PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Wells Fargo Championship

We do a lot of DFS site specific coverage here at FantasyCPR, so in an effort to bring in new golf fans, and look at Fantasy Golf as a whole, I am excited to bring you my PGA Power Rankings for this weeks RBC Heritage.

This PGA Power Rankings article will cover the top 20 golfers for this event, and with each golfer will come a short blurb with some justification to their respective rankings. Before we do that, let’s touch briefly on the history of the this event.

PGA Power Rankings: Wells Fargo Championship – Course and History

Since 2003, the Wells Fargo Championship has been held at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, NC. This is usually a pretty competitive tournament, as we have seen this tournament end in a playoff seven times in it’s just 16 year existence. Quail Hollow is a challenge as a long 7600 yard par-71, and it is known for it’s finishing three-hole stretch at 16,17 and 18, known as “The Green Mile,” which is statistically three of the hardest holes on tour. Those that can hold their own on two long par four’s and long 220 yard par-3 at 17 will likely contend for a championship.

Rory McIlroy highlights this weeks field, as he is a two-time champ here at Quail Hollow, and had the best performance here of all time in 2015. In a tournament where a winner is usually decided by a stroke or two, and won at somewhere between 10-under and 15-under or so, McIlroy finished 21-under par that year, and won by an amazing seven strokes, absolutely destroying the field. The win in 2015 was McIlroy’s second here.

Other champions in this field, include 2011 champ Lucas Glover who is having a solid 2019, and 2012 champ Rickie Fowler, who joins Justin Rose as the other favorites in the field with Rory McIlroy. J.B Holmes won here in 2014, and he will be back, along with last years champion, Jason Day. All in all, we have a pretty solid field at the top this week for the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club, and it is time to proceed to the rankings.

PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Wells Fargo Championship

***The following golfers are my top 20 overall. Each golfer will be followed by their official golf world ranking (OGWR) in parenthesis.***

20. Aaron Wise – (64)

2019 has been a struggle for wise up until recently. The 22-year-old 2018 PGA Tour rookie of the year had missed four cuts in eight events in 2019 before the Masters, where he finally had a good weekend and put together a good finish. After an opening round 75, something clicked for Wise, as he went on to shoot 71, 68, 67 and crack the top-20 with a solo 17th place finish. Wise made his debut at the Wells Fargo Championship last year, and T-2.

19. Sungjae Im – (60)

Another week, another debut for the 21-year-old South Korean Rookie. This will be Im’s first Wells Fargo Championship, and he comes in looking to get back on track. Im almost seems to going full boom or bust week in and week out, as he has either been missing the cut, or making some noise. Im missed the cut in his last action at the RBC Heritage, as he was not in the field for the Masters. He did compete in the Zurich Classic last week, as he and teammate Whee Kim finished T-37th at 6-under par.

18. Henrik Stenson – (40)

Stenson seems to be turning a corner, as he held his own with a T-36 finish at the Masters. The 43-year-old Swede and former #2 world ranked golfer also took part in last weeks Zurich Classic, and he and teammate Graham McDowell had a solid weekend, finishing 17-under and T-18th. Stenson did not play at the Wells Fargo Championship last year, and his best finish here at Quail Hollow was his T-13 at the 2017 PGA Championship.

17. Keegan Bradley – (34)

Coming in at number 17 this week, is the 32-year-old Bradley, who will be making just his fourth start here at Quail Hollow and the Wells Fargo Championship. He has not made a cut in this particular event, but like Stenson, Bradley played his best golf here at the 2017 PGA Championship, when he finished +3 and T-33. Bradley finished T-43 at the Masters, and he teammate Jon Curran finished in solo 36th at 9-under at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last weekend.

16. Lucas Glover – (80)

If this field did not have quite a few studs at the top, Glover could have cracked the top-ten this week. The veteran has been solid here over the years at Quail Hollow, and he comes in some of the best form of his life. His 2019 has been well noted throughout my articles this season, as he is finding himself in the top-20 nearly every week.

Glover did not qualify for Masters play, and he is coming in off of a MC at the RBC Heritage. He did compete at the Zurich Classic last week, as he and teammate Chez Reavie shot 17-under and finished T-18. Glover missed the cut at the Wells Fargo Championship last year, but he won this event in 2011, and was a runner-up in 2009.

PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Wells Fargo Championship

15. J.B. Holmes – (47)

Holmes and partner Bubba Watson obviously had the best team name last week at the Zurich Classic, (Holmes and Watson of course) however a +3 on Sunday led to final score of 13-under par, and a T-34 finish. The 2019 Genesis Open champ has struggled a bit since that victory with two missed cuts, and a rough Sunday at the Masters in which he shot an 80 led to a T-62 finish there two weeks ago.

