10 Things to Know About the Wells Fargo Championship

This week the PGA Tour heads to North Carolina for the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club. The most recent winner is still Max Homa who won in 2019 as the 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A great field and a great course should provide an exciting tournament just two weeks ahead of the year’s second major at Kiawah Island.

1. Max Homa won the most recent Wells Fargo Championship in 2019.

Homa’s three stroke victory over Joel Dahmen was his first PGA Tour victory in May of 2019. It came by way of a very good putting week. He finished first in the field in strokes gained: putting accompanied by top 12 finishes in strokes gained: tee-to-green and strokes gained: approach the green. He carded three rounds in the 60’s including a second round 63 which tied for the low round of the week.

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Homa was 417th in the world when he won in 2019, He ended 2020 ranked 100th and is all the way up to 39th thanks to a win at the Genesis Invitational and six other top 20 finishes. The victory came almost six years after his first start on the PGA Tour at the 2013 Frys.com Open.

2. This week’s field is spectacular.

The combination of a difficult, major-worthy golf course, proximity to the PGA Championship in two weeks and the fact that many prefer to take the week off before a major means that the Wells Fargo field is very good this year headlined by some of the best players in the world. 10 of the world’s top 15 players are in the field including Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy.

3. The finish at Quail Hollow is one of the most exciting, and difficult, in golf.

The last five holes at Quail Hollow all feature water in some form, but the spotlight is on the Green Mile. Holes 16, 17, 18 were the third, first and second hardest holes at the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship. The 16th is a 500-yard par 4 with water down the left followed by a 220-yard par 3 and a 493-yard par 4 finishing hole with a creek up the left and an uphill second shot. The final stretch is the star, but those final three holes are a microcosm for the entire course. Long, demanding holes that ask a lot from players off the tee and into the greens.

4. Quail Hollow is a beast of a golf course.

A 7,521-yard, par 71 golf course, Quail Hollow was the fourth longest course on the PGA Tour in 2020 and the only course in the top 5 to have a par under 72. 11 of its 18 holes played over 450 yards in 2019 and two of its four par 3’s played well over 200 yards in the final round. On the back nine, both par 5’s play over 570 yards and the short par 4 14th is the only obvious birdie opportunity on the home stretch.

5. Nobody is going to get around this course without striking the ball really well.

Yes, Max Homa finished first in putting en route to his victory in 2019, but he also finished in the top 50 of SG: tee-to-green and approach. Ball strikers do well at Quail Hollow, I mean, Jason Day and Justin Thomas are the most recent winners at this course along with Homa. Any course that JT is winning at highlights how important iron play is and precision into greens.

Jason Day finished 9th in SG: tee-to-green in 2018, Homa finished 12th in 2019 and Justin Thomas finished 11th in the category at the 2017 PGA Championship.

2021 PGA Tour SG: Tee-To-Green, Approach Leaders in WFC Field

SG: tee-to-green
1. Bryson DeChambeau
2. Justin Thomas
3. Jon Rahm
4. Keegan Bradley
5. Tony Finau

SG: Approach
1. Justin Thomas
2. Justin Suh
3. Will Zalatoris
4. Russell Henley
5. Keegan Bradley

6. Quail Hollow is one of the few golf courses on Tour that is still going to force players to hit a lot of long irons into greens. Here are the leaders in proximity from +200 yards that are in the field this week.

Justin Suh
Bryson DeChambeau
Michael Kim
Will Gordon
Cameron Davis

Of course, one name here stands out from the rest. DeChambeau’s strokes gained off the tee, precision from outside 200 yards and, of course, his length off the tee make him a very intriguing pick this week in Charlotte.

DeChambeau is also in the top 15 in scoring average on par 4’s between 450 and 500 yards (where most of the par 4s at Quail Hollow live). Other players in the field who are high on that list are Patrick Reed, Russell Henley and Sungjae Im

7. Just a quick note on Rickie Fowler:

The Wells Fargo Championship was Rickie’s first win on Tour back in May of 2012. He only has one finish outside of the top 40 and six finishes inside the top 21 including a T-4 in 2019. Believe it or not, that fourth place finish in May of 2019 is Fowler’s best finish since his T-2 finish at the Honda Classic earlier in the spring of 2019.

Now, there’s very little to point to that would suggest Fowler is going to have a strong week at Quail Hollow. There probably isn’t a place on Tour that brings better memories for him save maybe TPC Sawgrass. His struggles are well documented and his invite to the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island despite not having the credentials to qualify on his own has been a topic of conversation around the golf world.

Fowler is good for the game of golf. He just is. He’s a charismatic guy who gives his time and energy to anyone with a smile on his face (whether that be a sponsor or a 12-year-old decked out in orange Puma gear from head-to-toe). Having him in the PGA Championship is a good thing and having him perform well this week to help silence some of the critics would be even better.

There would be something very poetic about Fowler gaining some momentum at the home of his first PGA Tour title.

8. Big names have won on this golf course before, specifically a guy who is really struggling, Rory McIlroy:

Rory McIlroy hasn’t gotten quite the scrutiny that Rickie Fowler has but McIlroy’s struggles that are the direct result of trying to chase more speed and distance have been discussed at length. Rory holds the scoring record and the margin of victory record. In 2015, he finished 21-under and won the event by seven strokes. Seven. Obviously, McIlroy isn’t in form but this is a golf course that, in theory, suits his game. Driving it well is a must and ball striking after getting off the tee doesn’t get much easier.

McIlroy hasn’t finished inside the top six of strokes gained: tee-to-green at an event since the Farmers Insurance Open at the end of January. That just isn’t a stretch Rory goes through all that often. When he struggles, it’s typically because he can’t make a putt to save his life. This time around his golf swing is where he finds all the demons.

Next. 2021 Wells Fargo Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Quail Hollow. dark

Rory has dominated this course before. He has two wins and six other top 16 finishes throughout his career. If there’s a stretch of golf that is perfect for him to find his form, it’s at Quail Hollow and then at Kiawah Island where he holds the largest margin of victory in PGA Championship history.

9. Betting favorites according to DraftKings Sportsbook (and other odds worth noting):

To win

Justin Thomas (+900)
Jon Rahm (+1000)
Bryson DeChambeau (+1500)
Xander Schauffele (+1800)
Rory McIlroy (+1900)

Other notables

Max Homa to win (+3500)
Jason Day to win (+6000)
To finish top 10
– Tony Finau (+275)
– Will Zalatoris (+335)
– Corey Connners (+250)
– Keegan Bradley (+550)

10. My winner…

Viktor Hovland. He’s been relatively quiet the last six weeks before a T-3 finish last week at the Valspar. Despite not really being in contention, he did have top 25 finishes at the Masters and the Zurich Classic. Last week’s finish is encouraging at a place that demands ball striking like the Copperhead Course. Those same skills will be required this week at Quail Hollow. Hovland finished T6 in SG: approach and third in SG: tee-to-green. He wasn’t spectacular on the greens but still gained over a stroke on the field per round. If he continues the ball striking and makes just a couple more putts he might get the best win of his career.

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