Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions – 2021 Wells Fargo Championship

Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship

The 2021 Wells Fargo Championship Fantasy Preview

Regular readers of this column will know that we have been bullish about Sam Burns for quite some time – typically, he did that most annoying of things of winning on a rare occasion where we hadn’t drafted him!

In hindsight, Innisbrook is an excellent layout for a premium ball-striker like Burns, so a lack of recent form aside we shouldn’t be too surprised that the 24-year-old landed his maiden PGA TOUR title in Palm Harbour.

The youngster was in the hunt from the get-go at the Valspar, and even an inspired Keegan Bradley – he had his wife and young family by his side at a rare tournament visit – couldn’t reel him in.

For a guy chasing his dream, Burns showed plenty of resolve and never looked like fading from the front as he hunted the biggest win of his career – indeed, it was Bradley who blinked first, swiping his tee shot into the drink at the thirteenth on Sunday.

Posting a three-under par 68, Burns kept the field at arm’s length and secured an emotional victory in the comfortable fashion of a seasoned veteran.

The TOUR moves onwards with the PGA Championship on the horizon, but first it’s another jaunt to North Carolina as we stop off at Quail Hollow for the Wells Fargo Championship.

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Last Week’s Fantasy Results

Our top pick last was Viktor Hovland, who ended up finishing in 3rd.   

The young gun made a solid move which earned him a whopping 108 fantasy points carding all four rounds in the 60s and draining 22 birdies.

Our Top Sleeper pick, Charlie Hoffman, showed hope as he jumped out of the gate with a 68-66 start before a poor 74 on Sunday knocked him to T18.

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The 2021 Wells Fargo Championship Field

This event has a habit of delivering a high-quality field, and 2021’s renewal is no different.

Justin Thomas, a former champion here, leads the way alongside Rory McIlroy, who will be looking to put his recent on-course woes behind him at a venue he provably loves.

Jon Rahm is a less regular visitor to Quail Hollow, while it will be interesting to see how Bryson DeChambeau, with room off the tee, gets on at a layout that can be overpowered.

The defending champion, Max Homa, travels in good spirits following his top-ten at Innisbrook, and he will be joined by other in-form stars such as Viktor Hovland, Corey Conners and Abraham Ancer.

And, of course, you can never rule out the likes of Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Patrick Reed as well!

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This Week’s Course Preview

The top pros often describe Quail Hollow as a ‘fair’ course, and you can see what they mean.

The fact that it was used as a major venue – hosting the 2017 PGA Championship – tells its own story, and while it is a difficult enough stretch it does yield to excellent golf shots.

Designed by George Cobb and touched up by Tom Fazio in three different renovation projects, the most illuminating aspect of the layout is its length – 7,560 yards for its Par 71, which means that just three par 5s feed into that yardage. Yep, this is a long old stretch.

Some holes were lengthened prior to the 2017 PGA, and with bunkers protecting most greens and some rather dense tree-lines, there is some danger at play.

The Bermuda greens, overseeded with Poa, are undulating and complex, and some are even raised in profile.

But benign conditions still create plenty of scoring opportunities, so the players will be hoping to make hay before they reach the final trio of holes – known as the ‘Green Mile’.

The sixteenth is a Par 4 measuring more than 500 yards, and with water flanking the green you can see why some long old approach shots hit the drink.

The seventeenth is pretty much a classic island green Par 3, but with a 200-yard carry onto dry land.

And the eighteenth features a narrow fairway with sand right and water left, with an uphill approach into a saucer-shaped green that spits errant balls away.

The Green Mile is certainly an apt name, then!

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Weather Forecast for Charlotte, NC

A rather unpredictable start to the week in Charlotte is expected to give way to a more settled set of conditions for the Wells Fargo Championship.

Rain and even thunderstorms are expected from Monday through Wednesday, before Thursday dawns cool and dry.

The temperatures will increase from Friday through to Sunday, with highs of 84˚F anticipated.

The good news is that it should be dry and sunny throughout, and while the wind could reach 15mph by Sunday it is a fairly settled week in store for the players.

CHARLOTTE WEATHER

Last Year’s Results from the Wells Fargo Championship

There was a fascinating shootout between a trio of fairly eclectic names at the 2019 edition of the Wells Fargo Championship – last year’s was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Max Home and Joel Dahmen, two youngsters seeking their maiden PGA TOUR win, were joined at the top of the leaderboard by wily veteran Jason Dufner.

They were tied at the top on -11 heading into Sunday, and it was Dahmen who showed his hand first by taking an early lead.

But the nerves soon began to show, and it was Homa who asserted his authority with a series of birdies in and around the turn.

A weather delay hardly helped settle his nerves, but a couple of booming drives on the resumption were enough for him to forge a three-shot winning mark over Dahmen.

Max Homa’s highlights | Round 4 | Wells Fargo 2019

In the final round of the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship, Max Homa won his first PGA TOUR event by three shots after recording clutch birdies on a Sunday that included rainy conditions. SUBSCRIBE to PGA TOUR now: http://pgat.us/vBxcZSh The Wells Fargo Championship takes place at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, NC.

Where to Play Fantasy Golf for the Wells Fargo Championship this Week

With a handy profile of player to follow this week and a decent handle on the host course, this is as good a time as any to flex our muscles and enter some of the more ‘high risk, high reward’ contests.

• PGA $750k Flop Shot: There’s $200k to the winner in this $15 entry contest, with plenty of bankroll-boosting payouts for finishing inside the top 25% of players.
• PGA $60k Dogleg: It will take some deep diving to narrow your roster down to six players, but a single entry contest is a decent vehicle this week – and this event, $33 entry with $10k to the winner – is as appetizing as any.

This Week’s Fantasy Notes for the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship 

A long old stretch, it won’t come as a surprise to learn that length is a considerable advantage at Quail Hollow.

Aside from the fairly anomalous James Hahn, all of the most recent champions here have been big hitters, and there’s absolutely no reason to oppose that in 2021 – especially if the rain comes and softens the surfaces somewhat.

Missed fairways are not a catastrophe, so already we’re building a picture of driving distance and scrambling, however it’s worth noting that some of these green complexes are devilish – hitting GIR from the rough will be key.

Putting on Bermuda is another advantage, although of course these greens are overseeded with Poa, and they run at a pretty slick pace too if they have the opportunity to dry out from the expected rainfall.

Homa was something of an anomaly in 2019 too. Although long off the tee, he’s a West Coast boy – born and raised in California and now playing out of Scottsdale. But otherwise, it’s those from the East or with ties to the area that tend to prevail.

Justin Thomas and JB Holmes are Kentucky natives, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy called Florida home, while a variety of players from Texan, Carolinas and Louisiana have also prevailed.

That should give us plenty to work with as we build our Walls Fargo Championship roster.

Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship

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Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2020-2021)

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