2021 Wells Fargo Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Quail Hollow
It’s a good year to be a golf fan in the Carolinas.
The number of tournaments doubled in 2021. The RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and this week’s event, the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina are the two mainstays.
In a couple weeks, the PGA Championship will be at Kiawah Island in South Carolina.
The RBC Canadian Open was canceled for the second straight year due to Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions. That spot on the schedule the week before the U.S. Open has been filled by the PGA Tour’s makeshift, one-time event, the Palmetto Championship at Congaree in Ridgeland, South Carolina.
Those two summer events will get their shine in due time. It’s time to focus on the Wells Fargo Championship.
This event has been held annually since 2003, except for 2020 when it was canceled due to the pandemic. Quail Hollow Golf Club has been the annual host.
The George W. Cobb design opened in 1959. It hosted the Kemper Open from 1969-1979 and the PaineWebber Invitational from 1983-1989 before landing its current event, which has gone under a handful of different names.
Tom Fazio redesigned the course in 1997, 2003 and 2014-16 in advance of the 2017 PGA Championship. Quail Hollow will host another big event next year, the Presidents Cup.
The last redesign was crucial as the greens were some of the worst on tour by the mid-2010s.
Early May is the Wells Fargo Championship’s general landing spot on the schedule. It tends to attract strong fields for a non-major given its placement between majors. That was attractive to Tiger Woods who won in 2007 and played here often.
Winning score tends to fall between 10- and 15-under par. Rory McIlroy won this event for the second time in 2015 with a tournament record 21-under to win by seven shots on a soft golf course. It broke the previous record of 16-under.
That same year, McIlroy set the course 18 hole record of 10-under 61.
Another reason Tiger liked to play here is because he can shine on a long, arduous golf course.
It’s grown to 7,600 yards. There is some tree line to contend with, though Quail Hollow is not overly dense and trees were removed during the latest redesign.
The vaunted “Green Mile” of holes 16-18 make for one of the tougher stretches on the PGA Tour. Earlier in the course are birdie holes, which makes this for one of the more fair tests of golf.
Champion Bermudagrass is the surface from tee to green. Green complexes are about average size by PGA Tour standards with greens usually rolling faster than average.
There is a Sub-Air system in place.
The weather forecast shows chances for storms during the practice rounds. The tournament days look more favorable with no rain and temperatures in the 60s-80s predicted. It could get windier as the tournament goes, between 10-20 miles per hour.
Strokes gained off the tee is a big stat to watch this week. Driver is the right club off most par-4s and par-5s and big hitters who are driving it straight this week tend to do well. The field usually averages just around 50% fairways hit, so if everyone’s playing from the rough, that’s where the bombers benefit.
Six of the top 10 in the Official World Golf Rankings are in the field of 156, as well as dozens more licking their chops for the upcoming PGA Championship. What better warm-up than at a venue that’s hosted that same tournament before?
Let’s dive into the top 10 to contend for the title in Charlotte: