Blake Davis
The 2024 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club is the final stop on the PGA Tour calendar before players shift focus to the PGA Championship. In signature status for the second year in a row, the Wells Fargo Championship will host 69 of the best players the PGA Tour has to offer, all of whom are expected to be in attendance over the weekend without any cuts at the 36-hole mark.
Headlining is the man who has apparently done nothing wrong at Quail Hollow throughout his career: Rory McIlroy. The world number 2 arrives off the back of his 25th PGA Tour victory alongside Shane Lowry at the Zurich Classic. With the Masters now behind him, McIlroy hopes to continue downhill and should have a great chance of doing so given his history at this venue.
A three-time winner at Quail Hollow, including the first in 2010, McIlroy must relish his chances. Another player who will love his chances this week is defending champion Wyndham Clark. This time last year, Clark didn’t have a PGA Tour victory and was hardly a household name. Oh how times have changed.
The defending US Open champion is now among the best in the world and has consistently taken these exclusive events into consideration with a win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and close calls at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Players Championship and RBC Heritage. Although Clark fell short to world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in all three cases, he and the rest of the field need not worry about the biggest man in the sport as he remains sidelined awaiting the birth of his first child.
Scheffler’s absence could leave a number of players facing drought, with the likes of Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Cameron Young among them. This crop of top talent hasn’t entered the winner’s circle in a few years and we’re hoping to change that this week.
Masters contenders like Collin Morikawa and Max Homa are also expected to be on the scene this weekend, while others like Viktor Hovland and Will Zalatoris are looking for some form.
2024 Wells Fargo Championship Schedule
Dates: May 9th to 12th | Location: Quail Hollow Club – Charlotte, North Carolina
Pair: 71 | Yard: 7,558 | Handbag: $20,000,000
2024 Wells Fargo Championship Field, Odds
- Rory McIlroy (7-1): I wouldn’t say he’s in top form, but he’s getting closer. In what has been described by some as a slow start to 2024, McIlroy has achieved two world victories, another two podiums and another five top 25s in 11 starts. His driver continues to set up his iron game, which has shone at times. His scoring and short game clubs need to get a little more consistent to feel really good about his chances next week at the PGA Championship, but that could happen this week at Quail Hollow, where he has three wins.
- Xander Schauffele (10-1)
- Wyndham Clark (16-1): The term “big game hunter” gets thrown around a lot, but it’s starting to describe Clark. The 30-year-old has made waves at exclusive events this year with a win at Pebble Beach and podiums at Bay Hill, TPC Sawgrass and, most recently, Harbor Town. In his other six events, Clark did not record a top-20 finish. He is the current champion and should be considered at this stage.
- Patrick Cantlay (18-1)
- Colin Morikawa (22-1)
- Max Homa (22-1): Homa is a two-time winner of this tournament, but only once at Quail Hollow; he took his first career win here in 2019 and won at a rain-soaked TPC Potomac in 2022. Homa has since added a T8 to his resume last year and arrives with a world of confidence following his Masters podium – his best result of the main championship. He has been cooperative throughout his game, has had success on this golf course and similar difficult venues, and is among the best finishers in the game.
- Justin Thomas (25-1): A fast finish at Hilton Head saw Thomas earn his first top five since The American Express in January. Since then, the two-time PGA Championship winner has played high-quality golf, low-quality golf and some golf in between. He has been inconsistent as his iron play has stagnated slightly and his putting continues to pose a problem. He has done well at Quail Hollow in his career (i.e. his 2017 PGA Championship win).
- Tommy Fleetwood (28-1)
- Viktor Hovland (28-1): We haven’t seen the defending FedEx Cup champion since a bad miss at the Masters. Quail Hollow should be a perfect golf course for Hovland given his driving acumen, but there are too many question marks swirling around his game at every minute. His ball-striking numbers dropped in 2024 and his presence around the green – which was much improved in 2023 – returned to his normal ranking of last on the PGA Tour this season.
- Hideki Matsuyama (30-1)
2024 Wells Fargo Championship Expert Picks
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