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The Cheat Sheet provides DraftKings fantasy golf players with course info, player history and the most noteworthy trends of the week to help them with their roster selections.
The Field
The Wells Fargo Championship received signature event status for 2024 and will now feature a massive 20M prize purse and elevated FedEx Cup points. That means the event has also attracted a star-studded field headlined by three-time Wells Fargo Champion Rory McIlroy. McIlroy hasn’t had the best start to the season, but did manage a team event win at the Zurich with Shane Lowry two weeks ago. With Scottie Scheffler out (personal), McIlroy sits as the event favorite followed by Masters runner-up Ludvig Aberg and last year’s Wells Fargo runner-up Xander Schauffele.
There are also other past Quail Hollow winners at this event, as both Jason Day and Max Homa have won at this venue recently, as well as Justin Thomas—who took home his first major win here in 2017. A couple of names that got added to the field late include last week’s winner Taylor Pendrith and last week’s very unlucky loser Ben Kohles. The field this week is limited to just 70 golfers and is also a no-cut event, meaning all 70 players will get in four rounds unless they withdraw or are DQ’d.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Summer Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
The Course
Location: Charlotte, NC
Quail Hollow: Par 71, 7535 yards; Greens: Champion Bermuda
This event returns to Quail Hollow again in 2023. Outside of two years off when it was on hosting duties for major championship events (2017 and 2022), Quail has remained the host course of the Wells Fargo since its inception in 2003. Despite its longevity, the course is much different than it was in the early days of this event. The overall yardage now spans up to 7,600 yards, and the par has changed from a 72 to 71, making it one of the longer venues in play on the PGA TOUR.
Quail is a traditional par 71 with just three par-5s, but its length really plays out in the par 4s, eight of which span well over 450 yards. The course begins with one of the toughest holes on the course—the par-4 first—that plays as a dogleg par 4 at over 500 yards. It also ends with one of the toughest finishing stretches on the PGA TOUR (the Green Mile), where players are tested with two monster par 4s and a long par 3 guarded by water.
Quail is essentially a classic tree-lined course that challenges golfers with tough driving holes and doglegs throughout, but still adds in the odd scoring hole here and there to make things fair. In 2018, it played as the fifth-toughest venue on the PGA TOUR, playing to a 72.132 scoring average. In 2019, it played as the eighth-toughest venue at a 71.762 average score. In terms of profile, it’s very similar to what we see at Cooperhead CC (host of the Valspar) and also profiles well with Riviera, where there is always a big emphasis on great tee-to-green play. 2019 Wells Fargo winner Max Homa (who also has a win at Riviera and a top-10 at the Valspar) provides a good link to all three courses.
From a profile perspective, this venue has tended to favor good drivers of the ball (and longer hitters), who can get the ball up high with their long irons; and that theme has been even more evident since the renovations. Of the past eight winners at Quail Hollow, none have ranked worse than 36th in Driving Distance for the week—Thomas ranked first in Driving Distance at the 2017 PGA Championship, while Jason Day ranked 14th in this stat in 2018 when he won here. Winners have tended to gain nearly as many strokes off the tee as they do on approach, with good, long-to-mid iron play also a key—given the number of longer approaches players will be facing this week.
2024 Weather Outlook: The weather this week looks relatively straightforward. Temperatures aren’t overly hot and will be in the mid-70s most days. Thursday is the only day of the event where the wind looks set to climb above 10mph and there is the possibility of stoppages with thunderstorms in the forecast. The other three days should be non-eventful, with less oppressive afternoon winds. Expect the course to dry out as the week progresses and for firmer greens to lead to higher scoring on the final couple of days.
Last 5 winners
2023—Wyndham Clark -19 (over Xander Schauffele -15)
2022—Max Homa* -8 (over Keegan Bradley -6)
2021—Rory McIlroy -16 (over Abraham Ancer -15)
2019—Max Homa -15 (over Joel Dahmen -12)
2018—Jason Day -12 (over Nick Watney and Aaron Wise -10)
*played at TPC Potomac
Winners Stats and Course Overview
Wyndham Clark—2023 (19-under-par)
- 2023 lead-in form (T24-T29-T6-T5-T27)
SG: OTT—+2.5
SG: APP—+8.9
SG: TTG—+12.0
SG: ATG—+0.7
SG: PUTT—+7.5
- Clark followed a similar playbook to Rory McIlroy by dominating off the tee and with his longer irons, then putting the lights out on these Bermuda/Poa overseed greens
- He came into the 2023 event having only played this venue twice—with a T43 in 2021 being his best result—but with good recent form and two Top 10s already recorded on the season
- From a performance perspective, the last few winners at Quail have all been strong off-the-tee players who have also relied on strong putting to help them to a win
- Course history is still something to key in on this week, as is recent form in long iron proximity (>200 yards) and off-the-tee play. Players will see plenty of approaches from 175 yards and out.
- From a DFS perspective, a lot of the field this week simply won’t have the distance or consistency off the tee, nor the height with their longer irons, to compete. Really nailing down those who do have the power and upside to potentially win will be key.
Finding Values (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Odds to win are one factor to think about when picking players (but not the only thing, so be careful putting too much weight on them). This section is going to detail a few of the players who have the best fantasy value compared to their DraftKings Sportsbook odds of winning this week.
Victor Hovland +2500 and $9,200
Comparables:
Will Zalatoris +3500 and $8,400
Comparables:
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
HORSES FOR COURSES
1. Rory McIlroy ($11,800; best finishes: win-2009, 2015, 2021): McIlroy loves Quail Hollow. On top of winning this event three times already, he set the event scoring record in 2015 and holds the overall course record at 61 as well. He’ll go for his second win in a row at this venue this week after winning in his last start at the Zurich Classic.
