WE’VE only just waved goodbye to July but the golf season in the United States has just four weeks to run. This week, the Wyndham Championship marks the end of the regular season and the start of the three part cull that leads to the Tour Championship at the end of August: only the top 125 in the FedExCup rankings will progress to the PlayOffs that start next week (and they will be whittled down to just 30 golfers for the finale).

The quality of the field is rather explained by the state of the season. The vast majority of the world’s elite are sitting this week out and getting read for what they hope is a successful three-week drive to the tape. But many others have other aims in mind. Finishing in the top 125 not only guarantees activity next week but also next season – for the rest a fretful September of card-chasing at the Korn Ferry Tour Finals awaits. Others will be looking to bank points, aware that the cut-off point at the end of next week is the top 70 in the rankings.

A complex web of numbers, calibration and targets so let’s simplify it all and look for three contenders for this week’s prize.

Each Way – Si-Woo Kim at 25/1

At first glance the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass and Sedgefield Country Club don’t have a great deal in common. The former is a very modern layout, created by a very modern architect, one designed to test the very modern golfer. The latter is an old-style track built in the 1920s, but it’s long been recognised that certain golfers absolutely thrive at both venues.

Webb Simpson, Sergio Garcia, Davis Love II and Henrik Stenson have all completed the Sawgrass-Sedgefield win double and last year’s champion in this event – Kevin Kisner – lost a play-off at Sawgrass, while one of the men he beat in extra holes – Adam Scott – is a former winner of THE PLAYERS Championship.

I’ve left one name out of the list of double winners and that’s South Korea’s Si Woo Kim who said of Sedgefield after losing out to Kisner in last year’s final: “I always come here, feel very comfortable and like I can do this. I just love this place.” Furthermore, the stats back him up because he was a five-shot winner in 2016 and he hasn’t finished outside the top five in the last three editions. He’s in better form now than in his last three visits, finishing T15th in the Open and then T14th last week in Detroit. He’s a shorter price than he’s been in the past but still worth following.

Each Way – Joohyung Kim at 40/1

In addition to Sawgrass, there’s another course on the schedule that has proved useful in dropping hints and this one is a little more straightforward to explain: Detroit Golf Club, which hosted last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, and is a Donald Ross design – as is Sedgefield. Kisner preceded his win 12 months ago with eighth at Detroit (he’d also been third there a year earlier). The 2020 Wyndham winner Jim Herman didn’t play Detroit, but Doc Redman, who was second with 18 holes to play, had been second in the RM Classic in 2019 and the first round leader in 2020. And 2019 Wyndham winner JT Poston? He’d finished T11th at Detroit (and had been second with 18 holes to play).

FIRST ROUND LEADER MARKETS

We can’t go further back because the RM Classic has only been on the rota for four years, but it’s a persuasive enough pattern. It’s obviously further good news for Si-Woo Kim after his top 15 last week, but I also like that his compatriot Joohyung Kim thrived there, landing tied seventh which more or less tied up his PGA Tour card for next season on extremely limited starts.

He’s a relatively new boy at the top level, but I talked to Korean journalists at the Open and they are very excited about his potential. In his eight PGA Tour starts this season he is yet to miss a cut, was third in the Scottish Open and his approach game was on fire last week. Which leads us nicely into the final pick.

Each Way – Russel Henley at 20/1

Quality approach play is imperative at Sedgefield because the field – well, most of it – is aware that there is absolutely no value in pushing from the tee. Instead, it makes sense to find the short grass and then attack the small, tricky greens from there. Moreover, hit the right spots and birdies are up for grabs. Five of the last six winners, therefore, have ranked fourth or better for Strokes Gained Approach – and even the exception (Kisner last year) was 12th.

That immediately suggests Russell Henley who ranks second for SG Approach this season (he was top six in the last two seasons as well). He also warmed up nicely at Detroit last week, finishing T10th after heading into the weekend tied for fourth. He’s made four of five cuts at Sedgefield, was tied ninth in 2020 and led through 54 holes last year before a final round 71 left him one blow outside the play-off. Some would be put off by that near-miss, but plenty of golfers have returned from such an experience to land the win.