The Punter's De-Brief: Brennan claims the Wyndham Championship in style

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09:15 - August 11, 2026 - Five-in-a-row birdie burst sews up the Wyndham for Brennan

Pre-event 80.079/1 chance, Michael Brennan, was matched at as high as 240.0239/1 on Thursday when he double-bogeyed the fourth hole but he bounced back nicely after that to post an opening four-under-par 66 to sit tied for 21^st and he was up into a tie for fourth at halfway after 65 on Friday.

Brennan was in front with 18 to play but after a couple of really poor weeks in-contention, he drifted throughout the day to around 3/14.00 on Sunday.

My 40.039/1 pre-event pick, Tom Kim, looked the most likely winner early on in round four and the 2022 winner was matched at a low of 2.77/4 but he lost his way after playing his first six holes in two-under-par.

Pre-event 240.0239/1 chance, Beau Hossler, hit a low of even money when he eagled the par five sixth, but Brennan soon emerged as the man they all had to catch.

Although he'd won his first start as a pro in October last year at the Utah Championship, Brennan had finished poorly at the 3M Open two weeks earlier and he was dreadful in round four of the Rocket Classic last week.

Having trailed the 54-hole leader, Davis Riley, by a stroke, and having been matched at 1.748/11 after a fast start on Sunday, he capitulated badly after that and eventually finished tied for 15^th.

After those two poor efforts in round four, I was more than happy to take him on, but he was a different beast this time around and I knew my fate very quickly when he birdied five holes-in-row from the fifth hole.

It was a great demonstration of how strong these top pros are mentally and with that in mind, Ben James is one to keep on the right side of.

He fell away tamely in round three after I'd backed him at halfway at 9.28/1 but he bounced back with a nine-under-par 61 on Sunday to finish third and he clearly has a big future in the game.

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10:45 - August 9, 2026 - Two tied at the top at Sedgefield

Having led through rounds one and two, pre-event 240.0239/1 chance, Beau Hossler, is still leading the Wyndham Championship after a four-under-par 66 around Sedgefield Country Club on Saturday but he's been joined at the top of the leaderboard by the in-form 24-year-old, Michael Brennan. Here's the 54-hole leaderboard with prices to back at 10:30.

Michael Brennan -16 3.711/4
Beau Hossler -16 4.67/2
Tom Kim -15 4.47/2
Alex Smalley -14 10.09/1
Alex Noren -14 12.011/1
Davis Thompson -13 17.533/2
Kevin Yu -12 65.064/1
Nico Echavarria -11 120.0119/1
Jordan Smith -11 130.0129/1
Harry Hall -11 200.0199/1
-10 and 170.0169/1 bar

The Wyndham Championship returned to Sedgefield Country Club in 2008 so we have a nice bank of results to look back on. Here's the full list of winners since then, together with their position on the leaderboard with 18 holes to play.

2008 - Carl Petterson - led by two
2009 - Ryan Moore - tied ninth, trailing by four
2010 - Arjun Atwal - led by three
2011 - Webb Simpson - led by two
2012 - Sergio Garcia - led by a stroke
2013 - Patrick Reed - tied for the lead
2014 - Camilo Villegas - tied eighth, trailing by four
2015 - Davis Love - tied 10^th, trailing by four
2016 - Si Woo Kim led by four strokes 
2017 - Henrik Stenson led by one stroke 
2018 - Brandt Snedeker led by one stroke 
2019 - J.T Poston - tied fifth, trailing by three 
2020 - Jim Herman - tied fifth, trailing by four 
2021 - Kevin Kisner - tied third, trailing by four 
2022 - Tom Kim - tied third, trailing by two
2023 - Lucas Glover - tied for the lead 
2024 - Aaron Rai - tied third, trailing by two
2025 - Cameron Young - led by five 

Someone has held a clear 54-hole lead in 15 of the 18 renewals since 2008 and eight of the 15 went on to win.

Russell Henley lost a three-stroke lead four years ago but the other three to hold a big lead all converted and four of the 10 third round leaders to lead by one or two strokes went on to win.

There have been three editions when two players have been tied at the top with 18 to play and on two of the three occasions one of them went on to win.

