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PGA 2012 Wells Fargo Championship Preview/Picks & Gambling Lines

PGA Betting – The 2012 Wells Fargo Predictions

A stacked field heads to North Carolina this week to use the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte as a tune-up for next week’s Players Championship and the year’s highest purse.

Wells Fargo Championship
Dates: April 30 – May 6, 2012
Where: Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, NC
Par/Yards: 72/7,469 yards
2011 champion: Lucas Glover
2012 Purse: $6,800,000/$1,224,000
FedExCup: 500 points to the winner

Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Rory McIlroy, Vijay Singh and last year’s winner and 2009 U.S. Open champ Lucas Glover will all be in attendance for what is one of the most popular TOUR stops on the calendar.

Although Quail Hollow is not the longest course on TOUR, length is still rewarded. But mistakes are especially costly especially on what is widely regarded as the toughest closing three holes of any event on TOUR – “The Green Mile”.

Last week’s pick was Graeme McDowell – he was OK and should be better this week. My seemingly every-week sleeper Cameron Tringale finished a terrific fourth last week and who knows – he just may be my sleeper again!

Let’s take a look at this week’s field and those that should be contending on Sunday.

The Favorites:

Rory McIlroy 7/1

Rory will look to bounce back after an uncharacteristic 40th in the Masters in his last tournament in North America. His other three starts in the States in 2012 resulted in a win, a second and a third place finish. He won here in 2010 when he set the course record at Quail’s Hollow – a 62!

Tiger Woods 9/1

Tiger is back after his last start resulted in a 40th at the Masters – he failed to break par in every round that week! He won here in 2007 and finished fourth in 2009 but other than in one tournament this year, he has failed to put together four good rounds in a row. Until his swing is straightened out and his putter is back to form, I don’t have a whole lot of faith in Tiger winning!

Phil Mickelson 12/1

Phil will be playing his first event since a T3 at the Masters – his fourth top five of the year. He has a terrific track record at Quail Hollow – zero missed cuts in eight starts and six top 10s. All he’s missing here is a win! He is third on TOUR in Strokes Gained-Putting; second in bogey avoidance and despite a layoff should be in the hunt on Sunday.

The Contenders:

Lee Westwood 14/1

Westwood is 2nd in GIR, 2nd in all-around ranking, and second in total driving on TOUR this year and is a player that is probably most due for a win. He did finish T38 in his last start here in 2010 which makes me a tad wary of him this week.

Jim Furyk 20/1

Furyk has a great track record on this course – one win (2006), one second and two seventh place finishes. In his last four starts this season, he’s finished no worse than T11. He leads the TOUR in fairways hit, ranks fourth in adjusted scoring and sits sixth in bogey avoidance – perfect for Quail Hollow!

Hunter Mahan 20/1

Mahan is the only two-time winner on TOUR this year and ranks fifth in both fairways and greens in regulation. In his last four starts at Quail Hollow he has a T16 in 2011, T17 in 2010, preceded by T22 and a T12.

Zach Johnson 33/1

Finished second in his last start at Harbour Town and has finished top 25 in each of his last three starts at this event including a T6 last year. He hasn’t missed a cut this year and likely won’t this week either!

Keegan Bradley 33/1

Actually missed a cut last week in New Orleans but he is still having one of the best years of any golfer on TOUR. He currently leads the PGA TOUR in the all-around ranking, is 28th in Strokes Gained-Putting, eighth in adjusted scoring and 18th in bogey avoidance which is perfect for this course

Bill Haas 35/1

Hasn’t played all that well since his playoff victory at Riviera in mid-February – zero top 25s since. He does love Quail Hollow however – he is a native of Charlotte, he played his college golf at Wake Forest and he has finished fourth twice on this track including last year. His game is well suited to snap his mini-funk this week.

Webb Simpson 35/1

Like Haas, Simpson is a native of Charlotte and he played college golf for Wake Forest. He is very familiar with this course and is coming off a very respectable 13th last week in New Orleans. He’s made every cut this year and finished T21 here last year – Simpson is one to watch this week!

Rickie Fowler 45/1

Has been disappointing this year but he did show signs of life with a T10 last week in New Orleans. He has posted a sixth (2010) and T16 (2011) at Quail Hollow and could be ready to break out this week.

The Sleepers:

Cameron Tringale 55/1

Ya, Ya – I know. I sound like a broken record but the numbers don’t lie! He has three consecutive top 10s and four this year and is simply on fire. If the oddsmakers are going to list him at 55/1 again this week, a small wager certainly won’t hurt!

