This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
Wells Fargo Championship
Charlotte, North Carolina
Quail Hollow Club - Par 71 - 7,554 yards
Field - 156 Entrants
Purse - $7.9M
The Preview
The brief PGA DFS hiatus has concluded, and the Wells Fargo Championship draws what is supposed to be a relatively easy task of following the Zurich Classic and its wonky two-man team format. However, excitement for this year's stop at Quail Hollow has been somewhat muted with a chunk of elite players taking time to prepare for the PGA Championship in just two weeks. Only 17 members of the Official World Golf Ranking's top 50 will travel to Charlotte for this demanding test, which itself played host to the PGA Championship just two years ago. Quail Hollow was one of the toughest non-major venues on Tour in 2018 when looking at scoring average, GIR percentage and proximity, so it's a shame that such a large contingent of the game's best have elected to rest instead. Nonetheless, a difficult three-hole closing stretch known as The Green Mile should provide drama as long as Rory McIlroy isn't already leading by 10 shots come Sunday afternoon. As for the weather, expect high temperatures to reach the mid-80s while a light breeze remains tame. Light showers could briefly come into play Friday afternoon.
Recent Champions
2018 - Jason Day
2017 - Brian Harman (Eagle Point)
2016 - James Hahn
2015 - Rory McIlroy
2014 - J.B. Holmes
2013 - Derek Ernst
2012 - Rickie Fowler
2011 - Lucas Glover
2010 - Rory McIlroy
Key Stats to Victory
Driving distance - An exceptionable performance with the driver is substantial on the lengthy par-71 layout, and power is rewarded over precision, especially after a plethora of trees were removed in preparation for the 2017 PGA Championship
Putting inside 10 feet - Jason Day missed only four attempts from this range and also led the field in putting average by a whopping 1.5 putts per round en route to the podium in 2018
Scrambling - Quail Hollow ceded 50-plus greens in regulation to just 16 entrants last year, emphasizing the importance of missing tough approach shots in the correct spot in order to get up-and-down on a regular basis
Yahoo Value Picks - based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Phil Mickelson - $45
A horse for the course this week, Mickelson has averaged a top-10 finish in 15 career appearances at the Wells Fargo Championship. Still, he has surprisingly not reached the winner's circle here. A newfound yearning for social media clout is just one example of Lefty's rejuvenation at 48 years old, and an increase in club head speed this season has Phil up to 27th on Tour in driving distance.
Hideki Matsuyama - $41
Matsuyama fired a bogey-free, seven-under 64 during Round 2 of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow to tie Francesco Molinari for the lowest 18-hole score of the tournament. The former would go on to finish in a tie for fifth, marking his third top-20 in five appearances at the esteemed Charlotte venue. Matsuyama now ranks second on Tour in SG: Approach, second in SG: Tee-to-Green, 15th in driving distance and sixth in scrambling. He's easily one of the best ball-strikers in the field, but that darn putter continues to give him issues.
Paul Casey - $41
Plenty of folks will still be upset with Casey after the Englishman finished nearly dead last at the Masters due to a brutal first-round 81, but it feels like a fluke given he had just advanced to the Round of 16 at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play on the heels of his win at the Valspar Championship. Casey has finished top-3 in four of seven international stroke-play events dating back to the SMBC Singapore Open and even gained 2.5 strokes off the tee en route to a missed cut at the PLAYERS Championship during this span. He notched a T5 at Quail Hollow last year and posted a top-15 result at the 2017 PGA Championship here.
Glue Guys
Lucas Glover - $35
The 2011 champion of this event owns five career top-10s at Quail Hollow, but is now enjoying one of the best season of his career with 11 top-25s in 14 events. He's gaining strokes across the board and is second to only Tommy Fleetwood in the scrambling department. Stacking up against this week's field over his last 12 rounds, Glover ranks fifth in SG: Tee-to-Green and eighth in SG: Around-the-Green.
Keith Mitchell - $34
Mitchell can bomb it off the tee when necessary -- he ranks 14th on Tour in club head speed -- but he's also most comfortable on Bermuda greens, as evidenced by his win earlier in the season at the Honda Classic. He putted terribly here last year, though we'll cut him some slack as it marked his Quail Hollow debut. Mitchell still tied for 34th, but more impressively ranked second in GIR percentage and ninth in driving distance. With a bit more course familiarity and an improvement with the flat stick, Mitchell should arrive with additional confidence this time around.
Luke List - $33
Much like Mitchell, List battled through putting woes at Quail Hollow last year by also finishing top-10 in both driving distance and GIR percentage on the way to a T9 result. List is well-known as one of the worst putters on Tour, but he's second in driving distance and gains strokes off the tee seemingly every week because of his power. He'll be able to swing freely with the driver, though he also ranks 10th in proximity from over 200 yards.
Bargain Bin
Kevin Streelman - $28
Streelman fell into a slump from the Genesis Open through the Valspar Championship while descending to just 189th in the OWGR, but he rebounded with back-to-back sixth-place finishes in his last two starts at the Valero Texas Open and RBC Heritage. This pair of recent showings will surely draw more attention to Streelman, but for good reason as he ranks ninth in SG: Tee-to-Green over his last eight rounds. Additionally, the 40-year-old finished T14 or better in three straight appearances at the Wells Fargo from 2013 to 2015.
Rory Sabbatini - $24
Sabbatini hasn't finished inside of the top 100 on Tour in driving distance since the 2014-15 season, but that doesn't necessarily mean he should be removed from your pool of lineup candidates at Quail Hollow. He collected a solo third here in 2011 and added another top-10 in 2014, after all. More recently, he has finished top-40 in six consecutive starts since the Honda Classic. Sabbatini has gained at least 4.6 strokes tee-to-green in his last three measured events, culminating with a T10 at the RBC Heritage.
Kyoung-Hoon Lee - $20
Slated to make his Quail Hollow debut this week, Lee is coming off a T3 at the Zurich Classic despite pairing with a struggling Matt Every, who has spent plenty of time at the Web.com Tour level since late August. Lee hasn't missed a cut since early February and owns five top-35s in his last seven showings. His better putting performances have come on Bermuda surfaces and he's gained an average of two strokes off the tee over his past five tournaments.
Strategy Tips on Yahoo this week
It's pretty rare to see anyone priced higher than the $50 threshold on Yahoo, but Rory McIlroy has earned the ultra-expensive $52 salary cap hit this week. He would've simply been far too popular without such a painful price tag, so a bit more ownership could fall upon the Rose/Fowler/Day trio. Out of this group, Rose figures to be the prime fade candidate coming off a costly missed cut at Augusta National. He just doesn't seem to have a solid mental grasp on his game right now and was seemingly burned out by too much preparation for The Masters.
