The Wells Fargo Championship
Preview for the Wells Fargo Championship: This tournament has been around since 2003 when it was first named the Wachovia Championship, and David Toms was the victor by 2 strokes over Robert Gamez. Rory McIlroy holds the record here with a -21 in 2021 which helped him lock down an easy 7-stroke win. Winners of the Wells Fargo Championship over the past five editions include Max Homa in 2022, Rory McIlroy in 2021, there was no event in 2020 due to the pandemic, Max Homa in 2019, Jason Day in 2018, and Brian Harman in 2017.
Tournament purse: The prize money for this week’s event is $20M, the winner collects $3.6M, and also earns himself 500 FedEx Cup points.
Course and key stats: Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, is 7,538 yards in length, is a par 71, and the large greens are Bermudagrass and overseeded with poa. The winning score at the Wells Fargo Championship over the past decade ranges from -8 to -21, so scores can really fluctuate here depending on the weather and course setup. In order, some core key stats to focus on this week include strokes gained: off the tee, strokes gained: tee to green, strokes gained: approach, driving distance, and strokes gained: around the green.
The 2023 Wells Fargo Championship field: We have a full 156-player field in store this week, and the top 65 players plus ties after round 2 on Friday will advance to play rounds 3 and 4 on the weekend. The quality field includes Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, and other solid players, as well. On a scale ranging from A to D, I rank the field strength to be an A.
DFS PGA Tour Golf Picks
Make the most of this article’s data, predictions, and insights to help with your fantasy golf picks for the Wells Fargo Championship. And check out our PGA Projections and Optimizer tools to make more informed player selections for your DFS DraftKings lineups. Best of luck this week!
Three questions that are relevant to the Wells Fargo Championship this week:
- Which 10 players have gained the most strokes total over their last 24 rounds? Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Young, Taylor Moore, Wyndham Clark, Sungjae Im, Jason Day, and Sam Burns.
- Which 10 players does my custom model like the most? Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Sungjae Im, Gary Woodland, Collin Morikawa, Tyrrell Hatton, Tony Finau, and Shane Lowry.
- Which 10 players gained the most strokes total (minimum 8 rounds) at this event since 2018? Rory McIlroy, Max Homa, Jason Day, Emiliano Grillo, Nick Watney, Keith Mitchell, Joel Dahmen, Rickie Fowler, Lanto Griffin, and Keegan Bradley.
All the best in your journey to win or at least be in the money in some contests this week – here are (in no particular order) 15 DFS golf picks on DraftKings (DK), plus I also include player salaries for DK. I consistently provide recent and seasonal finishes for each of my picks, their performances at the event over the last five years, and add in some valuable data.
15 Players Who Are Either High-Potential or Solid-Value Plays This Week – Get Them Into Your DFS Lineups
Rory McIlroy (Salary: DraftKings – $11.1K) – So he missed the cut at The Masters, so what?! Before that he had two top 3’s in three starts including a T2 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and he has two wins worldwide in his last nine starts. He won here two years ago, and because his ball-striking is so strong and he can pop with his putter on any given week, he could win here for the 4th TIME this week! He also holds the tournament record here, so that’s a huge positive also. Wells Fargo Championship finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T5, 2021 – Won, 2019 – T8, and 2018 – T16.
Xander Schauffele (Salary: DraftKings – $10.7K) – Schauffele has four top 10’s in a row if you count the Zurich Classic, and most impressively he finished 4th at the RBC Heritage last month thanks to gaining 10.04 strokes ball-striking. He hasn’t torn this golf course apart just yet, but did have a T18 two years ago and should improve upon that result this week. Wells Fargo Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T18 and 2018 – T72.
Patrick Cantlay (Salary: DraftKings – $10.5K) – I just love Cantlay’s consistency as he has finished anywhere from 3rd to T19 over his last seven starts if you count the Zurich Classic and five of those were top 9’s. His ball-striking is absolutely on fire right now and we all know how he can light up the greens. Wells Fargo Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – cut.
Matt Fitzpatrick (Salary: DraftKings – $9.3K) – Fitzpatrick won his last stroke-play event at the RBC Heritage and was solid throughout his bag, plus he had a T10 at The Masters two stroke-play tournaments ago, as well. He doesn’t have much experience here but finished co-runner-up last year on the back of solid ball-striking and putting. Wells Fargo Championship finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T2.
