May 5 Golf Tips

This week this USPGA Tour rolls on to the Quail Hollow Golf Club for the Wells Fargo Championship (known as the Wachovia Championship up to 2008), a tournament won in spectacular fashion by Rory McIlroy last year as he closed with a 66 on the Saturday and an epic round of 62 on the Sunday.

To recap, similar principles to those which apply for “Sting’s racing selections” will be in place here – bets will only be recommended for a top-5 finish in the tournament of that week where the price offered is $6 or better, with odds offered by Centrebet being used in the analysis.

Results for April 21 selections

Jason Day (The Heritage): T-9.

Year to date selection results:15 selections, one refund, no winning collects.

Wells Fargo Championship

The Wells Fargo Championship (formerly the Wachovia Championship) has been on the USPGA Tour calendar since 2004, with the Quail Hollow Golf Club playing host to each instalment of the event.

Despite the low shotting of McIlroy on the weekend last year and a winning score of between 10-under and 16-under in each year to date, Quail Hollow still ranked as the second-most difficult of all par-72s (excluding major championships) in 2010, with an average score for the week of 72.9, or 0.9 strokes over par. The toughest stretch of holes is unquestionably the final three. Collectively referred to as ‘The Green Mile’, the par-4 16^th, par-3 17^th and par-4 18^th averaged one stroke over par last year, with the first 15 holes averaging 0.1 strokes under par. It is a long (at over 6,800 metres when stretched to its full length) and demanding course, and requires the ability to scramble well (and ideally bomb it off the tee) to succeed. Indeed the list of previous winners and runners-up is an eclectic mix of long hitters (Anthony Kim, Bubba Watson, McIlroy, Phil Mickelson) and steady players who avoid bogeys and have shown themselves to be well suited at another demanding test – the US Open (David Toms, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker and Lucas Glover).

Among that list, Furyk will be the man carrying my cash this week. He won here in 2006 after a runner-up finish the previous year, while his early season slump seems to have come to an end with four solid (if unspectacular) results in a row. A former US Open champion and perennial contender at that particular major, he has the patience and grit to work his way around this demanding course, respecting its capacity to punish any mental errors. At odds of $7.25 to post a top-5 finish, I think he represents value.

Thanks to Streeter Lecka/Getty Images North America for use of the photo