The 37-year-old veteran is a staple here at Quail Hollow and the Wells Fargo Championship, a previous champion as well. Holmes held off Jim Furyk by a stroke in 2014 to capture the crown, and he had an additional top-ten finish here in 2011. He has missed just one cut in his last seven trips here, including the 2017 PGA Championship.

14. Byeong-Hun An – (56)

Benny An was on such a good run, making every cut on the PGA Tour in 2019 up until his last action at the RBC Heritage. An keeps showing flashes, and making noise, but can’t quite kick his nerves on the green yet it seems. Before the missed cut, An T-7 at the Valero Texas Open, and also grabbed another top-ten at the Arnold Palmer Invitational just a few weeks ago. This will be An’s fourth try at Quail Hollow, with his best finish being a T-28 at the PGA Championship in 2017. An has now had two out three weeks off, after not competing in the Zurich Classic last week.

13. Sergio Garcia – (29)

They couldn’t quite run down the pair of Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer, but Garcia and teammate Tommy Fleetwood were quite impressive at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, finishing three shots back of the winners, and alone in second place at 23-under par. The good weekend at a fun, non-stressful event last weekend seems to prove the fact that Garcia can always shake off a bad week.

He was cruising along with good finishes in 2019, including making the final eight at the WGC-Match Play, and the missed cut at the Masters was truly a surprise to most. It looks as though after playing good golf in Louisiana he will be ready for Quail Hollow this week. He has not played here much, and he did miss the cut at the 2017 PGA Championship held here has well.

12. Charles Howell – (48)

Howell also should be coming in fresh, as did not play in the Zurich Classic, giving him a week off. In his last action, Howell was yet another surprised missed cut at the RBC Heritage. Prior to that, old Chuckie Three Sticks T-32 at the Masters, and had not missed a cut all year. He is a regular here at Quail Hollow, with his best finish being a T-10 in 2013. He finished 2-under par last year, and just missed a top-20 with a T-21 finish.

11. Gary Woodland – (24)

Woodland last teed it up at the Masters, and held his own but never really got anything going, and ended up T-32. He was really playing some solid golf not too long ago, but has kind of regressed back to the mean a bit, with just two top-25’s in his last six starts. While Woodland still measures up statistically for the most part, he is not having the finishes to prove it.

Quail Hollow is a regular stop for Woodland, and in 2015 he tied with Phil Mickelson at 12-under in fourth place for his only top-ten here. He missed the cut last year, and T-22 at the 2017 PGA Championship.

PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Wells Fargo Championship

10. Patrick Reed – (19)

Reed has had a fairly decent start to 2019, but he is still lacking a finish inside the top-ten. He teamed with Patrick Cantlay for the Zurich Classic last week, but the duo finished 4-under and did not make the weekend.

Reed only has one missed cut this year which was at the Valspar, and he comes in to Quail Hollow off a T-36 at the Masters, so his form his not the greatest, but he might have some of the best overall history here of anyone in this field.

His best finish at this course was his T-2 at the 2017 PGA Championship, but Reed was solid here at last years Wells Fargo Championship as well, with a solo eighth place finish. Altogether, Reed has made six cuts in six tries here at Quail Hollow Club.

9. Webb Simpson – (20)

Another staple at Quail Hollow, Simpson has missed just one cut here since 2011, and his best finish was in 2015 when he T-2 at 14-under par, and that was the year McIlroy ran away with the victory. He also grabbed another top-five here with a solo fourth place finish in 2012. Simpson has been playing some pretty solid golf of late as well, as he followed his T-5 finish at the Masters with another top-20 at the RBC Heritage, where he T-16.

8. Hideki Matsuyama – (27)

Although Matusuyama missed the cut here at Quail Hollow last year, his history prior to that is among the best in the field this year. He T-5 at the 2017 PGA Championship held here, and notched top-20’s in 2015 and 2016 as well. The Hideki-Bot looked to be rounding into form with his T-8 at the Players Championship, but an opening round 75 and final round 72 at the Masters led to a T-32 finish in his last action.

7. Phil Mickelson – (23)

Phil seems like a changed man over the course of the last few months. He recently released a video during the Masters on social media after day one that showed if anything, he is definitely having fun right now. The former villain on the course and a guy who I personally didn’t care for, is slowing becoming one of my favorites as he let’s he personality show a little bit.

