Heading to Charlotte, North Carolina this week, the PGA tours' best 70 players attempt to overpower Quail Hollow, a course that when firm and fiery, can chew these guys up and spit them out. Sadly this week, I expect softer conditions and with lower winds we may see mid teens as the winning score, but nonetheless this great course will provide the interest that was sadly missing last week.
A slow bike race of a tournament, on the back 9 last week, yielded Taylor Pendrith as the winner by default, as the likes of Rai, Noren, Wallace, Knapp and finally Ben Kohles all capitulated. Such a collective of withering bottlers is rarely seen on the PGA tour, but Sunday was such a huge missed opportunity for Jake Knapp who again lost his driving touch, choosing to try and place his drives rather than opening the shoulders, but he will come again, and a 2nd tour win may come very quickly - and thank god he holed that 4 footer on the last for a profit!
So Quail Hollow, the venue here for 20 years, also hosting the 2017 PGA Championship and the 2022 Presidents cup, is a long and testing track, a Par 71 and 7558 yards from the tips and although the breeze won't be up enough to hurt these players, long straight hitting is very much needed. Last year Wyndham Clark started his rise here winning by 4 shots, and he has not looked back since. We invest 30 pts and have 4 selections, in another intriguing elevated 'signature' event. One quick note before we start, this course is made for Aberg, but I think his first win will be a major so at 12s and skinnier it's a no from me.
First up we go in again on last weeks nearly man at stupid odds. JAKE KNAPP and his big guns, plus his So-Cal approach to the game, is every bit a top level player now, and despite driving woes in contention twice now, he has the distance and the game for this place. A note there are some bigger odds with the unmentionable scum bookies, but we invest 2pts e/w 8 places this week in Jake at 100/1 with Bet365 he is a future star player, and a great character.
With a lot of these players looking pretty rusty at the start of the season, and many still being quite inactive, we go in with another recent blog selection in J.T POSTON. J.T is playing some super golf this season and he is rolling his rock superbly. He did not play well here last season, missing the cut by 2 shots, but in 2022 he tied 9th and his record here is of not shooting many big numbers. He has never played Quail in this form or with this confidence so I am liking his profile and trend and we invest 3pts e/w 8 places again with Bet365 at 60/1.
The main selection this week ended up in almost a coin toss. With Max Homa being a two time winner and winning all 4 matches in the Presidents cup he is as close to a course specialist as 3 time winner Mcilroy is this week. He looks like he is rediscovering some lost form, but I just couldn't walk away from the 2nd best player in world golf (ignoring what the rankings say) in WYNDHAM CLARK. Every time we put this boy up he performs, he always gives a run for his money and this is the serious season now so he is much more reliable. Leading up to the PGA and then as US Open champ, Wyndham is primed and ready. He drives it brilliantly and long, he has no weaknesses, and his slightly errant putting has improved back towards 2023 standards in the last few weeks. He should be favourite here (the bookies somehow think Quail will fix the fact Rory can't stop hooking the shit out of everything) so he gets the nod and we are going reduced place terms this week, taking 16/1 5 places (1/4 odds) with Bet 365 and a 7 point e/w investment.
Last up we had the usual arm wrestle with myself (which I lost again). Although it was hard to give up on Cam Young, and ignore some semblance of form from Power and the potential of Ze German I put up last week I struck upon the old stager ADAM SCOTT. Scottie played well last week, his driving stats this season are top drawer and his overall stats are solid across the board. He is 30th in Putting, which is good for him and his zest for the game and sharpness really appeal, and one exceptional week with his irons will see him go close. He has 6 top 30s in 8 starts this season, and he was 5th here last year after a 7 year absence from this event. He is a little skinny, odds-wise but I can't ignore his potential, even at 43 years of age so we go 3pts e/w at 40/1 8 places with Bet365 to finish.
Go well.
TEWT