May 01, 2012
By PGA TOUR staff PGATOUR.COM
The PGA TOUR travels to Quail Hollow Golf Club this week for the Wells Fargo Championship. Here's how the PGATOUR.COM experts sized up the top contenders:
| Expert picks: Wells Fargo Championship |
|
Helen
Ross |  |  | RORY MCILROY. He's only broken par twice in six rounds at Quail Hollow, but one of those was a 62 that led to a victory in 2010. Forget his lackluster Masters -- McIlroy has finished third or better in three of his four starts on TOUR this year. | | | Chris
Dunham |  |  | PHIL MICKELSON. Lefty is steadily putting himself into contention and if the putts drop -- like they didn't at Augusta -- he'll win again very soon. Finished worse than 12th just once in eight appearances at this event. | | If Dunham had the top pick ... Mickelson | Amanda
Balionis |  |  | WEBB SIMPSON. With three top-10 finishes this season and a T13 finish last week at Zurich, Simpson is on the verge of breaking through for the first time in 2012. The Wake Forest alum had his best finish at Quail Hollow last year. | | If Balionis had the top pick ... Simpson | Ryan
Smithson |  |  | LEE WESTWOOD. I really hate to leave Tiger Woods on the board, but I can't ignore how well Westwood is playing right now. Only thing that bothers me: His record at Quail Hollow is awful. Best finish there? T38. | | If Smithson had the top pick ... Mickelson | Lauren
Deason |  |  | JIM FURYK. The 2006 champ in this event heads to Quail Hollow playing his best golf of the season, with four straight finishes of 11th or better. Quail Hollow is his best event on paper, adding three more top-10s in addition to the win, including T2 in 2005. | | If Deason had the top pick ... McIlroy | John
Schwarb |  |  | TIGER WOODS. Others have passed on Tiger, but I'm not. The 2007 champion at Quail Hollow is still searching for consistency, and I'm not saying he'll win here, but I'm in the market for FedExCup points from my sad spot in the standings and Tiger will deliver some. | | If Schwarb had the top pick ... Woods | Anne
Szeker |  |  | HUNTER MAHAN. The FedExCup leader hasn't finished worse than T22 at this tournament since a missed cut in 2007. He already has two wins this season, and should be ready to make it three after resting since the Masters. | | If Szeker had the top pick ... McIlroy | John
Swantek |  |  | ZACH JOHNSON. The veteran has quietly worked into near peak form, sneaking inside the top 20 in FedExCup standings, while ranking 11th in scoring average. Always at his best on tough, shot makers courses like Quail Hollow. | | If Swantek had the top pick ... Simpson | Mike
McAllister |  |  | KEEGAN BRADLEY. Suffered his first missed cut of the season last week after 10 consecutive finishes of T27 or better to start the year. A top-notch field at Quail Hollow should bring out Bradley's competitive juices. | | If McAllister had the top pick ... McIlroy | Brian
Wacker |  |  | BILL HAAS. It's a great week to have the 10th pick. Billy hasn't done much since his win at Northern Trust, but he's always fired up for Charlotte -- has top-fives here in his career, including solo fourth last year. | | If Wacker had the top pick ... McIlroy | |
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| Standings after 17 events |
LAST WEEK: Brian Wacker had Jason Dufner at TPC Louisiana to become the third multiple winner of the 2012 season:
| | Position | Name | Wins | Top-5s | Top-10s | Top-25s | MCs | FedExCup points | | 1 | Lauren Deason
Editorial Coordinator | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 1906.74 | | 2 | Ryan Smithson
Site Producer | 2 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 1773.75 | | 3 | Amanda Balionis
Host, PGA TOUR Today | 1 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 1629.75 | | 4 | Brian Wacker
Site Producer | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1584.76 | | 5 | Mike McAllister
Managing Editor | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 1292.85 | | 6 | John Swantek
Host, On The Tee | 0 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 1131.92 | | 7 | Chris Dunham
Editorial Coordinator | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 1121.58 | | 8 | Anne Szeker
Site Producer | 0 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 914.17 | | 9 | Helen Ross
Chief of Correspondents | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 894.70 | | 10 | John Schwarb
Site Producer | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 730.60 | |
MAKE YOUR PICK: Tell us who you expect to win this week's event.
