After a couple of weeks of less-than-exciting PGA Tour events, we’re about to enter a stretch of must-watch golf, starting with this week’s Wells Fargo Championship.
Quail Hollow is set to host the sixth signature event and the majority of the best golfers on Tour are set to compete in it. With that being said, there’s one notable absentee this week, Scottie Scheffler. The No. 1-ranked golfer in the world is awaiting the birth of his first child so he’ll be taking the week off before heading to Valhalla for next week’s PGA Championship.
That leaves Rory McIlroy as the betting favorite this week, fresh off a win alongside Shane Lowry at the Zurich Classic.
Let’s dive into everything you need to know to bet on this event, including the odds and my three picks to win.
The top 15 odds to win listed below are via FanDuel Sportsbook:
Wyndham Clark: Wyndham Clark’s magical 2023 season started right here at Quail Hollow where he captured his first PGA Tour win. He ran away from the field en route to a four-stroke victory over Xander Schauffele and then followed it up by winning the U.S. Open in June. He’s fresh off a T3 finish at the RBC Heritage so he may be rounding back into form after a missed cut at the Masters.
Max Homa: Max Homa has won this event twice, but only once when it was at Quail Hollow. His second win came in 2022 when this event was hosted at TPC Potomac due to Quail Hollow hosting the Presidents Cup. He’s still searching for his first win in over a year and returning to this course could be the perfect opportunity for him to do exactly that.
The first name that sticks out to me is the defending champion, Wyndham Clark. His T3 finish at the RBC Heritage helps me forget his abysmal performance at Augusta and it’s tough not to think he can win here again in 2024.
He’s second on the Tour in total strokes gained this season behind only Scottie Scheffler, and he’s already proven 2023 wasn’t a flash in the pan by winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. He followed up that win with a second-place finishes at both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship.
Quail Hollow fits his style of golf to perfection. You have to be long off the tee here and Clark enters this week ranking sixth in driving distance along with seventh in total ball striking.
Don’t be surprised if he successfully defends his title this week.
Hideki Matsuyama was one of the more popular bets at the Masters last month, but the 2021 winner at Augusta had a disappointing outing, finishing T38. Well, I’m not ready to jump off the Matsuyama train quite yet, especially now that he has had some rest and should be good to go at Quail Hollow.
The 32-year-old enters this week’s event ranking ninth in total strokes gained and, more importantly, leads the field in strokes gained: around-the-green, an area of utmost importance at Quail Hollow.
He has had solid performances here in the past, including a top-five placing in 2017, and I believe he’s being extremely undervalued on the odds board at his current price.
My dark horse bet this week is none other than Rickie Fowler. He hasn’t had his best stuff in 2023 but has improved in his last two starts, finishing T30 at the Masters and following it up with a T18 finish at the RBC Heritage. That could be a sign that he’s finding his form and now he returns to a course he’s had success at in his career.
Fowler got his first PGA Tour victory here back in 2012 and finished inside the top five three times since then. That means we can get long odds on a golfer who seems to be rounding into form at a course that he’s extremely comfortable at.
He’s worth a sprinkle at 66/1.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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You can check out all of Iain’s bets here!