Patrick Reed beat Jordan Spieth, who had trailed by a stroke through three rounds, in a playoff in 2013 and Lucas Glover won by two in 2023, but only after Henley had slipped up again.

Just two years after blowing his three-stroke lead, Henley was matched at a low of 1.528/15 before he bogeyed the last three holes.

Favourite Brennan looks opposable

Michael Brennan is the man to beat according to the market with but he's going to have to improve on his very recent efforts in-contention and I'm definitely swerving him.

Brennan was matched at a low of 5/16.00 at the 3M Open two weeks where he fell from tied fourth after 54 holes to tied 24^th after a sorry 74 on Sunday and he went into the final round of the Rocket Classic last week sitting solo second, trailing by a stroke and two clear of those tied for third but he flopped again after a bright start.

Brennan was matched at a low of 1.748/11 after he'd played his first three holes in two-under-par, but he lost his way badly after that and after another three-over-par round on Sunday, he ended the week in a tie for 15^th.

He may well have gained enough valuable experience from those two efforts to perform considerably better today but he makes no appeal whatsoever at less than [3/]1 to win and I've layed him in both the Top 5 Finish market and the Top 10 Finish market.

Hossler unreliable in the mix

Alongside Brennan, Hossler is also looking to win for the first time on the PGA Tour but at 31, he has vastly more experience of being in-the-mix, although he hasn't fared well either.

Including the Zurich Classic pairs event in 2023, when he finished third alongside Wyndham Clark, having been tied for the lead with 18 to play, this is the sixth time he's held a share of the lead on the PGA Tour and he's yet to convert.

He lost a playoff to Ian Poulter at the Houston Open eight years ago having been tied at the top with him with a round to go (the pair were two clear after 54 holes) but on the other three occasions he's been tied at the top with a round to go he's finished seventh, third and fourth, beaten by two and three strokes (twice).

Sitting at 105 and 122 in the FedEx Cup Standings, the front two also have the added pressure of trying to get into the top-70 in the FedEx Cup standings to qualify for next week's FedEx St Jude, so that's a negative that the next three on the leaderboard don't have.

Ton Kim is currently 34^th in the standings and Alex Smalley and Alex Noren sit 25^th and 48^th.

My pre-tournament fancy Tom Kim nicely placed with 18 to play

My pre-event pick, Tom Kim, who trails by a stroke, is narrowly heading Hossler in the market and he's bidding to win the title for a second time, eight years after Brandt Snedeker became the 10^th man in history to claim the title more than once.

It's tricky to be objective about the chances of a pre-event pick when they're in contention on a Sunday but the recent Scottish Open winner looks nicely priced at 10/34.33 on the Betfair Exchange given the obvious question marks over the front two and I'm very happy to be onboard at 40.039/1.

Two final round bets at massive odds

Given four of the 18 winners here since 2008 have trailed by four strokes, we can't rule out an off the pace winner but history tells us Kevin Yu, who beat Hossler in a playoff at the Sanderson Farms Championship two years ago, is as far down as we can go.

Yu sits alone in seventh and four adrift and we're yet to see a Wyndham winner trailing by any further than that with 18 to play but it's certainly not impossible that we get a victor from further adrift.

Adam Scott and Si woo Kim were beaten in the playoff Kisner won in 2021 having trailed by five and six strokes respectively and Jason Bohn was beaten in extra time 19 years ago having sat tied for 17^th and seven back with 18 to play.

Trailing by five in a tie for eighth, Nico Echavarria was on my radar before the off and I'm happy to chance him now modestly at a huge price, despite the stats suggesting he has too much to do.

The Colombian benefitted from a late Shane Lowry slip up at the Cognizant Classic in March to claim his third PGA Tour title in four years so he's fairly prolific and given he was my sole selection 12 months ago, I've felt compelled to have a tiny bet on Harry Hall at 200.0199/1 too.

Hall sits alongside Echavarria, so he also needs help from the leaders but like Echavarria, the Englishman is a great fit for the venue and he's a massive price.

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11:10 - August 8, 2026 - Beau Hossler leads the Wyndham after 36 holes but is he one to swerve?

Despite a short suspension in play due to a dangerous weather front late on Friday, we've reached the midway point of the Wyndham Championship, where pre-event 240.0239/1 chance, Beau Hossler, leads by a stroke. Here's the 36-hole leaderboard with prices to back at 11:00.

