With few top-ranked golfers playing at the Wyndham Championship this week, finding a winner might be a little daunting. Both the favorite, Webb Simpson (10/1), and the next pick, Brooks Koepka (11/1), underperformed at the PGA Championship last week.
The field could be wide open, and someone could ride a hot putter and challenge for the win. I don’t feel confident enough to pick a winner from this field, but I do believe a long shot could be near the top of the leaderboard after four rounds.
That’s why with this week’s One Bet, $100, I’m taking Charles Howell III to finish in the top 10. The longtime tour grinder is getting 8/1 odds at DraftKings to finish tied for 10th or better after Sunday. He is 90/1 to win.
My record so far this year has been awful. With my last pick, I had two tournaments in which to select winners, and I lost both. I had Englishman Tyrrell Hatton finishing in the top 5 at the FedEx St. Jude Invitational, and he barely made the cut, finishing tied for 69th. In the other event, I took Robby Shelton to finish in the top 10 at the Barracuda Championship; he ended up 59th.
One Bet, $100
This Week’s Pick                   Last Week’s Result        Season Total
Charles Howell III Top 10       Lost: Shelton, Hatton     1-11, -$780
Can Howell snap my losing streak? I hope so, but I’m a shaky golf gambler at the moment.
Why Howell Could Thrive
The last event Howell played in was the 3M Open on July 26. The 41-year-old finished tied for third. At that event, he told reporters it’s been an adjustment since the PGA Tour’s restart in June, and to have a solid four rounds meant a lot to him.
“Nice to finally have a nice week coming back from this stuff,†Howell said. “We’ve got a lot of golf coming up, a lot of our stuff got shifted into the fall with being some majors and the FedEx Playoffs, et cetera. Yeah, nice to finally have a good week, it’s been a while.â€
So can Howell put together another four solid rounds and get into the top 10 of the Wyndham Championship? It’s a definite possibility. Howell has three other solid finishes this year in tournaments comparable to the Wyndham Championship.
Why Howell Will Finish in Top 10
One of Howell’s strengths has always been his ball striking. He ranks 35th this year in greens in regulation. Where Howell struggles is off the tee; he’s 60th in driving distance, but 171st in driving accuracy. That’s going to hurt a professional golfer much worse during a marquee event, where the rough gets grown out.
The winning score at last year’s Wyndham was 22-under par. The focus is on birdies, not pars, and Howell has shown through the years he is more than capable of accumulating low numbers. Last year at the QBE Shootout, Howell posted a round of 59, and this year, he’s had 13 rounds in the 60s.
Another plus for Howell at the Wyndham is his putting. He currently ranks 68th on the tour in putting.
If Howell can get his flat stick going, he should be near the top of the leaderboard on Sunday.
