Tony Finau avenged his 2022 loss at the Mexico Open at Vidanta this past weekend during its second edition, dominating the field to beat Jon Rahm by three strokes at -24-under-par. Rahm won the inaugural event in 2022, his only outright win last season, but he’s already collected four outright victories in 2023. So Finau’s ability to hold off the World No. 1 was nothing short of impressive.
This week on the PGA Tour, we’re returning to the United States to Quail Hollow Club for the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship. Last year, the event was relocated due to the President’s Cup at Quail Hollow, forcing the field to compete at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in cold, rainy conditions. Max Homa pulled off the outright win in 2022, which marked his second time as a champion at the Wells Fargo Championship in the last three events played. The Covid-19 pandemic shut down the event in 2020 but in 2019, Homa went -8-under-par in Round 2 and -4-under-par in the final round to beat Joel Dahmen by three strokes at -15-under-par. In 2023, the Wells Fargo Championship is now a newly elevated event. The best golfers on the PGA Tour will attend in Charlotte, North Carolina, during Thursday’s opening tee times.
While a few notable names are absent on this slate, including Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm, there is more than enough talent to acquire when constructing DFS lineups. So before we explore the six prospects I’m recommending at Quail Hollow Club this weekend, let’s first take a look at previous winners, relevant betting stats, and get a course overview to become a bit more familiarized with the event to predict how the leaderboard will look on Sunday evening.
Tony Finau avenged his 2022 loss at the Mexico Open at Vidanta this past weekend during its second edition, dominating the field to beat Jon Rahm by three strokes at -24-under-par. Rahm won the inaugural event in 2022, his only outright win last season, but he’s already collected four outright victories in 2023. So Finau’s ability to hold off the World No. 1 was nothing short of impressive.
This week on the PGA Tour, we’re returning to the United States to Quail Hollow Club for the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship. Last year, the event was relocated due to the President’s Cup at Quail Hollow, forcing the field to compete at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in cold, rainy conditions. Max Homa pulled off the outright win in 2022, which marked his second time as a champion at the Wells Fargo Championship in the last three events played. The Covid-19 pandemic shut down the event in 2020 but in 2019, Homa went -8-under-par in Round 2 and -4-under-par in the final round to beat Joel Dahmen by three strokes at -15-under-par. In 2023, the Wells Fargo Championship is now a newly elevated event. The best golfers on the PGA Tour will attend in Charlotte, North Carolina, during Thursday’s opening tee times.
While a few notable names are absent on this slate, including Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm, there is more than enough talent to acquire when constructing DFS lineups. So before we explore the six prospects I’m recommending at Quail Hollow Club this weekend, let’s first take a look at previous winners, relevant betting stats, and get a course overview to become a bit more familiarized with the event to predict how the leaderboard will look on Sunday evening.
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Previous Winners
- 2022 – Max Homa (-8)
- 2021 – Rory McIlroy (-10)
- 2020 – Cancelled
- 2019 – Max Homa (-15)
- 2018 – Jason Day (-12)
- 2017 – Brian Harman (-10)
Relevant Betting Stats
- Strokes Gained Off-the-Tee
- Driving Distance
- Greens in Regulation
- Scrambling
- Strokes Gained Approaching the Green
Course Overview
Notorious for its final three-hole stretch named ‘The Green Mile,’ Quail Hollow Club is a challenging par 71 track that runs north of 7,500 yards in length. Built in the 1960s and renovated less than ten years ago under the vision of golf architect Tom Fazio, Quail Hollow only provides a few birdie opportunities early, with the front-nine offering just one par 5 on the 7th hole. It’s only appropriate that the course ends with the Green Mile, which goes par 4, par 3, and par 4 with various hazards and an emphasis on distance off the tee.
Quail Hollow is comprised of overseeded Bermuda-rye rough and Bermuda-Poa Annua greens that run up to 13 feet in velocity via the Stimpmeter. Finding distance with driver and irons will be critical. The greens are on the smaller side in surface area, so precision with approach shots will also be an important metric when assessing players on this slate. Quite a few sand bunkers flank the greens and run parallel along narrow fairways, while water hazards don’t appear until the par 5 7th hole but become much more frequent on the back-nine.