Beau Hossler -12 7.26/1
Jordan Smith -11 7.413/2
Ben James -11 9.08/1
Doug Ghim -9  17.533/2
Alex Smalley -9 22.021/1
Michael Brennan -9 22.021/1
Alex Noren -9 24.023/1
Billy Horschel -9 27.026/1
Sahith Theegala -9 30.029/1
Max Greyserman -9 36.035/1
Rico Hoey -9 42.041/1
Matti Schmid -9 46.045/1
David Skinns -9 90.089/1
Tom Kim -8 23.022/1
Davis Thompson -8 28.027/1
Eric Cole -8 46.045/1
Jackson Suber -8 50.049/1
Denny McCarthy -8 50.049/1
Tom Hoge -8 95.094/1
Chad Ramey -8 180.0179/1
-7 and 60.059/1 bar

Last week's 3M Open looked a tough event to work out at halfway and this one looks just as difficult.

To give us a bit of a guide, here's a look at where the last 10 winners of the Wyndham Championship have been positioned on the leaderboard at the halfway stage.

2025 - Cameron Young - led by three
2024 - Aaron Rai - tied fifth, trailing by two
2023 - Lucas Glover - tied third, trailing by two
2022 - Tom Kim - tied for the lead with two others
2021 - Kevin Kisner - tied for 12^th, trailing by seven
2020 - Jim Herman - tied for 36^th, trailing by five
2019 - J.T Poston - tied ninth, trailing by three
2018 - Brandt Snedeker - led by two
2017 - Henrik Stenson - third, trailing by a stroke
2016 - Si Woo Kim - led by two strokes

Only two of the last 10 winners have been more than three off the lead at halfway and we have three players ahead of the pack this time around and the two players tied for second, Jordan Smith and Ben James, are the only two in the field within two of the lead, so it makes sense to concentrate hardest on that trio but none of them make much appeal.

The halfway leader, Hossler, who also led by a stroke after round, was the first-round leader two years ago too after he opened up with a 10-under-par 60.

On that occasion he ended the week in 12^th place and still in search of his first victory on the PGA Tour, he looks opposable.

Hossler has led or been tied for the lead at the halfway stage of a PGA Tour event six times previously and he's failed to convert every time.

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Flaky Smith one to take on

Smith makes no appeal whatsoever. He's very flaky in-contention.

He won wire-to-wire on the HotelPlanner Tour a decade ago and he kicked on to win the Portugal Masters from the front on the DP World Tour in 2022 but he's usually poor when in-contention.

Since that victory in Portugal four years ago, he's been tied for the lead, leading, or one off the lead six times and he's finished sixth, 12^th, second, sixth, 13^th and 21^st so he's getting worse.

His only top five finish was his second place at the Open de France, but he was beaten by two and he'd led by three at halfway. He's one to swerve.

I've looked further back than the last 10 years at Sedgefield and in the eight editions of this event staged between 2008 and 2015, three strokes (course specialist Webb Simpson in 2011) is the furthest any of the eight winners were trailing by at halfway.

With that in mind, and almost by default, I've taken a small chance on Ben James.

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Ben James the modest halfway play

James burst on to the professional scene in some style, leading the Canadian Open in June at halfway.

He struggled over the weekend and finished the week in 54^th place and he finished fourth in the Corales Puntacana Championship last month having sat second, trailing by two with a round to play, after a two-under-par 70 on Sunday.

He was again on the fringes of contention last week, in what was just his seventh start as a pro, but having sat tied for 11^th and five off the lead on Sunday morning, he finished the event in 38^th place.

It would be some story if he were to hold his nerve and deliver the goods this weekend but given what we know about the other two frontrunners, he looks the one to chance given he's far less exposed.

I'm quite confident Hossler and Smith will struggle and there's every chance James will too, but he has more scope than the other two.

I haven't given up on either of my two pre-event picks, Hideki Matsuyama (tied 26^th) or Tom Kim (tied 14th) and my Find me a 100 Winner fancy, Denny McCarthy (tied 14^th) is still in with a squeak but given how strongly history favours the front three, and how bunched it is just below them, I'm happy to just play James modestly for now and see where we are tomorrow.

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