This article is part of our PGA Tour Stats Review series.
The PGA Tour returns to individual stroke play this week for the Wells Fargo Championship, which moves to Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, N.C., for one year as Quail Hollow gets ready to play host to the PGA Championship. It's a new course for many PGA Tour pros, and here's our stats preview.
What's the Course Like?
That's the first question you have to ask yourself on a week like this, and thankfully for us, Zac Blair sent out pictures of every hole. The place looks utterly gorgeous, kind of Augusta like, appearing to have chipping areas, deep bunkers, slope-y firm greens and a focus on tee-to-green game.
The Stat
Which brings us to strokes gained-tee to green, a major focus this week as a second-shot golf course, much like Augusta, will test both your approach and short game. Here are the stats leaders in that category playing this week.
Dustin Johnson - 2.436 strokes gained per round
Jon Rahm - 1.944
Kevin Kisner - 1.534
Lucas Glover-- 1.522
Francesco Molinari - 1.349
Johnson returns after the back tweak in his house on the eve of the Masters, with his three wins and No. 1 ranking temporarily falling into the rearview mirror as people wait to see how he looks and plays. He says he's 99 percent healthy, and if he looks like himself, there's a good chance he should play like himself.
Thus, it'll come down to short game and overall sharpness and my recommendation on that
The PGA Tour returns to individual stroke play this week for the Wells Fargo Championship, which moves to Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, N.C., for one year as Quail Hollow gets ready to play host to the PGA Championship. It's a new course for many PGA Tour pros, and here's our stats preview.
What's the Course Like?
That's the first question you have to ask yourself on a week like this, and thankfully for us, Zac Blair sent out pictures of every hole. The place looks utterly gorgeous, kind of Augusta like, appearing to have chipping areas, deep bunkers, slope-y firm greens and a focus on tee-to-green game.
The Stat
Which brings us to strokes gained-tee to green, a major focus this week as a second-shot golf course, much like Augusta, will test both your approach and short game. Here are the stats leaders in that category playing this week.
Dustin Johnson - 2.436 strokes gained per round
Jon Rahm - 1.944
Kevin Kisner - 1.534
Lucas Glover-- 1.522
Francesco Molinari - 1.349
Johnson returns after the back tweak in his house on the eve of the Masters, with his three wins and No. 1 ranking temporarily falling into the rearview mirror as people wait to see how he looks and plays. He says he's 99 percent healthy, and if he looks like himself, there's a good chance he should play like himself.
Thus, it'll come down to short game and overall sharpness and my recommendation on that is this: if you're in a daily league, see how he starts and adapt accordingly. If it's a weekly league, maybe put him on the bench and elevate him as things go on. DJ is so relaxed — and so talented (on paper this seems to be a perfect course from his potent driving game) — that he may just wander right back into golf and play great. Or he may be human and just not be as sharp. But he's such a talented player that I wouldn't give him the usual just-back-from-injury "don't start" treatment that I usually do.
Kisner, meanwhile, finished second at last week's Zurich Classic alongside Scott Brown, shooting 60 — and 28 going out — on best ball Sunday to end up in the playoff with Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith, with Kisner's epic pitch shot on 18 in regulation potentially the shot at the year. He's got all the momentum, made a ton of birdies when it counted and for the season ranks 12th in strokes gained-approach to the green, 18th in around the green and 39th in putting. I recommend him this week.
Rahm is always a solid pick and is coming off a Masters where he tied for 27th. He ranks third in strokes gained-off the tee and ninth in approach to the green for the season.
The Field
The field includes Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson, Alex Noren, Chase Koepka, defending champion (but at a different venue) James Hahn, Bill Haas, Paul Casey, Daniel Berger, last week's winners Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith, Harris English, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson, Nick Watney and more.
We recommend Scott, who finished T9 at the Masters and is another potent driver seemingly made for this place, Smith, and Watney.
Smith hit two dazzling short game shots on the 18th hole, one in regulation overshadowed by Kisner's dynamic pitch-in, and another on the fourth playoff hole that led to the winning birdie. Regular ShotLink stats are unavailable for last week, but Smith ranks first in strokes gained-around the green, 27th in birdie average and 39th in scoring average for the season. The young Aussie is expected by many to be a star, and this first PGA Tour win certainly puts him on the pathway to doing so.
Watney meanwhile had prolonged back problems that kept him out of golf, but he had a high finish last week at Zurich (T5) and has three T14s so far in 2017. Stats wise he ranks 33rd in strokes gained-approach to the green, 45th in driving distance and 74th in greens in regulation. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in Sunday contention real soon.
The Weather
Weather will vary, with wind and clouds Thursday followed by heavy rain Friday and a beautiful weekend, with temperatures in the 70s all the way through.