Recommended Plays: DraftKings
DraftKings maximum salary is set at $50,000
Patrick Cantlay: $10,500
Patrick Cantlay has been oft-maligned for his slow pace of play, but he produces nothing but red scorecards, which makes him a DFS goldmine. While he did miss the cut at Quail Hollow in 2021 at +3, Cantlay’s delivered five consecutive T20 finishes, including third-place at the RBC Heritage during his last solo stroke play event. He’s ranked fourth in total strokes gained, second in strokes gained off-the-tee, and second in total driving. Pay up to acquire one of the highest floor prospects available on the Wells Fargo Championship slate.
Sungjae Im: $9,100
I’m sticking with players displaying great form despite poor outings at Quail Hollow in 2021. This includes 24-year-old Sungjae Im. The South Korean native missed the cut here in 2021 but logged a T31 finish in 2019. Im is another phenomenal irons player, ranked 10th in tee-to-green, 11th off the tee, and 16th around the green. He’s also fully equipped to punish the golf ball with his driver, ranking 17th in total driving, so his skill set aligns nicely with the rigors of Quail Hollow. Im has gone T6, T16, and T7 in his last three events played, so we’re getting tremendous value on his $9,100 salary at DraftKings. Plug Im into lineups with confidence.
Brian Harman: $8,000
Rolling out Brian Harman is undoubtedly a risk, but he bounced back in a big way at the RBC Heritage, logging a T7 finish after starting with an opening round of 65. The 36-year-old native of Georgia won at Quail Hollow in 2017, the second outright win he’s still chasing today. Harman may be short, but he packs a powerful driver, is ranked the sixth most accurate, and performs well in strokes gained off-the-tee. In addition, his putter tends to be more of an asset than a liability, which usually translates to birdies. We’re deep in the value bin with Harman, but he’s comfortable at this course and is rounding into form, so let’s take a flier on him at this low salary.
Recommended Plays: FanDuel
FanDuel maximum salary is set at $60,000
Jordan Spieth: $11,600
We last saw Jordan Spieth compete at Quail Hollow in standard stroke play several years ago, but he dominated the President’s Cup in 2022. The 29-year-old Texan could not drain a putt to beat Matt Fitzpatrick during a sudden-death playoff matchup at the RBC Heritage, so expect Spieth to come out firing early. He’s going at $11,600 on FanDuel, which is expensive, but Spieth has four T5 finishes across his last five events played. Talk about domination. Prepare for a bit of volatility but expect Spieth to stay around the top of the leaderboard once Sunday’s final round gets underway, making him a quality blue-chipper to insert into lineups.
Jason Day: $10,300
Jason Day hasn’t competed since imploding at The Masters, starting -5-under-par but finishing 8-over-par in the final round, settling into a disappointing T39 finish. The 35-year-old Aussie has 12 career wins, including an outright here at Quail Hollow in 2018, so he’s an intriguing prospect to consider. Day is ranked sixth in total strokes gained, ranging from 11th tee-to-green, 19th around the green, to 13th strokes gained putting. Plus, Day ranks 14th in total driving, which accounts for distance and accuracy. Based on his skill set, previous success, and current salary, he’s of considerable value, so don’t hesitate to plug Day into FanDuel lineups.
Keith Mitchell: $9,600
Keith Mitchell is one of the more surprising finds in terms of consistency at Quail Hollow in past years. The 31-year-old Georgia native has logged finishes of T3 and T8 in his last two appearances at the Wells Fargo Championship when it was hosted at Quail Hollow Club in 2019 and 2021. Mitchell is the best on the PGA Tour in total driving, ranks sixth in strokes gained off the tee, and 30th in tee to green. Plus, he converts birdies on 33.9 percent of his attempts, ranked 25th on the PGA Tour, which translates seamlessly into being an asset in DFS. Yes, he missed the cut at RBC Heritage and hasn’t produced a T25 finish since the Arnold Palmer Invitational a couple of months ago. Still, we’ve got to hop on Mitchell at this salary, especially based on his historical form at Quail Hollow.
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Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.
