After an interesting weekend in Louisiana which saw the tandem of Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer take out the Zurich Classic, the 2019 PGA Tour continues this weekend as we head to Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina for the annual Wells Fargo Championship!
We take a look at the tournament, which gets underway this Thursday night (AEST) and give our betting tips below!
2019 Wells Fargo Championship Betting Tips
Aussie Jason Day will be back to defend his Wells Fargo title after winning the 2018 edition at Quail Hollow by two strokes. After many top line players took the Zurich Classic off, this weekend should be a pretty stacked field as it represents one of the final chances for a hitout ahead of the PGA Championship beginning May 16th.
The Course
The Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina has hosted the Wells Fargo Championship every year since its 2003 inception except in 2017, when the course was preparing for the PGA Championship.
A 7,554 yard, Par 71, the Quail Hollow Club is regularly ranked in the Top 10 on the PGA Tour in terms of toughest courses. Originally designed by George Cobb in 1961, the course has gone through major redesigns to three holes in the past few years, and when the course hosted the 2017 PGA Championship season, it was rated as the hardest on tour.
The course is known for the closing stretch of holes known as ‘The Green Mile’ which is amongst the toughest runs in all of golf. The last three holes offer a variety of challenges for all types of golfers and usually play a full stroke over par on average.
The Field
Three of the top ten players in the world in Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler headline the weekend’s action at Quail Hollow Golf Club, and they’ll be joined by a bunch of other top line players in what looks to be a stacked field. Past winners Brian Harman, J.B. Holmes and Lucas Glover will line up while McIlroy (2), Fowler (1) and Day (1) will be hunting multiple titles.
Alongside the big three this weekend will be Hideki Matsuyama, Webb Simpson, Tony Finau, Serigo Garcia, Paul Casey, Phil Mickelson, Gary Woodland, Henrik Stenson and Patrick Reed.
Tips
Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy ($7) took a well-deserved break after The Masters, where he finished T21 in an admirable performance. He has been, without doubt, the best player on tour so far this season, racking up seven top 10 finishes through nine official tournaments including a massive win in The Players Championship back in March. McIlroy has the pedigree at Quail Hollow Golf club as well as the only multiple winner of the Wells Fargo Championship with wins in 2010 and 2015. McIlroy has been to Quail Hollow for the Wells Fargo on seven occasions. He has missed the cut just once (2011) while his other six results have read T16 (2018) T4 (2016) 1st (2015) T8 (2014) T10 (2013) and T2 (2012).
Another previous winner and probably one of the only players on tour who can challenge the statement that McIlroy has been the best player of 2019 is American Rickie Fowler ($12). Fowler has racked up four top ten finishes through 10 events this season including a win at the Waste Management Phoenix Open back in February. Fowler was fantastic in his last tournament at The Masters, shooting four rounds under par to finish T9. Won the tournament in 2012 after a playoff against McIlroty and D.A. Points to claim his first ever PGA Tour victory.
On the value side, we love the look of former Masters Champion Patrick Reed ($41). Reed was serviceable in his Masters title defence, finishing T36 after shooting -2. Hasn’t set the world on fire in 2019 yet but does boast seven top 25 finishes in 12 tournaments and is pretty good value this week, especially considering he is a major winner. Finished T8 in his first Wells Fargo Championship last season and should be in the mix again.
