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 12th, trailing by seven
2020 - Jim Herman - tied for 36th, 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 12th 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.
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, 12th, second, sixth, 13th and 21st 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.
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 54th 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 11th and five off the lead on Sunday morning, he finished the event in 38th 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 26th) or Tom Kim (tied 14th) and my Find me a 100 Winner fancy, Denny McCarthy (tied 14th) 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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