The 2023 Wells Fargo Championship may be the biggest in its history heading back to Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, after a one-year break hosting the Presidents Cup in 2022. Quail Hollow has hosted the PGA Tour Wells Fargo Championship since 2003, having previously hosted the Kemper Open from 1969 to 1979. It has also hosted the PGA Championship in 2017, and the Presidents Cup in 2022.
The 18-hole championship course at Quail Hollow was designed by architect George Cobb who designed several golf courses, primarily in the southeastern United States. Since 1961, it underwent a series of improvements, including modifications of several holes by Arnold Palmer in 1986, and a redesign by Tom Fazio in 1997, 2003, and from 2014 to 2016 in preparation for the PGA Championship.
The Wells Fargo Championship is a “designated event” for the 2022-23 PGA Tour season as play begins Thursday May 4. Players who finished in the top 20 of the 2022 Player Impact Program (PIP) are required to play in designated events. These players are allowed to miss only one of these events during the year.
An elite field of 16 of the top 20 Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) will be playing in this week’s tournament. The winner will receive 500 FedEx Cup points along with $3.6 million first-place check. The total purse is $20 million.
The top ranked (1) Jon Rahm along with (2) Scottie Scheffler are not playing this week along with (8) Cameron Smith and (9) Will Zalatoris. All of the other top 20 ranked players will be playing including (3) Rory McIlroy who will be playing for the first time since his early exit from the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National.
Rory has won three times at the annual site of the Wells Fargo Championship and twice set the course record. He won his first PGA TOUR title here in 2010, authored a seven-shot victory five years later and is the most recent winner at Quail Hollow. Las Vegas oddsmakers have McIlroy as the favorite.
This course is set up to be a test of who’s going to distinguish themselves as the “Best of the Rest” behind the two top money winners who have decided to take a well-deserved rest while giving the rest of the top twenty a chance to grab themselves as share of the $20 million dollar purse this weekend. Just might be worth watching!
Golf Channel will provide live coverage on Thursday and Friday from 2-6 p.m. EDT. On Saturday and Sunday, Golf Channel will start the coverage from 1-3 p.m. with CBS taking over with afternoon coverage from 3-6 p.m.
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