2019 Wells Fargo Championship Preview

2019 Wells Fargo Championship Preview

Dates: April 29-May 5, 2019
Where: Charlotte, North Carolina
Course: Quail Hollow Club
Defending champion: Jason Day
Purse: $7,900,000 ($1,422,000/winner)
FedExCup: 500 points to the winner
Field size: 156 Format: 72-hole stroke play

Notes on the field

• 12 of the top 30 in the FedExCup standings, led by Rory McIlroy (3) and Paul Casey (4)
• 12 of the top 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking, including World No. 2 Justin Rose
• 4 FedExCup champions: Bill Haas (2011), Henrik Stenson (2013), Rory McIlroy (2016), Justin Rose (2018)
• 6 past winners: Rory McIlroy (2010, 2015), Lucas Glover (2011), Rickie Fowler (2012), J.B. Holmes (2014), Brian Harman (2017), Jason Day (2018)
• 76 PGA TOUR winners, including seven with 10 or more victories
• All 21 PGA TOUR rookies: Anders Albertson, Cameron Champ, John Chin, Wyndham Clark, Cameron Davis, Joey Garber, Kramer Hickok, Sungjae Im, Kyle Jones, Jim Knous, Hank Lebioda, K.H. Lee, Adam Long, Seth Reeves, Jose de Jesus Rodriguez, Brady Schnell, Sepp Straka, Adam Svensson, Chris Thompson, Martin Trainer, Chase Wright (four events this season with all 21 rookies: Safeway Open, Sanderson Farms Championship, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am)

A look back at 2018 Wells Fargo Championship

Pos.	Player	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Jason Day	69	67	67	69	272/-12
T2	Nick Watney	72	67	66	69	274/-10
T2	Aaron Wise	68	68	70	68	274/-10
4	Bryson DeChambeau	75	65	66	70	276/-8
T5	Paul Casey	69	68	69	71	277/-7
T5	Phil Mickelson	72	72	64	69	277/-7
T5	Peter Uihlein	72	72	62	71	277/-7

• Making his first start at the Wells Fargo Championship since 2012, Jason Day collected his 12^th career PGA TOUR victory with a two-shot win over Nick Watney and Aaron Wise
• Day carded four bogeys in the final round, more than he had in the first three rounds combined
• Aaron Wise followed his runner-up with a win in his next start (AT&T Byron Nelson), one of four players to accomplish that feat during the 2017-18 season (Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Wise, Francesco Molinari)
• Peter Uihlein’s career-low third-round 62 included a birdie-eagle streak of 7-under (B-B-B-B-B-E/Nos. 5-10), tied for the best such streak on the PGA TOUR since the start of the 2016-17 season

Wells Fargo Championship and the FedExCup

• The Wells Fargo Championship is the 28^th event in the 2018-19 FedExCup season
• 7 of the 12 winners of the Wells Fargo Championship in the FedExCup era have advanced to the season-ending TOUR Championship: Tiger Woods (2007), Anthony Kim (2008), Sean O’Hair (2009), Rickie Fowler (2012), Rory McIlroy (2015), Brian Harman (2017) and Jason Day (2018)
• Tiger Woods (2007) is the only player to win the Wells Fargo Championship and the FedExCup in the same season
• After Jason Day’s win in 2018, he went on to finish 16^th in the FedExCup

Wyndham Rewards Top 10 – Current top 10 in the FedExCup standings

Pos.	Player	Points	Wins
1	Matt Kuchar	2,030	2
2	Xander Schauffele	1,562	2
3	Rory McIlroy	1,457	1
4	Paul Casey	1,261	1

5	Dustin Johnson	1,242	1
6	Jon Rahm	1,136	1
7	Brooks Koepka	1,121	1
8	Gary Woodland	1,102	0
9	Rickie Fowler	1,088	1
10	Charles Howell III	1,086	1

Player Notes

Jason Day (No. 33 in FedExCup, No. 14 in OWGR)

• Won 2018 Wells Fargo Championship in his third start at the event (T22/2010, T9/2012, Won/2018)
• Has four top-fives in 11 starts during the 2018-19 season (T5/THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, T5/Farmers Insurance Open, T4/AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, T5/Masters Tournament)
• Currently sixth in the Presidents Cup standings for the International Team; has played on each of the last four teams and holds an overall record of 5-11-4
• Ranks in the top five on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (5^th) and Strokes Gained: Putting (4^th); only one other player is in the top 25 in both categories (Dustin Johnson)
• Coming off a missed cut at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Adam Scott

Justin Rose (No. 18 FedExCup, No. 2 OWGR)

• Has made seven starts at the Wells Fargo Championship and recorded a top-five in each of the last two (5^th/2014, 3^rd/2016)
• The reigning FedExCup champion has recorded four top-10s In seven starts during the 2018-19 season, including a win at the Farmers Insurance Open
• With the win at Torrey Pines, became the first Englishman since at least 1945 to record 10 PGA TOUR wins
• Missed the cut at the Masters in his most recent start, his first ever missed cut in 14 starts at Augusta National

Rory McIlroy (No. 3 FedExCup, No. 4 OWGR)

• Only two-time Wells Fargo Championship winner (2010, 2015)
• In addition to two wins, has four top-10s and just one missed cut in eight starts
• Won THE PLAYERS Championship in March to earn his 15^th PGA TOUR title, one of seven top-10s on the PGA TOUR in nine starts during the 2018-19 season, second-most on the PGA TOUR to Jon Rahm (8)

Phil Mickelson (No. 17 FedExCup, No. 23 OWGR)

• Wells Fargo Championship is one of seven PGA TOUR events at which he has made 15 or more starts and does not have a win (27/U.S. Open, 21/BMW Championship, 20/World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, 18/the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, 17/THE NORTHERN TRUST, 15/Wells Fargo Championship, 15/WGC- Dell Technologies Match Play)
• Top-fives at the event: T5/2004, T3/2007, T5/2009, 2^nd/2010, 3^rd/2013, T4/2015, T4/2016, T5/2018
• Collected 44^th PGA TOUR victory at the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (ninth all-time; one shy of Walter Hagen for eighth)
• Holds the lowest 18-hole score on TOUR during the 2018-19 season (60/R1/Desert Classic)

Miscellaneous player notes

• Gary Woodland (seven top-10s) holds the highest FedExCup position (8) among players without a win during the 2018-19 season
• A native of nearby Gastonia, North Carolina, Harold Varner III (No. 71 FedExCup) will make his fifth start at the event (best result: T24/2016)
• Brothers Carlos and Alvaro Ortiz will tee it up in the same PGA TOUR event for the first time; Carlos is No. 109 in the FedExCup while Alvaro made his TOUR debut at the 2019 Masters, finishing T36 as an amateur

Notable Tournament Records/History

• 18-hole scoring record: 61 (Rory McIlroy/R3/2015)
• 72-hole scoring record: 267 (Rory McIlroy/2015)
• Largest 54-hole deficit overcome to win: 6 (Vijay Singh/2005)
• Youngest winner: Rory McIlroy/2010 (20 years, 11 months, 28 days)
• Wire-to-wire winners: none

The Wells Fargo Championship Preview is via PGA TOUR