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Webb Simpson loves the Wyndham Championship so much he named his daughter after it

The American has a sensational record at Sedgefield Country Club and he’s also found form in the last few weeks.

The are players who like a course, players who love a course, players that are course specialists.

And then there is Webb Simpson in the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club, North Carolina.

History with the area? Tick. An emotional connection? Tick. Played the course lots? Tick. Sneaky associations with the tournament? Tick.
And that's before his record book is opened. That's tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.
He's played the course 12 times, finished T11th or better on nine occasions, lifted the trophy in 2011 (his first win on the PGA Tour), and hasn't finished outside the top three in his last four visits.
It's a giddy set of numbers and he has extra reason never to forget them
"Our third child we named Wyndham Rose partly because of this golf tournament and what it means to the family," he said ahead of this week's first round. "There are a lot of special factors this week for me."

You can say that again. In fact, Simpson did just that, the close connections and bonds between golfer and course spilling out of him.

"Oh yeah, I love coming back here," he said. "Obviously, I live at Quail Hollow Club (home of the Wells Fargo Championship), but this feels like another home tournament for me.
"I grew up an hour and a half down the road, and my family all live in North Carolina so I get them coming to this event more than any event, and friends too.
"Then I went to Wake Forest University 30 minutes down the road. A lot of flashbacks happen this week, just of junior golf, my development in high school and then in college.
"I feel super appreciative that I had the opportunity to play for Jerry Haas at Wake. I learned so much from him. There's a lot of nostalgia this week.
"Then my home course growing up, Carolina Country Club, it shares many similarities. The undulations, doglegs, the fact you've got to hit fairways.
"Us players talk a lot about a golf course that fits our eye or a golf course we feel comfortable on and I've always felt that way here. I've always said no matter what kind of form I have coming into the Wyndham, I feel confident that I can have a good week."
He then added a couple of stories that get right to the heart of this player-course association.
"When I was 12, maybe 13-years-old I tried to qualify for a junior tournament in Greensboro. It was a big tournament. I Monday qualified and that was kind of my first really big golf tournament.
"I remember that week very well. I stayed with my brother about 10 minutes away. He took me to the course every day.
"Then I also remember my first year here as a rookie. I didn't play that well, missed the cut. But winning two years later, after having chances to win that year and not getting it done. I couldn't have written a better script.
"The older I've gotten, the more I'm trying to pick golf courses where I have the best chance of winning. There might be some places that I love going to the area or town or whatnot, and maybe I don't play well.
"But this is a golf course that I'll put kind of in my top five that I'm not missing no matter what."

Let's take a closer look at Simpson's Sedgefield record and also his form coming into this week.

Simpson at Sedgefield

As he mentioned, the first trip went badly, with a missed cut, and since then he's made 11 cuts.
He was T72nd in 2016, but nine of his other finishes were T11th or better.
The exception was 2012 when he finished T22nd and yet even then he was in the mix, lying second at halfway.
More recently he has been superb, finishing third in 2017 and 2020, with a pair of seconds in-between.

Simpson's Sedgefield stats

It doesn't matter if you look at modern or traditional stats - both very straightforwardly emphasise what a good fit he is for Sedgefield.
He's ranked top 10 for Driving Distance, Driving Accuracy, Greens in Regulation, Scrambling, Putting Average and Putts per Round.
He's done the same for Strokes Gained Off the Tee, Approach and Putting.

Simpson's form

Shortly after finished tied ninth at The Heritage (another favourite course), Simpson was injured and it took some time for him to overcome it.
But T19th at the Open broke a run of two missed cuts and he improved to T15th last week at TPC Southwind in the WGC-St Jude Invitational, carding a Friday 65 and closing the week out with a 64.

READ MORE: Win or bust for Will Zalatoris at the Wyndham Championship

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