2. Jason Day ($7,800; best finishes: win-2018): Despite missing the cut at this event last year, Day has taken to this venue since the remodel. He finished T9 at the PGA TOUR Championship in 2017, won this event in 2018, and finished T24 at Quail in 2021. Day has not been striking it well of late but certainly, his familiarity with the course gives him a small leg up this week.
3. Rickie Fowler ($6,900; best finishes: win-2012, T4-2019): Fowler grabbed his first PGA TOUR win at this venue back in 2012 and has been a force at Quail most seasons. He finished T4 at this event back in 2016 and put up a T5 in 2017 at Quail during the PGA TOUR Championship. He showed some signs of life in his last start at the Heritage and could be a dark horse to contend with this week.
4. Max Homa ($9,400; best finishes: T8-2023, win-2019): Homa has won this event twice, although his second win in 2022 came at a different venue. Regardless, he’s shown solid upside at these longer championship venues, grabbing wins at Quail, Riviera, and Torrey Pines. After placing 3rd at Augusta, expect him to put in a solid week as he preps for the PGA TOUR Championship.
Recent Form
1. Alex Noren ($8,200; 3rd - T23): Noren finished 3rd last week in Dallas and hasn’t missed a cut in 14 straight PGA TOUR starts.
2. Kevin Tway ($6,200; T9 -T3): Tway has found his game after a long dry spell. He’s posted back-to-back top-10 finishes and will get his first signature field start of 2024 as a reward this week.
3. Si Woo Kim ($8,600; T13 - T18): Kim has been extremely consistent in 2024. The South Korean has yet to miss a cut this season and has finished top 20 in four of his last five starts.
4. Adam Schenk ($7,100; T13-T49-T12): Schenk has looked solid over his last four starts, posting a T5 at the Valero and a T12 at Augusta. His improved ball-striking makes him a decent sleeper for DFS lineups this week.
DRAFTKINGS DFS STRATEGY
Cash Games: Cantlay is a solid starter
Patrick Cantlay ($9,800) is coming off a confidence-building start at the RBC Heritage two weeks ago. The American has yet to win in 2024, but he’s come close on multiple occasions. This will be just Cantlay’s fourth career start at Quail Hollow, but with his game trending up, his sub-10k price for DFS makes him a nice core play to work off for cash games. Cameron Young ($8,800), while frustrating at times, also makes sense as a building block this week. He’s forgiven for a terrible start at Hilton Head and was not the only one to suffer from Masters fatigue. He also nearly grabbed his first win at the comparable Copperhead venue in Florida back in March. Other names to look to in this format include Will Zalatoris ($7,900), Akshay Bhatia ($7,500) and Tom Hoge ($7,200).
Tournaments: Hovland worth the gamble
It’s not easy to say what Viktor Hovland ($9,200) will do this week. But for DFS, his price is now very affordable for the kind of elite field we have in play. The Norweigan has struggled in 2024, but after a multiple-week break you have to figure we see some improvement in his long game—plus, he certainly has the pedigree needed to challenge for top placing on a course like Quail. Harris English ($7,400) is another player with a big range of outcomes, but he played very well at this venue last season and has shown he likes tougher courses—as evidenced by his US Open record and the top finishes he’s put in at venues like Bay Hill and Riviera the last couple of seasons. Taylor Moore ($6,700 - see below), Jake Knapp ($6,500) and Cameron Davis ($6,400) round out some of the better upside plays from below 7k.
MY PICK: Tony Finau ($8,000)
I initially had Ludvig Aberg (WD) in this spot, but him withdrawing and this event getting even more wide open, I’ll pivot to the underpriced Tony Finau. Finau is coming off another solid ball-striking week at the RBC Heritage where he finished T12 and gained 5.4 strokes ball-striking—including 4.4 strokes on approach. He comes into this week first in approach proximity over the last 24 rounds and is top in proximity from 150-175, 175-200 and >200 yards over that same time frame.
While he’s never challenged for the win at Quail Hollow, that really shouldn’t be too big a concern. Finau has a great record at several other longer championship courses (Torrey Pines, Rivera, Augusta) and is striking the ball as well as anyone in this field. Pundants will of course point to his terrible putting record, but the volatility with that club is negated somewhat by his unbelievably low price in DFS.
With Aberg gone, he also makes a lot of sense for betting as an outright and top-10 target (on the DraftKings Sportsbook) as his +3000 outright price is relatively similar to his odds at Augusta when both Aberg and Scheffler were in the field.
MY SLEEPER: Taylor Moore ($6,700)
I like Moore for a bounce-back this week. He ran out of steam in his last start at the RBC Heritage, where he lost over 4.0 strokes on approach and finished T58, but can you hardly blame him? The week prior he posted a career-best finish in a major and a Top 20 at the Augusta National, so the fact there was a bit of a hangover at the RBC is hardly surprising.
Moore is talented and his game does remind me a little of last year’s winner Wyndham Clark’s. He’s generally strong off the tee, has shown good upside with his irons (albeit inconsistently), and can get red hot with his putter—since the start of 2023, he’s gained over 4.8 strokes putting six times on the PGA TOUR. His only win came at the Valspar last season at Copperhead golf course, which is another long and winding Par 71 with Bermuda/Poa overseed surfaced greens.
Considering he’s well below 7k this week for DFS, he looks like an outstanding value play to use, and for betting, his +275 top-20 price looks attractive as well.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Summer Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is wavegoodbye) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.