Wyndham Championship 3라운드는 여러 차례의 날씨 지연 끝에 마무리되었다. 이 과정에서 Beau Hossler는 끝없는 역경에도 불구하고 타이틀 최종 라운드 진입 자격을 유지했다. 17, 18번 홀에서 페어웨이를 벗어났지만, 두 개의 파로 마무리하며 선두 자리를 지켜냈다.
Hossler와 7언더 63의 라운드를 기록한 Michael Brennan이 현재 공동 선두다. Brennan은 지난 몇 주 동안 여러 번 리더보드 상단 근처에서 경쟁했으며, 이제 2번째 PGA Tour 타이틀을 노리는 기회를 맞이했다. 현재 5명의 선수가 리드 5 샷 이내에 포진해 있어 최종 라운드의 경쟁이 치열할 것으로 예상된다.
01FedExCup 플레이오프 진출선의 드라마
일요일의 최대 관심사는 우승자가 아닐 수도 있다. 바로 FedExCup 상위 70위 내에 진입할 선수들이 누구인지다. Keegan Bradley는 현재 떨어져 있는 상황이며, Jackson Koivun은 최근 3M Open 우승으로 자리를 확보한 상태다.
Matt Wallace는 3라운드 최고의 진출자 중 한 명이다. 목요일 85위권의 FedExCup 순위에서 6언더 64를 기록하며 플레이오프 진출선 안쪽에 들어왔다. 1라운드 71, 2라운드 66에 이은 토요일의 64는 주 내내의 꾸준한 상승곡선을 보여준다.
02데이비스 톰슨, 뛰어난 볼 스트라이킹의 주인공
데이비스 톰슨은 3라운드에서 흥미로운 위치에 있다. 1라운드에서 탁월했고 2라운드는 안정적이었으며, 3라운드는 특이한 상황 속에서도 뛰어난 골프를 펼쳤다. 라운드 중 드라이버 문제로 대체 클럽을 기다려야 했고, 결국 페어웨이 메탈로 티샷을 했음에도 뛰어난 스코어링을 유지했다.
톰슨의 진정한 강점은 통계에 드러난다. 3.88 스트록 게인 (Tee to Green), 필드 최고의 Ball Striking +3.96 (2위는 +2.76), 어프로치에서 3.62 스트록 게인. 오직 퍼팅만이 그의 발목을 잡고 있는 상황이다.
이 코스는 톰슨의 게임에 완벽하게 맞는다. 그는 거리와 정확성을 모두 갖춘 드라이버로 페어웨이를 유지하며, 현재의 볼 스트라이킹 수준이면 일요일 뛰어난 퍼팅이 반드시 필요하지 않다. 65 정도의 라운드면 톱 5 진입이 충분히 가능하고, 우승까지도 3 샷 뒤에서 현실적이다.
중요한 것은 톱 5를 택하는 것이다. -130의 배당에서 동점 규칙 적용으로 인한 손실을 피하기 위해서다. 톱 5 동점 포함이 보다 안전한 선택이다.
03벤 콜스, 상위 20 진입의 강자
벤 콜스는 단순히 뛰어난 선수다. 3라운드 첫 타이어 타임에 5언더 65를 기록했으며, 이는 토너먼트 최고의 라운드다. Korn Ferry Tour에서의 뛰어난 폼을 PGA Tour로 성공적으로 옮기고 있는 그는, 최근 5주 동안 3~4번이나 우승 경합선 근처에 포진했다.
현재 8언더로 리드로부터 6 샷 뒤에 있다. 우승보다는 상위 20 진입이 더 현실적인 목표지만, 콜스의 게임은 한 라운드에서 큰 폭의 상승을 만들어낼 수 있을 정도로 완성도가 높다.
콜스의 가장 큰 강점은 페어웨이 명중률이다. 최근 68~69%의 페어웨이를 잡고 있으며, 단거리 아이언도 우수하다. 퍼팅이 이번 주 부진했지만, 그는 퍼팅이 살아나면 큰 점수를 낼 수 있는 선수다.
라운드가 거듭할수록 콜스의 성적도 나아지고 있다. -112의 배당은 그가 하나 더 순위를 올려 톱 20에 진입하면 되는 수준이다. 파 기준 11언더가 톱 20 선컷이라면, 67 이하의 라운드면 충분히 진입 가능하다. 콜스가 자신의 게임을 믿고 낮은 스코어를 기록할 가능성도 높다.
04Original (English) — PGA TOUR
The third round of the Wyndham Championship is officially in the books after multiple weather delays, and the resilience of Beau Hossler (+270) deserves plenty of credit.