Kevin Na 55/1

Na has been dealing with some back issues but he did have a sting of top 15s going a month ago. He has finished top 15 here in the last two years including a fifth last year. [soliloquy id=”82219″]

Lucas Glover 66/1

Is another Carolina college product who knows this course well. He won this event last year, tied for second in 2009 and tied fourth in 2006. He hasn’t had the best 2012 making his a huge risk this week.

Ben Curtis 80/1

Curtis isn’t getting a whole lotta love – he won in San Antonio two weeks ago and finished T13 last week. Curtis does have some history on this course – a second place finish in 2008.

The Pick:

I’m staying away from the odds favorites this week – each has endured a layoff and will be up against a few players that are looking good at the moment.

My pick is Webb Simpson at 35/1. He has been incredibly consistent this year and he does know this course like very few others in the field do. Simpson is a Stud and is certainly worth a shot at 35/1.

My sleeper is Kevin Na at 55/1. He has been consistent and may be due!

2012 Wells Fargo Championship Betting Lines & Future Odds

CLICK TO BET

Rory McIlroy 15/2  
Tiger Woods 9/1  
Phil Mickelson 12/1  
Lee Westwood 14/1  
Hunter Mahan 20/1  
Jim Furyk 22/1  
Keegan Bradley 28/1  
Zach Johnson 33/1  
Webb Simpson 30/1  
Bill Haas 40/1  
Bo Van Pelt 40/1  
Graeme McDowell   
Rickie Fowler 40/1  
Jason Day 50/1  
Nick Watney 50/1  
Kevin Na 50/1  
Cameron Tringale 40/1  
Charles Howell III 66/1  
Jonathan Byrd 66/1  
Aaron Baddeley 80/1  
John Huh 80/1  
Sang-Moon Bae 80/1  
Jeff Overton 80/1  
John Senden 80/1  
Sean O’Hair 80/1  
Ryan Moore 80/1  
Ben Crane 80/1  
Ben Curtis 80/1  
J.B. Holmes 80/1  
Henrik Stenson 80/1  
Geoff Ogilvy 80/1  
Brendon De Jonge 80/1  
David Toms 80/1  
Harris English 80/1  
Brian Davis 80/1  
Rory Sabbatini 80/1  
Kyle Stanley 100/1  
Lucas Glover 80/1  
Martin Laird 100/1  
Retief Goosen 100/1  
Chris Stroud 100/1  
Pat Perez 100/1  
Thomas Bjorn   
Gary Woodland   
Vijay Singh 100/1  
Robert Garrigus 100/1  
Charlie Wi 125/1  
Johnson Wagner 125/1  
Camilo Villegas 125/1  
Mark Wilson 125/1  
Spencer Levin 125/1  
Robert Karlsson 125/1  
Trevor Immelman 125/1  
Chad Campbell 125/1  
Ken Duke 125/1  
Matt Every   
George Mcneill 125/1  
Stewart Cink 125/1  
Brendan Steele 150/1  
Anthony Kim 125/1  
Jimmy Walker 150/1  
Seung-yul Noh 150/1  
Heath Slocum 150/1  
Marc Leishman 150/1  
Robert Allenby 125/1  
Angel Cabrera 125/1  
Brandt Jobe 150/1  
Kevin Stadler 150/1  
Bobby Gates 150/1  
Davis Love III 150/1  
Hunter Haas 200/1  
Kevin Chappell 200/1  
Michael Thompson 200/1  
Tommy Gainey 200/1  
David Hearn 150/1  
Stuart Appleby 200/1  
Andres Romero 200/1  
Greg Owen 200/1  
Chris Kirk 150/1  
D-A Points 150/1  
Kris Blanks 200/1  
Tim Clark 200/1  
Vaughn Taylor 200/1  
Colt Knost 150/1  
Nick O’Hern 200/1  
Daniel Summerhays 200/1  
J.J. Henry (Suspended) 1/100
Tom Gillis 200/1  
Blake Adams 250/1  
Chez Reavie 200/1  
Chris Couch 250/1  
Jhonattan Vegas 200/1  
Matt Bettencourt 250/1  
William Mcgirt 200/1  
Brian Harman 200/1  
David Mathis 200/1  
Garth Mulroy 250/1  
Chris Dimarco 250/1  
Billy Mayfair 200/1  
Erik Compton 250/1  
Troy Matteson 250/1  
James Driscoll 250/1  
Carl Pettersson 50/1

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