Mickelson ended up T-18 at the Masters, which was solid considering he missed back-to-back cuts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship. He is yet to win here at Quail Hollow over his career, but this is a place where he has come oh-so-close numerous times. Over the last 10 years including the PGA Championship, Phil has missed just one cut, and has an amazing six top-five finishes, and seven top-tens. If his form was a tad bit better, Mickelson may have cracked the top-five this week.

6. Tony Finau – (15)

This will be Finau’s fifth trip to Quail Hollow, and while he has not missed a cut, his best finish was back in his first go here in 2015, where he finished T-16 at 8-under. Finau T-21 here last year, and struggled a bit at the 2017 PGA Championship held here, where he finished T-44.

Although he and teammate Kyle Stanley failed to make the weekend at the Zurich Classic last week, Finau did finally get hot at the Masters in his last “real” action, and bounced back quite well from an awful weekend at the Valero Texas Open the week prior. After a 64 on Saturday at Augusta, Finau slipped to a T-5 finish with a 72 on Sunday at the Masters, and he finished T-61 at the Valero.

PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Wells Fargo Championship

5. Paul Casey – (13)

I guess we can call Thursday at Augusta a mere fluke, as something was clearly off in Paul Casey’s head, and he had his worst day on a golf course in quite some time. Casey, who had good history at the Masters and came in as good of form as any, was off with every club he took out of the bag, and shot an opening round 81.

Prior to the Masters, Casey won the Valspar Championship, T-3 at the WGC-Mexico, and was a solo runner-up at Pebble Beach. One last thing of note, Casey’s last missed cut was at the Players Championship, and he followed that with his win at the Valspar.

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He is coming in to the Wells Fargo Championship off of a missed cut as well. Can he do it again? Casey T-5 here last year, and T-13 at the PGA Championship in 2017.

4. Jason Day – (14)

After seemingly struggling with his back issues throughout the Valspar where he missed the cut, and at the WGC-Dell Match-Play event where he was a non-factor, Day was able to keep the injury bug in the rear-view mirror at Augusta for the most part it, as he T-5, giving him four top-tens in his last six events. He played with Adam Scott at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last week, but the duo missed the cut.

Day has not played at Quail Hollow much throughout his career, but he is the defending champion, and has played fantastic here in the past as well. He finished T-9 at the 2017 PGA Championship, and that was his first trip back here since the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship, where he finished in the top-ten once again at T-9.

3. Rickie Fowler – (10)

Fowler should be fresh since he last teed it up at the Masters, where he notched another top-ten in a major with his T-9 finish. He has been as consistent as any, as his last missed cut dates all the way back to the 2018 Players Championship, which in now over a calendar year ago.

Another staple here at Quail Hollow, Fowler is also another past Wells Fargo Championship champion, as he was able to prevail in a playoff against D.A. Points and Rory McIlroy in 2012. Rickie T-21 here last year, and T-4 in 2016. He also grabbed another top-five here as well at the 2017 PGA Championship. Other than Mickelson and McIlroy, nobody has a more solid full body of work here than Fowler.

2. Justin Rose – (2)

Maybe safe to assume that Rose was not fully prepared the Masters? I am not sure. But I do think the fact that he has played in limited events thus far in 2019 could hold some credence. When Rose teed it up at the Masters a couple of weeks ago, it was just his seventh event thus far this season, and his missed cut was his second, very rare for Rose.

On the flip side, the world’s number two ranked golfer won the Farmers Insurance Open, and grabbed an additional top-ten at the Players Championship, so it is safe to say he is all over the place. Rose has two top-fives here at Quail Hollow coming in 2014 and 2016, and he did not play at last years Wells Fargo Championship. He missed the cut at the 2017 PGA Championship, so the history is just good not great in my opinion.

1. Rory McIlroy – (4)

Because of the dominance once displayed on this course by Fowler in 2015 when he set all of the course records, it is hard to put anyone else in this number one spot. His form has been great in 2019 as opposed to Rose, and prior to the Masters where he T-21, McIlroy notched an impressive six-straight top-tens, capped off with his win at the Players Championship.

On top of maybe being in the best overall form in the field, McIlroy also has the best overall history here at Quail Hollow as well. A two-time Wells Fargo Championship champion in 2010 and 2015, McIlroy is the sole two-time winner here at Quail Hollow. All in all, he has notched six total top-tens in the last ten years, and he had a stretch of five straight top-tens from 2012-2016. McIlroy T-16 here last year, finishing 3-under par.

Thanks for stopping by FantasyCPR and checking out our ever-expanding PGA coverage. Be sure to keep an eye out for my FanDuel article coming soon, along with some Fantasy Draft coverage once again as well.

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