Sungjae Im (Salary: DraftKings – $9.1K) – If you like players with high floors and ceilings, then Im is likely a player you enjoy rostering in DFS. He has six consecutive top 21’s and three of those were top 7’s including the Zurich Classic. He has such a balanced bag and just finds ways to perform well, so he’s a workhorse that you want on your stars and scrubs and balanced lineups. Wells Fargo Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – cut and 2019 – T31.
Cameron Young (Salary: DraftKings – $8.7K) – He’s a player who seems quite determined to not only do well, but win. He hasn’t hoisted a trophy on the PGA Tour just yet, but has several runner-ups including his 2nd at the WGC Dell Match Play event three starts ago. He also had a T7 at The Masters two starts ago and has three top 10’s in his last five starts. He seemed to find comfort in a hurry at Quail Hollow as he was one of three golfers who finished runner-up here in 2022. Wells Fargo Championship finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T2.
Wyndham Clark (Salary: DraftKings – $7.8K) – If you include the Zurich Classic, Clark has made 15 straight cut lines and has three top 6’s over his last five starts. All of his stats look good and he hits a long ball, so this should be a track that he plays well on. He hasn’t done so well here yet, but is a much-improved player from two years ago when he just missed out on a top 40 finish. Wells Fargo Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T43 and 2019 – cut.
Patrick Rodgers (Salary: DraftKings – $7.5K) – Rodgers has really turned around his season recently with three straight top 19’s and two of those were top 10’s including a 5th at the Valero Texas Open a month ago. He has gained 19+ strokes ball-striking over his last trio of starts, and has done fine here with two thirty-somethings since 2018. Wells Fargo Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T37 and 2018 – T34.
Emiliano Grillo (Salary: DraftKings – $7.4K) – I really dig what Grillo has been up to over his last two starts with a T7 at the RBC Heritage in a quality field and he followed that up with a T5 last week in Mexico gaining 9.85 strokes ball-striking and 4.52 more on the greens. He has been solid here over his last two looks at Quail Hollow with two top 14’s – strike while the iron is hot. Wells Fargo Championship finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T14 and 2018 – T9.
Dylan Wu (Salary: DraftKings – $6.7K) – If you want a scrub player who consistently makes cut lines, then look to Wu for some of your lineups. He has two top 16’s in his last four starts, and he earned a T10 eight starts ago at The Honda Classic. Every part of his game is pretty sound, especially his ball-striking abilities where 4-6+ strokes gained is a fairly regular thing now for Dylan. Wells Fargo Championship finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T62.
Chez Reavie (Salary: DraftKings – $6.5K) – Reavie is another player who has turned his season around with two top 11’s in his last three starts including a T6 at the Valero Texas Open. He has some decent finishes here over the last few years, and could have another respectable finish this year as well, not bad for a mid $6K player on DK. Wells Fargo Championship finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T15, 2021 – cut, and 2019 – T18.
Jordan Spieth (Salary: DraftKings – $9.6K) – He has been playing some excellent golf since mid-February with three top 4’s over his last four starts, four top 4’s over his last six, and he also had a T6 at the Phoenix Open eight starts ago. He seems to be hungry to win another PGA Tour event, and should be in the hunt this week despite a lack of experience at this event. Wells Fargo Championship finishes over the last five years: none.
Rickie Fowler (Salary: DraftKings – $8.8K) – Fowler won here in 2012, and has had some impressive finishes over the past few years also including a T4 four years ago. He has been making noise since last Fall with top 10’s and teen finishes becoming a common theme for Rickie. Wells Fargo Championship finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T21, 2021 – cut, 2019 – T4, and 2018 – T21.
Sam Burns (Salary: DraftKings – $8.6K) – He’s a winner and actually won just four starts ago at the WGC Dell Match Play tournament, and has four top 15’s in his last five starts if you count the Zurich Classic. Don’t look at his unappealing history here, he has improved by leaps and bounds since he last competed at this event in 2019. Wells Fargo Championship finishes over the last five years: 2019 – WD and 2018 – T55.
Sahith Theegala (Salary: DraftKings – $8.2K) – Theegala has now made 15 cut lines in a row if you count the Zurich Classic, and he has two top 9’s in his last three starts including a 9th at The Masters and a T5 at the RBC Heritage. He just needs to get some consistency in his play as he tends to pop in one or more stat categories on a regular basis and also falter in one or two. Once he straightens this out he could become a regular winner on the PGA Tour as the raw skill is certainly there. Wells Fargo Championship finishes over the last five years: none.
