Wells Fargo Championship
My preview for this week’s PGA Tour action at the Wells Fargo Championship. The Wells Fargo Championship returns to Quall Hollow for 2023 edition as it couldn’t host the 2022 tournament due to the Presidents Cup. It’s another designated event which means there is a prize fund of $20,000,000. The field is headlined by Rory McIlroy but also includes 2022 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas, 2022 US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and three time major winner Jordan Spieth.
This event is Rory McIlroy’s first time to tee it up after his missed cut at 2023 Masters. McIlroy has won the Wells Fargo Championship three times which includes winning in 2021. With Scottie Scheffler winning The Players and Jon Rahm recently winning The Masters, McIlroy needs to kick start his season especially with the second major just around the corner. Quall Hollow holds special memories for McIlroy as this is were he won his first event on the PGA Tour in 2010. McIlroy is the bookies favourite for this event and I think he is going to win this weekend.
Cameron Young is coming into this event in decent form after finishing tied 15th at recent Mexico Open. He hasn’t won on the PGA Tour yet but it’s only a matter of time as he lost the WGC Dell Technologies match play to Sam Burns earlier this year. Young finished tied second at 2022 Wells Fargo Championship but was played at a different venue TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm due to Quall Hollow hosting the 2022 Presidents Cup. Young is currently 16th in the world golf rankings but a good finish this week could move him closer to getting inside the top 10 in the world. I think he will finish top five this week and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Young won.
McIlroy wasn’t the only player to have a breakthrough win at Quall Hollow as Rickie Fowler won his first event at Wells Fargo Championship in 2012. Fowler is coming into the event in good form after finishing in a tie for fifth at the RBC Heritage in April. 2012 wasn’t the only successful year at Quall Hollow for Fowler as he finished tied fourth in 2019. It’s great to see Fowler back on the leaderboards and I think he will finish in the top five this weekend.
Brian Harman finished tied seventh at RBC Heritage a couple of weeks ago. Harman likes difficult golf courses as he finished second to Brooks Koepka at 2017 US Open. Harman won the Wells Fargo Championship at Quall Hollow in 2017. A bit of a long shot but I think Harman will finish in the top 10 this weekend.
Hayden Buckley played well at the last designated event as he finished in a tie for fifth at RBC Heritage. Buckley is having a good season as he is currently 35th in the FedEx Cup rankings. A big outsider but I think he will finish in the top 10 this weekend.
Seamus Power and Shane Lowry are also in the field and it would be fantastic if they both have a good event. Hope you enjoy the action at Wells Fargo Championship over the weekend.