2022 Wells Fargo Championship Breakdown and Picks
The PGA travels to Maryland as TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm is set to host this year’s 2022 Wells Fargo Championship.
The Tour is back stateside this week for the 2022 Wells Fargo Championship at TPC Potomac in Maryland. Rory McIlroy prepares to defend his title this week after winning the 2021 Wells Fargo, but this year the event that is traditionally played at Quail Hollow Club in North Carolina has been moved as Quail Hollow begins preparations for the 2022 Presidents Cup in September.
Rory McIlroy will headline a field that is marginally stronger than what we saw in Mexico last week during the 2022 Mexico Open at Vidanta. The number of top 30 ranked players in the field has doubled this week with Rory McIlroy (7), Tony Finau (18), Abraham Ancer (20), Tyrrell Hatton (23), Matt Fitzpatrick (25), and Paul Casey (26) all in attendance.
This week will be the first time that TPC Potomac has hosted the Wells Fargo Championship but it is certainly no stranger to hosting Tour events, having last welcomed the PGA back in 2017 and 2018 for the Quicken Loans National. The Par 70, 7,100 yard plus design underwent renovations prior to hosting the Quicken Loans National, both Pete Dye and Tom Fazio assisted with the re-design.
TPC Potomac features Bentgrass greens, numerous creeks and streams, and Scottish-style bunkering throughout. The course is expected to challenge players this week with its tight fairways, therefore, placing an added importance on driving accuracy. It also features just two Par 5’s and multiple Par 4’s that range between 450-500 yards. Players that excel with their mid to long irons should do well this week as TPC Potomac features smaller than average greens as well.
Let’s take a look at the favorites going into this week’s Wells Fargo Championship and see if we can pick out a few that should do well here.
Favorites to win the 2022 Wells Fargo Championship at TPC Potomac
(All odds courtesy of WynnBet)
- Rory McIlroy (+800)
- Corey Conners (+1750)
- Matt Fitzpatrick (+2000)
- Tony Finau (+2250)
- Tyrrell Hatton (+2500)
- Russell Henley (+2500)
- Abraham Ancer (+3000)
- Keegan Bradley (+3000)
- Max Homa (+3000)
- Marc Leishman (+3000)
- Seamus Power (+3000)
- Gary Woodland (+3000)
- Cameron Young (+3000)
More. Fantasy Golf: Wells Fargo Championship DFS Player Selections. light
Pick to Top 20: Ryan Armour (+450)
Some players just have games that are made for certain layouts, and that is the case with Armour and TPC Potomac. The Ohio State Buckeye was part of the field here in 2018 when he finished runner-up to runaway winner Francesco Molinari.
His previous success here shouldn’t come as a huge surprise considering that Armour has also found success on some comparable courses, he was T-6th at the Travelers Championship in 2020, and T-4th at the Wyndham Championship in 2017. The 2017 Sanderson Farms winner should be able to use his accuracy to his advantage this week as he comes into the 2022 Wells Fargo Championship ranked 1st on Tour in driving accuracy. He also finds plenty of greens in regulation (38th) and is one of the best in the field in that key Par 4 range between 450-500 yards (4th).
Pick to Top 10: Brian Harman (+550)
The last time the Wells Fargo wasn’t played at Quil Hollow was back in 2017 and Brian Harman won. Can history repeat itself again this week? perhaps. Brian, unlike Armour before him, did not play at TPC Potomac during the 2017 or 2018 events. Just like Armour though, it is a course that should suit his game perfectly.
Harman is an elite fairway finder and he comes into this week ranked 16th on Tour in that department. He is also a solid putter (39th) and is someone who excels with his long irons, especially from the beyond 200-yard range (35th). The Georgia Bulldog has produced some excellent results at the comparable TPC River Highlands throughout his career, including when he was 5th there last year.
The 2017 Wells Fargo Champion enters this week with some mixed results in recent starts but he did record a 5th at the Valspar Championship not that long ago. Harman has the game to excel at TPC Potomac this week and I wouldn’t be surprised if he found himself in contention this weekend.
Longshot Pick to Win: Kevin Streelman (+7500)
Kevin Streelman is another player with the type of game that can suit TPC Potomac well. Streelman was 17th here in 2017, and 32nd in 2018, and he is another player who has had success on similar designs throughout his career. He has had some of his best-ever Tour results at the similar TPC River Highlands with a win in 2014 and a runner-up finish there as recently as 2020, he has also found some success at Sedgefield with a top 10 finish there just last year.
The two-time PGA Tour winner has the accuracy off the tee that will be required in order to find success this week. Streelman ranks 7th on Tour this year in driving accuracy and you have to go back to last year’s 2021 Houston Open to find the last time that he failed to gain strokes from off the tee.
Pick to Win: Abraham Ancer (+3000)
Ancer showed encouraging signs last week for the first time since the WGC-Dell Match Play in March. It had been a rough month or so for the 2021 WGC-FedEx St. Jude winner after he ‘tweaked’ his back prior to the Valero Texas Open. A withdrawal from his hometown event in San Antonio was followed by a missed cut at the Masters just a week later, that was the last time that we saw the 31-year-old prior to his return last week in Mexico.
The T-42 finish he put up at Vidanta Vallarta doesn’t say much, but the fact that he finally looked healthy is a positive sign, as is the fact that he was sharp with his approach play after gaining nearly a stroke and a half for the week.
Next. 2022 Wells Fargo Championship: Fantasy Golf Dark Horses. dark
He was 4th here during the 2018 Quicken Loans National and this prior experience at TPC Potomac should serve him well this week. This past success here, the positive signs from last week, and his accuracy stats this year (6th) suggest another win could be right around the corner for Ancer.