Last week we had a 28/1 Winner with Billy Horschel claiming Victory in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
This week the PGA Tour rolls into Charlotte, North Carolina for the Wells Fargo Championship at the Quail Hollow Club. This event was established in 2003 and has always been played at Quail Hallow.
In 2003 the event was known as the Wachovia Championship until it was renamed the Quail Hallow Championship in 2009, then in 2011 it became the Wells Fargo Championship.
This year the purse is US$6,700,000 with the winner taking home US$1,170,000.
Quail Hollow is a Par 72, 7,469 yard course that is considered one of the most exclusive clubs in America. The players love this tournament as it is a very challenging course and brings out the best in their game. The course also has one of the toughest finishes on the PGA tour with holes 16,17 and 18 known as the ‘Green Mile’. These 3 holes are sure to bring some players to their knees and cause all sorts of pressure come Sunday afternoon.
The course is set up very much like a US Open sytle and as such hitting greens is a must. The fairways are tight and shot making will play a major factor this week. Most of the winners in the past have ranked highly in this stat. Good putting stats will also help as the greens are fast and undulating. Good overall stats will see you play well here as the cream always rises to the top.
Looking at the field this week we are in for a real treat as several high profile players will be teeing it up.
We have eight players who have already won this season teeing it up including Dustin Johnson, Rusell Henley, Phil Mickelson, John Merrick and Martin Laird.
There are six Past winners of the Wells Fargo Championship looking to be the first person to claim two titles in the short history of this event. They inlcude Defending Champion Rickie Fowler, Lucas Glover, Sean O’Hair, Vijay Singh, Rory McIlroy and David Toms.
To keep the quality rolling we also have players of the caliber of Sergio Garcia, Bill Haas, Nick Watney, Bubba Watson, Henrik Stenson and Hunter Mahan.
Then you have a host of International players vying for their name to be included on the honors roll like Ian Poulter, Angel Cabrera, Nicolas Colsaerts, Padraig Harrington, Brendon De Jonge and Martin Kaymer.
As you can see from the above mentioned players there is a host of talent on offer this week and we are in for some very exciting golf.
The Bookies Top 5 in betting are:- $9.00 Rory McIlroy, $17.00 Phil Mickelson, $19.00 Lee Westwood, $21.00 Webb Simpson and $23.00 Rickie Fowler.
The Two players to follow this week are-
Lee Westwood $19.00 www.sportsbet.com.au
Westwood is now well and truly settled inFloridaand looks to be thriving since his move.
This season on the PGA Tour he has had eight starts and made all eight cuts. Five of those starts resulted in five Top 25’s and three Top 10’s.
In his last two starts Lee has finished T10th in the Shell Houston Open and T8th at the Masters Tournament.
His stats have him ranked 47th in driving accuracy, 16th in scoring average, 13th in total driving, 7th in scrambling and 9th in going for the green. These stats will see him play well this week.
Last year Westwood was t5th in the event three shots back from the Winner Rickie Fowler.
Expect to see him up there challenging over the weekend.
Richard H Lee $126.00 www.sportsbet.com.au
What a season Richard is having this year.
Twelve starts and eight cuts made resulting in five Top 25’s and two Top 10’s!
After a fairly lacklustre debut season on the PGA Tour last year Richard had to make a visit to qualifying school where he finished T4th to earn his card for 2013.
He has hit a purple patch of form in his last three outings with results of 13th Valero Texas Open, t9th RBC Heritage and t21st Zurich Classic of New Orleans where he had 18 birdies on his card.
This will be Lee’s second visit to Quail Hollow after finishing t40th last year.
His stats this season will have him primed for a great showing here with rankings of 11th in driving accuracy, 19th in greens in regulation, 35th in ball striking, 19th in strokes gained putting, 5th in par 3 performance and 30th in par 5 performance.
At the current available odds Richard represents an excellent each way bet and should also be looked at in Top 10 and 20 markets.
Good luck and good punting.
