Wells Fargo Championship tips: Reed can reign at Quail Hollow
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Two weeks before the start of the US PGA Championship, the PGA Tour heads to Quail Hollow in North Carolina for the Wells Fargo Championship which was cancelled last year because of the Covid pandemic.
Rory McIlroy, 16/1 to win the tournament for a third time, has a sensational record at Quail Hollow which was transformed into a very long (7,500+ yards) par-71 for the 2017 US PGA Championship, won by Justin Thomas.
The American is this week’s 10/1 co-favourite with Jon Rahm while defending champion Max Homa is 33/1.
It’s an excellent field with the second major of the year just around the corner as we look at some of the runners and riders in our Wells Fargo Championship tips.
Reed can call the tune
Taking care of the three par-fives at this classical, tree-lined course will be key to success this week but so will putting, with the last two winners on the redesigned lay-out finishing top in that skill set.
Essentially, we’re looking for a player who is long or reasonably so, hot with the flat stick and has a decent record here since 2018.
Patrick Reed tops the strokes gained: putting stats this season and four years ago was runner-up to Thomas at Quail Hollow, where he posted 8-28 finishes in the two subsequent years.
The controversial American is not the longest but he clearly likes this challenging course and is available at 28/1.
Putting points to Harman
Brian Harman won this event at a different course four years ago and three months later finished 13th at the US PGA thanks to a bookended pair of 69s.
On paper, this course should not suit Harman but he is one of the world’s best putters and his record for his last four tournaments is excellent (3-5-12-13), the first of which came at The Players Championship at the difficult TPC Sawgrass.
Harman was inside the top 25 in 2019 and he can be backed at 40/1 in the Wells Fargo Championship odds.
Homa can handle defence
We could do with one bomber in our Wells Fargo Championship betting tips and although Thomas fits the bill, Homa is an interesting prospect for a successful defence of his title.
Homa was sixth at last week’s Valspar Championship so he heads to Quail Hollow in form and he hits the ball in excess of 300 yards off the tee.
The 30-year-old Californian won his second PGA Tour title in a play-off with Tony Finau at the Genesis Invitational less than three months ago, so his confidence remains high.
