The 2021 Wyndham Championship marks the final regular season tournament of the year as players get set to tee it up and for many it is their last chance to work their way into the playoffs. Many of the top names have decided to take the week to rest up for the playoff stretch, but Hideki Matsuyama, Webb Simpson, and Louis Oosthuizen will highlight this week’s field.
As is always the case, we have you covered to get ready to try to win in your own right in DFS during this final event. I have put up my tournament preview here on Fantasy Labs. Matt Vincenzi has his stats that matter article on Action Network, and Landon Silinsky gives you his favorite cash game plays for the week.
In this article, I will focus on the large $15 GPP on DraftKings, offering $200,000 to first with a $750,000 prize pool across 58,823 entries. My write up, detail, and ownership will all be tailored with this contest in mind. Let’s get it going.
Top Tier
Hideki Matsuyama ($11,000)
I will start right at the very top as Hideki is the player who rates the best for me this week by a fairly significant margin. I love the fact that he is currently projected for ownership in the mid-teens and could end up as the lowest owned of the players in five figures pricing.
Hideki has been a different player since he broke through at The Masters, and he has carried that play throughout the season. He comes into the week off of a lost playoff for the Bronze Olympic medal two weeks ago, and another lost playoff for the WGC St. Jude last week. I am going to continue to ride that wave this week, and he will be a core starting point for me in my lineups this week.
Russell Henley ($9,400)
Starting with Hideki and knowing he will be a bit overlooked, allows me to be OK going to a higher owned player like Russell Henley this week. Everything that Henley does well is perfect for Sedgefield and while he may creep towards 20% ownership before it’s all said and done, it just makes too much sense to overlook.
Henley is an approach specialist that thrives with his wedge play, which is going to be a popular club choice this week as players will have a high percentage of approaches from inside of 175 yards. He also has a heavy preference for the bermudagrass greens he will be putting on during this tournament. Everything checks out with Henley to be in contention this weekend, so I don’t want to overthink it just due to ownership.
Mid Tier
Gary Woodland ($8,700)
I always like Gary Woodland a bit more on courses that allow him to dial it back a bit off the tee. He has a tendency to get himself in trouble when pulling driver over and over again on biggest tracks, so I really see this Wyndham Championship as a good fit to his game.
It certainly hasn’t been the season Woodland hoped for as he has struggled to find consistency, but this is a field where if he can put together four rounds he has solid win equity. I love that it appears he will be single digit ownership, and offer a way to get different in a range where ownership seems to be pooling across a handful of players.
Mito Pereira ($7,900)
If we are talking win equity, there aren’t many in this field that can stand up to the results Mito Pereira has produced. The Chilean has three wins over the past year and a half, all of which were on the Korn Ferry Tour and provided him with the promotion to the PGA. He has taken that opportunity to two recent Top 6 finishes, and he was another player in that Olympic playoff for Bronze.
Chris Trotman/Getty Images. Pictured: Golfer Mito Pereira.
The masses have taken notice of Mito and he will get mid-teens or more ownership this week, but I do think it is merited. We know it requires a lot of birdies and low scores to win on the Korn Ferry, and with winners shooting in the 22-under range the last few years at this event it will take that type of performance again this week.
Value Plays
Zach Johnson ($7,500)
Possibly one of my favorite plays of the week in DFS and someone I will pair alongside Hideki in a lot of lineups is Zach Johnson. His game is a perfect fit for this course where he isn’t hindered by his lack of length off the tee, but is rewarded for hitting fairways. Even in his older age, he is still an elite player with a wedge in his hand and he will get plenty of those opportunities this week. I was stoked to see he is only projected for around 5% ownership despite his T7 finish in this event last year. He will be a core play that I am well above the field with in my GPP lineups.
Ryan Armour ($7,000)
As we have progressed through the year, I have become more and more OK with eating some of the higher owned chalk at low price points. The reality is that they have been hitting, which is possibly because it doesn’t take much outside of a made cut to pay it off. Ryan Armour will be that player this week as he is likely going to see double digit ownership, but in his last four trips to this event he hasn’t finished worse than T25 and has shown Top 5 upside. You really can’t ask for more than that at this price.
Sleepers
Roger Sloan ($6,700)
The top rated player for me in the bottom tier is Roger Sloan, and that is by quite a margin. He actually ranks 30th overall for me regardless of price, which makes him a lock to see quite a bit more ownership than the field in my builds.
David Berding/Getty Images. Pictured: Golfer Roger Sloan.
Sloan has made the cut in each of his last four events, with two Top 25s, and has back to back made cuts at the Wyndham. As long as he finds the weekend he can pay off this price and has the upside to help win a GPP at around 5% ownership.
Austin Eckroat ($6,400)
I have written this young player up a few times in the past couple of months and do so again here as he Monday Qualified for the Wyndham. It’s always a good sign for form when you get a Monday Qualifier with a bit of pedigree, as the four time college All-American has.
He made the cut on the number recently at the 3M to finally break through on that end, and took full advantage on the weekend to move up to T16. He made 21 birdies during that week, all of which is good enough for me to take a flyer in some lineups this week.
Photo Credit: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
Pictured Above: Golfer Russell Henley