Hossler was forced to deal with adversity multiple times throughout the round and continued to answer every challenge. Even down the stretch, he missed the fairway on both Nos. 17 and 18 but still found a way to grind out a pair of pars and escape with a share of the lead heading into the final round.
Hossler is tied with Michael Brennan (+220), who fired an incredible 7-under 63 in the third round. Brennan has found himself near the top of the leaderboard several times over the last few weeks and now enters Sunday with another chance to capture his second PGA TOUR title.
Right now, five golfers sit within five strokes of the lead, all chasing the final PGA TOUR title of the regular season.
The course played a little differently throughout the day. It was more difficult early, but some light rain softened things up as the round went on and opened the door for plenty of good scoring.
But the biggest story Sunday might not be who wins the tournament. It could be who survives the FedExCup top-70 bubble.
Several players still have plenty at stake as they fight to finish inside the top 70 and earn a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs. Keegan Bradley is currently on the outside looking in and will need a big final round to give himself a chance.
Jackson Koivun finds himself on the other side of that line. The young Auburn star, fresh off his first PGA TOUR victory at the 3M Open, has another opportunity Sunday to lock himself comfortably inside the top 70 and keep building momentum as the season moves into the Playoffs.
Matt Wallace was one of the biggest movers of the third round. He entered the day around 85th in the projected FedExCup standings but now has a legitimate chance to play his way into the playoffs after firing a 6-under 64.
Wallace has steadily improved throughout the week. He opened with a 71, followed it with a 66 in the second round and then went even lower on Saturday with that 64. He'll enter the final round with everything still in front of him.
There's no real value in the top-20 or top-30 prices on the golfers sitting around the FedExCup bubble, so naturally, I'll sit back and watch that chaos unfold.
From a betting perspective, though, there are a few golfers I like to creep up the leaderboard and give us a chance to make a little extra cash before we head into the playoffs.
This is actually a really interesting spot for Davis Thompson (+1500).
He was fantastic in the first round, solid in the second and then played some really good golf in the third despite dealing with a pretty unusual situation. Thompson had driver issues in the middle of his round and had to wait for a replacement to arrive, forcing him to hit fairway metal off the tee over the closing holes.
That lack of distance could help explain why he wasn't able to capitalize on the par 5 on the back nine, but even with the equipment issue, Thompson continued to play incredible golf from tee to green.
According to Data Golf, Thompson has gained 3.88 strokes tee to green and leads the field in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking at +3.96. That is well clear of second place at +2.76. He has also gained 3.62 strokes on approach.
Yes, some of that approach number is inflated by the hole-out, but just like we talked about with Alex Smalley (+850), Thompson has gained throughout the bag outside of putting. The putter has really been the only thing holding him back.
And this course is a perfect fit for him. Thompson can hit it a mile while still putting himself in the fairway, and with the way he is striking the ball, he doesn't need some incredible putting performance Sunday.
Another round around 65 should give him an excellent chance to finish inside the top five, and I still think he is alive to win the tournament from three strokes back.
One important thing here: I'm taking top five, ties included.
With a market that only pays five places, dead-heat rules can absolutely crush you. If there are multiple players tied ahead of Thompson and he finishes T5, your payout could be significantly reduced. At -130, I'd much rather pay for the protection and know a T5 finish cashes the full bet.
Thompson has been too good tee to green for me to pass up this price. I think he has a legitimate chance to win Sunday, but the top five, with ties included, is the bet I want.
I'm not going to say anything groundbreaking here, but man, Ben Kohles has a ton of game.
Kohles went out as a single in the first tee time of the third round and casually fired a 5-under 65, his best round of the tournament. He has been a great example of a player taking strong Korn Ferry Tour form and carrying it onto the PGA TOUR.
And while close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, Kohles has put himself in contention three or four times over the last five weeks. At 8-under par and six strokes off the lead, I think he is probably too far back to make a legitimate run at winning this thing, but his game has so few holes that he can make up a lot of ground Sunday.
The biggest thing for me is that Kohles hits fairways. During this recent run, he has been finding them at roughly a 68% to 69% clip. He is also really good with his short irons, and while the putter hasn't done much this week, we know he is capable of getting hot with the flat stick.
Kohles has also gotten better with each round. For -112, we are essentially asking him to climb one more spot and get us inside the top 20.
I have the top-20 number projected around 11 under. If Kohles goes out and shoots 67 or better, I think he gets there. If the course plays a little tougher on Sunday, even a 68 could be enough.
But I don't think Kohles is going out there trying to shoot 67 or 68. He trusts his game, he's playing really good golf and I wouldn't be surprised if he puts together one of the lower rounds of the day.
Give me Kohles to finish inside the top 20.
