The Wells Fargo Championship is the sixth of eight signature events on the 2024 season and begins Thursday at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.
The event features a $20 million purse and increased FedEx Cup points. It also provides the 69-player field an opportunity to compete without red-hot Scottie Scheffler to contend with ahead of next week’s PGA Championship.
Our golf experts preview the tournament and provide their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.
WELLS FARGO CHAMPIONSHIP
Location: Wells Fargo Championship, Charlotte, N.C., May 9-12
Course: Quail Hollow Club (Par 71, 7,558 Yards)
Purse: $20M (Winners: $3.6M)
Defending Champion: Wyndham Clark
FedEx Cup Leader: Scottie Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 7:15 a.m.-6 p.m.
X: @WellsFargoGolf
PROP PICKS
–Xander Schauffele to Beat Rory McIlroy (+105 at DraftKings): Yes, McIlroy is coming off a win in his last start and yes, he has an excellent track record at Quail Hollow. But the win came in a team event against a modest field and his results to date in 2024 have been mediocre by his standards. While Schauffele doesn’t hoist a lot of trophies, he does rack up top-10s — including seven through his first 10 starts this season.
–Hideki Matsuyama Top 20 (+100 at BetMGM): Matsuyama tees it up for the first time since the Masters, where he tied for 38th. Previous to that, he had a win and was no worse than T12 in four starts. The Japanese star is well rested and only needs to beat 49 players for this prop to pay.
–Tommy Fleetwood Top Englishman (+100 at DraftKings): Fleetwood tied for fifth here last year and had a pair of top-10s before tying for 49th in his most recent start at the RBC Heritage. The other two players in this prop are Matt Fitzpatrick (+150) and Justin Rose (+450). Fitzpatrick tied for 35th at Quail Hollow last year while Rose was not in the field.
2024 Prop Picks Record: 25-27-1
BEST BETS
–Rory McIlroy (+750 at BetMGM) is coming off a victory at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with Shane Lowry and has three career victories at Quail Hollow. He is the book’s biggest liability this week as McIlroy leads the field with 22.2 percent of the money backing him to win since opening at +900.
–Xander Schauffele (+1000) has four consecutive top-20s, including a T2 at The Players. He finished second here last year. Schauffele is seeking his first stroke-play victory since the 2022 Scottish Open.
–Clark (+1400) is seeking to become the first player to successfully defend at the Wells Fargo. He set the tournament scoring record of 265 last year. Clark is BetMGM’s second-biggest liability, drawing 9.6 percent of the money as his odds have shortened from +1900. He also leads the field at DraftKings with 18 percent of the money backing him at the same odds.
–Max Homa (+2200) has won two of the previous four editions of the event and finished T8 last year. He also went 4-0-0 at Quail Hollow in the 2022 Presidents Cup. Homa is BetMGM’s third-biggest liability this week, drawing 8.4 percent of the money since opening at +2500.
–Tommy Fleetwood (+2500) had a T7 at the Valero Texas Open and T3 at the Masters before settling for a T49 at the RBC Heritage in his past three starts.
–Cameron Young is still seeking his maiden PGA Tour victory, but is second in the field at DraftKings with 7 percent of the money backing him at +2500.
NOTES
–Scheffler is not in the field as he and wife Meredith await the birth of their first child. The 69-player field does include seven of the top 10 players in the world rankings and eight of the top 10 in the FedEx Cup rankings.
–Quail Hollow resident Webb Simpson is in the field on a sponsor’s exemption along with Gary Woodland, Adam Scott and Matt Kuchar.
–Quail Hollow, known as the “Green Mile,” underwent a renovation after last year’s tournament that included redoing all of the tees and greens and installing a new drainage system.
–Field Level Media