Michael Brennan Wins Wyndham Championship, Now In The FedEx Playoffs
Michael Brennan dramatically won the Wyndham Championship, securing his spot in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Ranked 105th in the FedExCup standings with only one top 10 finish this year, Brennan needed this victory to advance. He delivered, outlasting the field for a three-stroke win, highlighted by five consecutive birdies on Sunday to pull away from Beau Hossler. Brennan, now facing his seventh straight event at the St. Jude Classic, admitted he's running on "fumes" but is eager to compete with the game's top 100. Meanwhile, pre-tournament betting picks largely missed, with only Alex Smalley hitting a Top 20 bet.
The game of golf has a funny way of leveling itself for certain players. The past few weeks the PGA Tour has seen players under 25 who claimed their first win of their careers, and sometimes it provides a player an incredible opportunity.
For Michael Brennan, he needed to win the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina this past weekend to punch his ticket to the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He entered the tournament at No. 105 in the FedExCup Standings after he suffered a disappointing year with only one top 10 to his name.
With all that going against Brennan, he was able to outlast the field for a three stroke win to claim victory and get into the FedEx Cup Playoffs starting with the St. Jude Classic this upcoming week. Brennan spoke after the tournament and mentioned how he had played in six consecutive tournaments, and the St. Jude will make a seventh straight competition.
Not an easy task, but Brennan had five straight birdies on Sunday to pull away from Beau Hossler and claim a 6-under 64 on Sunday to win. Brennan said he’s running on “fumes”, but he’ll get a shot to prove himself worthy of playing with the game’s Top 100 golfers during the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Let’s take a look at who was projected to be contending, based on pre-tournament odds.
When it came to picks for this event, I like to start with my favorite and long shot picks for the tournament. The favorite pick is the winner pick I like the most. For the long shot winner, that is a golfer who has over +2000 odds to win. It is a long shot pick for a reason, and finding those can be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Justin Thomas finished with a T14 finish, which is a good showing for the major champion golfer. However, it is also a far cry from the outright lead we predicted. Thomas is still finding the consistency needed to win on tour since his injury.
McNealy is a player who is a flier of every kind. McNealy finished T25 for the tournament, and we continue our streak of never getting a long shot pick correct since we started making picks.
I thought Thomas would be near the top of the leaderboard even if he didn’t claim victory, and his T14 finish would fall into the category of being near the top of the leaderboard, just not close enough for the Top 5 bet.
Matsuyama has helped us cash winning picks the last two weeks, but asking for a third was too much. Matsuyama had cashed a Top 20 and Top 10 play for us in consecutive weeks, but he fell just outside the Top 5 with a T7 finish at the Wyndham. Close, but not close enough.
Michael Brennan said he is running on fumes, and maybe that’s what’s happening for Alex Fitzpatrick. He was on a heater after getting his PGA Tour card after the Zurich Classic victory with his brother, but has struggled in recent weeks. His T61 finish certainly leaves plenty of questions moving forward.
Cameron Young is struggling, but his game isn’t all horrible. Recently it has been Young’s putter which has gotten him in trouble. Nonetheless, his T61 finish certainly doesn’t help in confidence with him moving into the FedEx Cup Playoffs next week.
Our lone victory this week came from Alex Smalley. Smalley, who has played well this season, finished T7, easily helping us cash the +210 play. Smalley has been one of the best known secrets for us and our picks, and he continues to do so.
Keegan Bradley needed a strong finish to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs, but his T49 finish wasn’t enough to get him to the St. Jude next weekend. Bradley still has plenty of game, but that will have to wait until next season.
For bonus plays, these are picks which I don’t necessarily hang my hat on, but still provide value for some who want more exotic plays outside of the aforementioned picks. Sometimes bonus plays are parlays, double chances, triple chances, and even some fun plays for that particular event.