Wells Fargo Championship: Dark Horse Candidates at Quail Hollow

Zach Johnson (80-1)

Zach Johnson made news at The Masters by doing something you are more likely to see from a weekend golfer. Teeing up at the 13th hole, Johnson got a little too close with his practice swing. I see this quite often during high school matches, but did not expect to see it during The Masters.

Luckily, it isn’t a penalty. According to Rule 6.2b 5, As his ball was still not “in play” and in the tee box, his ball wasn’t “in play”. Since it was an accident, he is allowed to replace it with no penalty as he didn’t have intent to hit the ball.

Did I choose Johnson just to watch the video again? Maybe.

What makes this more funny (to me at least) is that off the tee has been Johnson’s worst area of play so far this year. He has actually lost stroked compared to the rest of the competition here, with his number of -.183 coming in at 146th.

Approaching and around the green are a different story. Johnson is money in both stats, ranking 25th and 31st. His play looked good at The RBC Heritage, finishing T16.

The Wells Fargo Championship isn’t an event that Johnson plays in regularly, which seems to be part of his lower ranking. When he does play, he does well. In 2017 he finished T18, and in 2014 he finished T14.

I really like Zach Johnson this week, and his low odds make him a perfect dark horse for me. Once again my wife is happy I don’t live near Las Vegas.