The week before next week’s PGA Championship will provide a great test and tune-up for the year’s second major championship this year at the Wells Fargo in Charlotte, N.C. Forty-four of the top 50 players in the OWGR will be in Charlotte this week. That list does not include World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who will welcome his first child into the world any day now.

Rory McIlroy (8-1) is a three-time winner (2010, 2015, 2021) here at Quail Hollow Golf Club and is off a victory two weeks ago at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Shane Lowry (70-1).

Xander Schauffele (10-1) was the runner-up here last year to Wyndham Clark (18-1), who earned his first PGA Tour victory at the Wells Fargo before winning the U.S. Open the following month.

Ludvig Åberg (12-1) was to make his debut this week at the Wells Fargo but withdrew on Monday.

Patrick Cantlay (22-1), Collin Morikawa (25-1), 2019 and 2022 Wells Fargo champion Max Homa (25-1), Tommy Fleetwood (28-1) and Viktor Hovland (28-1) comprise the second group of the market.

Other former champions at Quail Hollow in this week’s field include Justin Thomas (33-1), who won his first major championship at the 2017 PGA Championship on this course, 2019 Wells Fargo winner Jason Day (50-1), 2017 winner Brian Harman (50-1), 2012 winner Rickie Fowler (70-1) and 2011 winner Lucas Glover (110-1).

The Wells Fargo Championship has annually attracted one of the better fields on the PGA Tour since its inception as the Wachovia Championship in 2003. Wells Fargo acquired financial services company Wachovia in 2008 and has held the sponsorship of this tournament ever since. Its current agreement runs through 2024.

It has been held at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte each year since the beginning except for 2017 when Quail Hollow hosted the PGA Championship and the Wells Fargo moved to Eagle Point Golf Club in nearby Wilmington and last year when the event was held at TPC Potomac because of Quail Hollow hosting the Presidents Cup.

The event’s charitable beneficiary is the non-profit organization Teach for America and the tournament is organized by Champions for Education, Inc.

Previous event winners include a who’s who of golf, including Vijay Singh (2005), Jim Furyk (2006), Tiger Woods (2007), Rory McIlroy (2010, 2015), Rickie Fowler (2012) and Jason Day (2018).

Last year, the Wells Fargo became one of the PGA Tour’s “signature events” and the overall tournament purse has risen from $9.3 million to $20 million.

Quail Hollow Club, built on land that was once the largest dairy farm in North Carolina, was founded as a private-member club in 1959 by James J. Harris and the course was designed in 1961 by George Cobb, who is most famous for designing the par-3 course at Augusta National Golf Club. It hosted the Kemper Open on the PGA Tour from 1969 through 1979, followed by the PGA Tour Champions’ Paine Webber Invitational from 1983 through 1989. Quail Hollow also hosted the 2017 PGA Championship and 2022 Presidents Cup.

The layout has undergone several renovations under the auspices of Tom Fazio in 1997, 2003, 2012 and 2016. For the 2016 renovation leading into the 2017 PGA, Fazio changed the layout to a par-71 of 7,521 yards for tournament golf, but it still plays as a par-72 for the members.

This year’s layout is a par-71 of 7,558 yards. Since the renovations, the course is the third-longest on the PGA Tour and played as the fifth-toughest (+0.85) last year.

Aside from the par-5s, there are four par-4s at 490 yards or longer, so Quail Hollow is a big, long course.

The fairways run at a 33.5-yard average width (16th narrowest on tour) and are comprised of Bermudagrass with Ryegrass overseed (about a 50/50 split) as is the rough that will measure just two inches.

The renovations also entailed a changing of greens surfaces from MiniVerde Bermudagrass to Champion Bermudagrass overseeded with Poa Trivialis. Similar greens can be found at Sedgefield Country Club (Wyndham Championship), TPC Southwind (WGC FedEx St Jude Invitational) and the Country Club of Jackson (Sanderson Farms Championship). The greens will be fast, running at 12-13 on the stimpmeter and measure out to an average size of 6,578 square feet (17th largest of 44 courses on tour). A SubAir system below the greens firms them up to play tougher on the weekend.

While the layout is fairly straightforward without many tricks or notable characteristics, Quail Hollow’s closing sequence (holes 16-18) is known as “The Green Mile,” which averages +0.27 over par. This stretch, one of the most difficult on the PGA Tour, includes the course’s signature hole, the par-3 17th, which requires a tee shot over a large pond to a green protected by bunkers on either side. Shots can frequently find the water over this stretch. In fact, more than 1,700 of them have found the drink over the last 20 years.

There are 61 big bunkers on the course that mostly protect the greens, and water is in play on six holes. Even with all the renovations, Quail Hollow is a typical Carolina, tree-lined design.

The three par-5s (Holes 7, 10 and 15) plus the two short par-4s (8 and 14) are the scoreable holes.

In terms of course correlations, Torrey Pines South, Bay Hill, Muirfield Village, Memorial Park, Riviera, Winged Foot, Southern Hills, and Bethpage Black are among the classical designs that have crossover to Quail Hollow.

Other Tom Fazio designs that have been featured on the PGA Tour:

Atunyote GC — 2007-10 Turning Stone Championship

Conway Farms GC — 2013, 2015, 2017 BMW Championship

Corales GC — Corales Championship

Eagle Point — 2017 Wells Fargo Championship

Raptor Course Greyhawk GC — 2008/09 Fry’s.com Open

Shadow Creek Golf Course — 2020 CJ Cup

Fazio has also had redesign input into:

Merion — 2013 U.S. Open

Oakmont — 2016 U.S. Open

Seaside Course at Sea Island — RSM Classic

Justin Thomas (28-1, Bet Rivers)

Thomas looked like he was trending toward better form to begin 2024, then he split with caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay and picked up Matt Minister, Patrick Cantlay’s old caddie.

The first go-around with the new combo did not go well as JT missed the cut at the Masters. However, he rebounded at Hilton Head to post a fifth, closing out with a Sunday 65.

Despite an erratic 2024, Thomas has five top-12 finishes, including three top-six, in 10 starts this year.

He also has won at Quail Hollow, earning his first major championship at the 2017 PGA Championship.

Cameron Young (29-1, Circa Sports)

Young keeps getting close to breaking the maiden on the PGA Tour and finished T-4 back in March at PGA National and was runner-up the same month at the Valspar.

He played his college golf at nearby Wake Forest so there are some local ties.

The Wells Fargo has produced notable first-time winners including Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Anthony Kim and Wyndham Clark last year.

Sahith Theegala (30-1, Bet Rivers)

Theegala has seemed comfortable in 2024 at the “Signature Events” with a second at The Sentry, sixth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, ninth at The Players Championship and second at the RBC Heritage.

He’s been the best putter in the field over the last 36 rounds.

Tony Finau (35-1, DraftKings)

He has been seemingly better than his form suggests this season, although he finished runner-up in late March.

Quail Hollow is the ideal track for his power off the tee and his typically top-shelf longer iron play.

Wells Fargo Championship betting at BetMGM

Favorites
▪️ Rory McIlroy +750
▪️ Xander Schauffele +900
▪️ Wyndham Clark

Highest Ticket%
▪️ McIlroy 12.3%
▪️ Clark 9.7%
▪️ Max Homa 8.4%

Highest Handle%
▪️ McIlroy 22.2%
▪️ Clark 9.6%
▪️ Homa 7.2%