We have to wait another couple of weeks for the next major of the year, but the PGA Tour takes to a major championship course once again this week, when Quail Hollow hosts the Wells Fargo Championship, a very popular stop on Tour.
Jason Day certainly enjoyed it here 12 months or so ago when he skipped off with the title He is back to look to make a successful defence of it but is up against a really good field when we take into account the time in the season it is.
Recent Winners
2018 – Jason Day
2017 – Brian Harman
2016 – James Hahn
2015 – Rory McIlroy
2014 – JB Holmes
2013 – Derek Ernst
2012 – Rickie Fowler
2011 – Lucas Glover
2010 – Rory McIlroy
2009 – Sean O’Hair
The Course
Quail Hollow is one of the best stops on the Tour so this should be a great week. The Charlotte based track is now a par 71 but still has the ability to stretch to 7,554 yards so if you’ve not been hitting the gym regularly this probably isn’t the track for you. It was only two years ago that the course hosted the USPGA so the set up should be testing once again.
There is a mixture in possible weather forecasts. One says rain over the weekend and the other suggests a heatwave which will be interesting. Either way the formula here is smack it miles, stay out of the many hazards and scramble as if your life depends on it. If we look at previous winners in the main they are those who get it out there who have a decent touch around the greens.
The Field
We are getting towards that time where players have to decide whether to play this week and have next week off before the USPGA or leave this week and play next week. A decent number of good players are here including defending champion Jason Day and high profile former winners Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler.
Phil Mickelson has a fine record around this place which he will be looking to enhance this week while Justin Rose, Hideki Matsuyama, local man Webb Simpson and Tony Finau all bring superstar quality to the event. Recent Masters champions Patrick Reed and Sergio Garcia are both in the field this week while Henrik Stenson and Zach Johnson are a couple of other major champions teeing it up.
Market Leaders
Given that he has won twice around here it probably comes as no surprise that The Players champion Rory McIlroy is the favourite, nor that he is as short as 6/1. Only the price can really put you off him this week as the course does set up well for him, although I wonder whether he’ll want talk about him winning before and after The Masters but not at Augusta to affect him leading into the next major. He isn’t for me at the price.
Jason Day comes next in the betting at 11/1. Regular readers will know I don’t like backing defending champions but we were on the Australian in this last year and he was almost double the price and arriving here in much better form and fitness. You can’t really take either of those requirements as a guarantee for Day these days so while he has the game to win around here he isn’t for me especially at the price.
Rickie Fowler has won around here before and of the front three in the betting he would probably be the one I would be on at 12/1 if I was taking any of them. I’m not though. Although the lack of an out and out weakness in Fowler’s game is very much a strength around here, he doesn’t win, or even contend enough for my liking. Given the test in front of the field this week I want more than 12/1 on anyone I back anyway.
Justin Rose was having a good year in the lead up to Augusta but he bombed out pretty early there which will be a disappointment. You wonder how much of him playing here is to compete for the win and how much is to simply hone his game ahead of the USPGA. Whatever his motivation I can’t be getting involved at 14/1 around here. It is 16/1 bar those who have been named.
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Main Bets
The market has found out a lot of players at the head of it so I’m delving slightly deeper for my main bets this week. Jason Kokrak has been on my radar for a while now and I’m not deserting him this week. He has the long game to compete around here and if he can get on with the greens at long last them he should run well once again this week. His form has tailed off a little bit but pairs events like last week isn’t the greatest guide. I’ll give him one last chance to deliver the goods for me.
Byeong-Hun An leads the field in strokes gained around the green and that can be pretty significant this week. He is also pretty long off the tee as well so he ticks the two main requirements for going well around this place so it is a bit of a mystery why his record here isn’t significantly better than it is. He arrives here with a pair of top 10 finishes in his last five outings which is appealing and given that the test should suit his game nicely I’ll take a chance on him over these four days.
Outsiders
JB Holmes gave me a decent run for my money at The Masters and having won around here in the past I fancy he could go close to the title once again. He is long off the tee and he showed when winning at Riviera earlier in the season that he can certainly scramble well enough too. He showed that at Augusta as well so he could be something of a forgotten man this week at around the 80/1 mark. He won’t be a popular winner but he is probably playing some of his best golf this year since he won the title here in 2014 so he is worth plumping for.
Jhonattan Vegas has shown plenty of signs of life in recent times. He was tied for third at TPC Sawgrass, a major venue in all but name, and also had a top 10 in Phoenix earlier in the season too. He opened the Texas Open, his last stroke play singles event, very strongly but couldn’t last the pace but he smacks it well enough off the tee and he’s fairly high up in the short game statistics here so if he can dial a few irons in at the right time it wouldn’t be a complete surprise to see him on the leaderboard.
There are always streaky golfers that it is worth getting on side with when they are in the middle of a hot trot and Kevin Streelman is very much one of those so it is to his and our advantage that he is playing well at the minute. He missed the cut in the pairs event last week but I’m not going to look too deep into that. Prior to that his last two regular events have seen him finish sixth on both occasions. A few years back he had a trio of decent efforts around here so if we pair the two together there is enough reason to have faith in him this week.
Tips
Back J.Kokrak to win Wells Fargo Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 36.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-8)
Back J.Vegas to win Wells Fargo Championship (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-8)
Back them here:
Back B-H.An to win Wells Fargo Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 56.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-8)
Back J-B.Holmes to win Wells Fargo Championship (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-8)
Back them here:
Back K.Streelman to win Wells Fargo Championship (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with William Hill (1/5 1-6)
Back him here:
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