The tour moves from the extremely entertaining team event in New Orleans to North Carolina this week. This event started life as the Wachovia Championship and was briefly known as the Quail Hollow Championship between 2009 and 2010. Check out our full betting preview below.
Eagle Point Golf Club played host to the 2017 edition as Quail Hollow hosted the 2017 PGA Championship. The 2021 President’s Cup is scheduled to be played here. This is widely considered one of the most challenging stop-offs on tour outside of the Major Championships every year.
2019 US PGA Tour | Wells Fargo Championship
Quail Hollow Club, North Carolina
Thursday 2 May – Friday 5 May 2019
This 7,400-yard course was designed by George Cobb in 1961, though it underwent extensive renovations under Tom Fazio in 1997. The greens were switched from bentgrass to Bermuda after the 2013 edition. It is famed for one of the toughest finishing stretches in the game, lovingly known as the Green Mile. This is a difficult test, with challenging fairways and even more painstaking approaches. The course perennially ranks inside the top 10 for most difficult in proximity to the hole. The undulating, speedy greens are also regular fixtures in most difficult three-putt avoidance stats. Scrambling and putting are key to playing well at Quail Hollow.
Tiger Woods has decided to eschew the event at the last moment, taking away some of the lustre of proceedings. Rory McIlroy will be looking to offset yet another disappointing tilt at that Grand Slam triumph. Defending champion Jason Day has hinted at his best form thus far this year without quite hitting his peak. Ricky Fowler and Justin Rose will be looking to bounce back this week while Paul Casey looks to pick up the pieces after a missed cut at Augusta.
Past Winners
2018: Jason Day (-12)
2017: Brian Harman (-10)
2016: James Hahn (-9)*playoff
2015: Rory McIlroy (-21)
2014: J.B Holmes (-14)
Outright Betting (To Win)
Rory McIlroy (6/1)
Jason Day (10/1)
Ricky Fowler (11/1)
Justin Rose (12/1)
Hideki Matsuyama (20/1)
Value Bets
Phil Mickelson – To Win (28/1 ), To Place (6/1 )
Phil Mickelson began the year in sparkling style, recording a runner-up finish at the Desert Classic prior to capturing the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He did follow that up with back-to-back missed cuts, though a top 20 at Augusta went some way to reinstalling some confidence for ‘lefty’. He has been on an exceptionally consistent streak on this golf course. His last six starts have seen him finish T5, T18, T4, T4, T11 and 3. He will clearly be a factor this week if that otherworldly short-game of his in anywhere near its best.
Kevin Streelman – To Win (100/1), To Place (22/1)
Long shots have had a habit of making a splash at Quail Hollow in the past. James Hahn won at 500/1 three years ago, while Nick Watney came from nowhere to finish runner-up last season. With that in mind, I have gone for Kevin Streelman. He has had some extremely encouraging results of late, with a 6th at the Valero Texas Open and a 6th at Harbour Town. Course form isn’t as hot, with two missed cuts in his last two appearances. However, he does boast top 10 finishes here in 2013 and 2015. Streelman is the type of metronomic player who is bound to surprise from time to time.
The Man to Beat
Paul Casey – To Win (20/1), To Place (44/10)
Paul Casey had my vote going into Augusta and once again collapsed on his way to a missed cut. But Casey has already shown his capacity to bounce back from a missed cut this year: he managed that en route to the Valspar Championship. He was T13 in this event in 2017 and also managed a tie for 13th at the PGA Championship that year. He currently ranks 8th in driving accuracy and 11th in shots gained tee to green. Casey is a solid tee-to-green player who tends to play his best golf in strong fields outside of the Major Championships.
