hate crowds, lines and any situation that includes the presence of more than maybe a dozen people which makes my recent run of live music attendance quite the anomaly. It started with The Black Crowes a few weeks ago and then escalated over the last five days with The Revivalists, The Red Clay Strays and Lake Street Dive. At this point, I'm about twenty tattoos, a couple missing teeth and a leather vest away from being a goddamned roadie. 

All four performances were outstanding in their own ways but I've got to say that, if it was a battle of the bands, Lake Street Dive would've taken the gold which was unexpected because they were the 4th seed entering the tournament. If their lead singer Rachael Price and Florence Welch ever find themselves on the same stage together, we may experience a cosmic event.   

The lesson here is that it's important to occasionally step outside of your comfort zone and suppress your homicidal tendencies because the experiences on the other side are worth it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be back in my cave.  

GOLF ANALYSIS

We've finally reached the last regular season event before the playoffs start in Memphis. It's just like the 18th week of the NFL season but without any of the meaning or significance unless you had money on Austin Smotherman or Johnny Keefer to make the playoffs. 

Despite the C+ field, the Wyndham Championship is a decent gambling opportunity because there are a handful of players like Ben Griffin, Aaron Rai and Davis Thompson who play the course consistently well a la Webb Simpson from 2014-2021. We've got all three of those guys in the mix but we're leaning towards Tom Kim for the win because he's one of those increasingly rare players who gets it across the finish line instead of settling for top tens. He's got four titles since 2022 plus a playoff loss to Scottie Scheffler at the 2024 Travelers. The only guy in the field with more wins in that timeframe is Hideki Matsuyama with five.

We mock the "playoffs" but part of our reason for picking Thompson, Mac Meissner, Matt Wallace and Denny McCarthy is that they're our preferred guys on the bubble between 71st and 84th. Seeing how those guys fare coming down the stretch might actually be enough to get my attention on Sunday (not really). 

Place	Player	Odds
Winner	Tom Kim	+3500
Top 5	Ben Griffin	+480
Top 10	Sungjae Im	+380
Top 10	Davis Thompson	+410
Top 20	Denny McCarthy	+300

One and Done Pick: Tom Kim 

We're just looking for you to salvage
an entire season Tom. No pressure.

Other Guy I'd Pick: Ben Griffin 

Sleeper Pick: Kris Ventura

DraftKings Top Ten Values

Jackson Koivun	$10,100
Tom Kim	$9,200
Ben Griffin	$9,100
Aaron Rai	$8,800
Davis Thompson	$8,400
Mac Meissner	$8,100
Sungjae Im	$7,700
Matt Wallace	$7,500
Denny McCarthy	$7,200
Kris Ventura	$6,800

I don't want to fall out of the good graces of my favorite rock and roll diva by omitting her so she gets the HPC dedication this week. Most people know her from the B-52's and her duet with Iggy Popp but here's one you may not know. You're welcome.

THE CATHERINE ELIZABETH PIERSON

HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE CHART 

With some anointing Jackson Koivun as the next coming, it will be interesting to see if he can maintain or improve his playoff position at an event where he finished T5 last year. The bet here is that he can. 

