BlogWells Fargo Preview and Picks

The Buzz:

So last week’s Zurich Classic got great buzz for holding the first team event in 37 years.  Unfortunately the weather was terrible on Sunday forcing the event to finish very late and close to dark.  Things looked good for finishing, Cameron Smith had a two foot birdie putt that look like it would win the tournament.  That was until Kevin Kisner stepped up and holed a pitch from 31 yards for an eagle 3.  So Smith found himself facing the putt just to go into a playoff, which he made.  With it being too dark this forced the playoff to a Monday finish.  At least the playoff was fun, it went four holes before Smith made a birdie to give the victory to him and Jonas Blixt.  For them the win couldn’t of come at a better time.  Smith was 81st in the FedEx Cup race while Blixt was 148th so both went from having to scramble to keep their cards to now having to cruise knowing they have full PGA Tour cards for this year and next.  The big question, yes was a nice event but in the scheme of things isn’t this rewarding a player who won while he had a partner?  I have always felt that team events are a great change of pace and fun to watch, but to allow players in a partnership to benefit off of everyone else is wrong.  I will give you an example.  Right now Tiger Woods sits at 79 PGA Tour wins.  The way things are going for Woods, that may be his career numbers as many don’t think he will ever win again.  He is second to Sam Snead’s 82 career wins, so he needs three to tie Snead and four more wins to secure the record.  But in looking at Snead’s record, five of his 82 wins were in team events with a partner.  In my mind I feel that wins is very sacred and should be a solo experience, so if you look at Snead’s record he really should have 77 PGA Tour wins.  The PGA Tour disagrees and thinks this is all part of the record because it was official back then.  It will be interesting to see at the end of the year what shape both Blixt and Smith would of been without the Zurich being official.  If the numbers add up to them not making the top-125 some could question the validity of making this official.  There is a reason that both the Official World Rankings did not award ranking points to the Zurich and there is a reason that Augusta National won’t give Blixt and Smith invites for next year’s Masters for winning the Zurich.  Guess time will tell.

This week the Wells Fargo Championship will be played on a different golf course for the first time in the 14 years history of the tournament.  To accommodate Quail Hollow, who is hosting the PGA Championship in August, it is moving to the other end of North Carolina at the Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, N.C.  On the surface it would seem ok because the Charlotte area isn’t losing out, they will have a sold out tournament when the PGA comes to town in three months.  This also brings into the realm other potential great cities that don’t have a PGA Tour event.  Right now there are cities like Denver, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Indianapolis that would be great cities that could support a PGA Tour event but there isn’t any room on the schedule.  So Wilmington could be added to the list.  As for the golf course, Eagle Point is considered a great course, in the top-100 of best courses in the country, so it will be a good venue for the best players in the world.  Unfortunately with the change they will have a weaker field as many are sitting this week, something they wouldn’t do if it was played at Quail Hollow.  Now tournament officials are saying this is strictly a one off absent, but in 2021 Quail Hollow will be the site of the Presidents Cup so I would have to think that if Eagle Point passes the test this year, then the next time a big tournament goes to Quail Hollow, then Eagle Point will get to host this event again.

Things you need to know about the Wells Fargo:

This is the 15th year of the Wells Fargo Championship, which has been played every year at the  Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.  So this will be a change of pace, officials did pick a great course in Eagle Point and the event will be another sell-out, something that always seems to happen to this event.  As for the players, past champions like Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler won’t be in the field along with Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose and Hideki Matsuyama who played last year at Quail Hollow but won’t attend this year.  Three other notable absents will be Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Masters Champion Sergio Garcia.

Course information:

• Eagle Point Golf Club
• Wilmington, N.C.
• 7,396 yards     Par 36-36–72
• Tom Fazio created this gem in 2000 and from the very beginning it’s been in magazine’s top-100 courses in the United States.  Eagle Point features a course rating of 75.5 and a slope rating from the back tees of 141. The tees, fairway, and rough are bermudaGrass, overseeded with ryegrass to give it the green color. The course is tight and lined with 71 bunkers and water coming into play on eight of the holes.  Driving will be important as bunkers guard all of the par 4s and par 5s with the exception of the 16th hole.  A couple of years back when the course was seeking this event they had Fazio come back to assist in toughing the course along with adding 500 yards and rebuilding all of the bunkers.  They also brought in Marsh Benson as a consultant on the shape of the course, Benson was a retired former director at Augusta National in making that course pristine.  Of the players that have played the course and PGA Tour officials they are raving over the course conditions, with some of the pros comparing the greens to Augusta National.
• The greens are bent and will be firm, rolling and a lot of folks that have played the course have said the greens are just like the ones at Augusta National in their smoothness, speed and undulation.  So we just know that putting will be very key in winning this week.
• Another big key is the fact that over seven inches of rain fell on the course last week, so it will be very lush.  It rained so hard last week,  that most of the bunkers were washed out and the sand had to be replaced.  One thing that will be important is hitting the ball long, the course is shall we say “artificially tight” which means that players will be able to bomb the ball without having to worry if they don’t drive it straight.  The par 4s will be very easy for the long hitters as only two of them are over 450 yards with two of the holes being under 400 yards.  Now three of the four par 5s are over 550 yards, so they won’t be easy compared to other courses.
• The main challenge will come on the greens, they are undulating and with them being close to flawless players will be able to make lot’s of putts.  So were does the challenge come from?  The ocean, the course is located less than two miles from the Atlantic and afternoon winds off the ocean and from the south will keep the players honest.  In looking at the weather forecast winds will be in the 15 to 20 mph range Thursday, Saturday and Sunday will be good days with Friday being ugly with 100% chance of thunderstorms and high winds.

Here are some of the secrets of what it takes to play well at the Wells Fargo Championship:

Key stat for the winner:

• Patience, this is a new course which will take some time for the players to adopt.  With nobody having a horses for courses advantage, picking players will be tough.  It’s almost like the first tournament of the year, everyone starts at zero and nobody has an advantage.  Both Webb Simpson and Carl Pettersson are members of the course, Pettersson plays it regularly so this brings up the fact that young players and those without PGA Tour wins will be in the running.  If I was to chose a players that could do well it will be a player that hits it long and plays well on course with bermuda grass.  If there is two stats that I think will be important is driving distance and strokes gained putting.
• Important to look at who is coming to this event on the fringes of playing well.  Look for their last couple of rounds, specially those that did well over the weekend at both the Zurich and Texas Opens.
• Hitting greens will be at a premium, just like Quail Hollow hitting lots of greens will go a long way in this event.  Look for the winner to hit globs of greens this week, along with getting the ball close to the hole.
• Good putters should have a field day this week, the greens are perfect so lot’s of putts will be made.  I would avoid any player that is a weak putter and one that has problems with putts under ten feet.
• Last but not least look for a player that does well in the wind.  The course is close to the ocean and will get afternoon breezes, so wind players will do very well this week.