	DK Price	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021
Cameron Young	$10,400	1st	T22	DNP	DNP	DNP
Jackson Koivun	$10,100	T5	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Hideki Matsuyama	$9,500	T19	DNP	MC	DNP	MC
Justin Thomas	$9,400	DNP	DNP	T12	DNP	DNP
Ryan Gerard	$9,300	MC	DNP	MC	DNP	DNP
Tom Kim	$9,200	W/D	DNP	DNP	1st	DNP
Ben Griffin	$9,100	T11	T7	MC	4th	DNP
Maverick McNealy	$9,000	DNP	T45	DNP	DNP	DNP
Keegan Bradley	$8,900	MC	T22	DNP	DNP	DNP
Aaron Rai	$8,800	T5	1st	MC	T71	DNP
Alex Fitzpatrick	$8,700	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Michael Brennan	$8,600	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Brooks Koepka	$8,500	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Davis Thompson	$8,400	T11	T12	T22	DNP	MC
Harris English	$8,300	DNP	DNP	T33	MC	DNP
Brian Harman	$8,200	DNP	T45	DNP	T71	MC
Mac Meissner	$8,100	2nd	T12	DNP	DNP	DNP
Jordan Spieth	$8,000	T31	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP
Keith Mitchell	$7,900	MC	T12	DNP	T54	T55
Alex Noren	$7,900	T3	DNP	T38	DNP	DNP
Doug Ghim	$7,800	MC	T41	T51	MC	MC
Blades Brown	$7,800	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Sungjae Im	$7,700	T27	T41	T14	T2	T24
Ben Kohles	$7,700	MC	MC	DNP	T54	DNP
Rasmus Hojgaard	$7,600	T34	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Alex Smalley	$7,600	MC	MC	MC	T13	T29
Matt Wallace	$7,500	T27	T28	T45	MC	DNP
C. Bezuidenhout	$7,500	T62	T22	T51	T47	DNP
Jordan Smith	$7,500	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Max Greyserman	$7,400	MC	2nd	DNP	DNP	DNP
J.T. Poston	$7,400	T11	MC	T7	T21	MC
Bud Cauley	$7,400	MC	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP
Chris Kirk	$7,400	T5	DNP	MC	DNP	T29
Eric Cole	$7,400	T74	T7	T14	DNP	DNP
Ben James	$7,400	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Emiliano Grillo	$7,300	T44	T59	DNP	DNP	DNP
Michael Kim	$7,300	T62	W/D	T5	DNP	DNP
Sahith Theegala	$7,300	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Ryo Hisatsune	$7,300	MC	T3	DNP	DNP	DNP
Nick Taylor	$7,300	DNP	MC	DNP	T81	T10
R. Neergaard-Petersen	$7,300	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Sepp Straka	$7,300	DNP	DNP	DNP	MC	T15
Denny McCarthy	$7,200	T11	T33	MC	MC	T15
Pierceson Coody	$7,200	MC	T61	DNP	DNP	DNP
Johnny Keefer	$7,200	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Jason Day	$7,200	DNP	DNP	DNP	W/D	DNP
Zac Blair	$7,200	MC	T45	MC	DNP	DNP
Jackson Suber	$7,200	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Marco Penge	$7,200	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Kevin Yu	$7,100	MC	MC	MC	DNP	DNP
Tony Finau	$7,100	T44	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Rico Hoey	$7,100	T67	T22	DNP	DNP	DNP
Austin Eckroat	$7,100	MC	6th	MC	DNP	T37
Kevin Roy	$7,100	MC	DNP	MC	DNP	DNP
Billy Horschel	$7,100	DNP	T7	4th	T27	DNP
Taylor Pendrith	$7,100	DNP	DNP	MC	T13	DNP
Ricky Castillo	$7,100	T23	DNP	DNP	DNP
Harry Hall	$7,000	T15	MC	MC	DNP	DNP
Nicolas Echavaria	$7,000	T19	T22	MC	DNP	DNP
Beau Hossler	$7,000	T15	T12	MC	DNP	T65
Lee Hodges	$7,000	T55	MC	DNP	T47	DNP
Mackenzie Hughes	$7,000	DNP	T28	MC	MC	T37
Daniel Berger	$7,000	DNP	T45	DNP	DNP	DNP
Max McGreevy	$7,000	T34	DNP	T51	T5	DNP
Luke Clanton	$6,900	T67	5th	DNP	DNP	DNP
Sam Stevens	$6,900	MC	MC	MC	DNP	DNP
Thor Olesen	$6,900	T62	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP
Andrew Novak	$6,900	MC	T52	T33	MC	DNP
Taylor Moore	$6,900	MC	T52	T22	T5	DNP
Stephan Jaeger	$6,900	MC	MC	T14	T13	DNP
Matt McCarty	$6,900	T8	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Steven Fisk	$6,900	T60	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Lucas Glover	$6,800	MC	MC	1st	T54	MC
Jesper Svensson	$6,800	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
William Mouw	$6,800	T38	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Matti Schmid	$6,800	T31	T64	T22	DNP	DNP
Seamus Power	$6,800	T44	T28	DNP	DNP	T60
Kris Ventura	$6,800	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP	MC
Andrew Putnam	$6,700	MC	MC	T27	T27	MC
Patrick Fishburn	$6,700	T8	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP
Davis Riley	$6,700	MC	T38	MC	T13	DNP
Mark Hubbard	$6,600	T3	MC	MC	T61	T51
Matt Kuchar	$6,500	T44	T12	T38	DNP	T29
Joel Dahmen	$6,500	T15	T64	T64	T81	MC

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