PGA TOUR stars line up for shot at Race to Dubai title

Live leaderboard: Day mounting charge at BMW

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Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship that gamers can use next week, next year or down the road. Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte has been the host since the creation of the event in 2003 and plays 7,544 yards to a Par-71. The 2017 WFC was played at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, NC. Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte has been the host since the creation of the event in 2003 and plays 7,544 yards to a Par-71. The 2017 WFC was played at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, NC.  Beautiful Day Australian Jason Day became the fourth multiple winner on TOUR this season as he posted 12-under 272 to win the Wells Fargo Championship for the first time. His final-round 69 saw him hold off Aaron Wise and Nick Watney by two shots to collect his 12th PGA TOUR title. Day’s day was anything but easy, but he tends to make it look that way when he’s in the hunt. His two-shot lead was three at the turn before bogeys at Nos. 13 and 14 made for an interesting finish. Day cranked up the class and blasted a 380-yard drive on No. 16 that he turned into a birdie. If that wasn’t enough, he almost broke the flag on No. 17 at the base. His tee shot on the par-3 smashed into the flag and stopped three feet from the hole. His birdie sealed the tournament, as he played “The Green Mile” in 3 under for the week. Entering the week without a finish inside the top 20 since February, gamers had to trust his T9 experience at the 2017 PGA Championship would be enough. Day hasn’t played this event since 2012 when he finished T9. His wins at Torrey Pines and Quail Hollow Club shouldn’t be too much of a surprise as he hits it a mile and has a fantastic short game. He checked all of those boxes this week even though he admitted he had less than his best on Sunday. He led the field in putts per GIR and SG: Around-the-Green while checking in second in SG: Putting, scrambling and sand saves. He joins Lucas Glover as the only winner to place all four rounds in the 60’s. Gamers will only have to go back to 2016 to see how badly Day destroyed TPC Sawgrass. The changes after his victory slowed him to T60 last year but no player has ever defended that event. Ever. Those with regret can patiently wait until the PGA Championship or The TOUR Championship (among others) for a chance to use him. PGA TOUR Fantasy Game presented by SERVPRO top selections: What a difference a Day makes! Plenty of the names above feasted on the easier conditions on Saturday but regressed in the final round. The breeze was up and the sunshine was out so scores followed suit. Finau had the round of the day with a bogey-free 66, the only bogey-free round on Sunday. PGA TOUR One & Done presented by SERVPRO top selections: It’s a win-win for the Day supporters as their man won and the three horses-for-courses at Quail Hollow Club did not. I was waving my DeChambeau pompoms a bit more vigorously after he holed that 18-footer for birdie on the last to take solo fourth. One of the cheers was for DeChambeau and the other was hoping to catch McIlroy down the road when he turns it on again. Play All 72 Regular readers of this column will know that Nick Watney has now cashed in 11 consecutive events. His best result of that stretch of 10 straight was T20 the last time he played his own ball at the Valero Texas Open. He played in the final twosome and collected his best finish, T2, since he was solo second at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2015. He beat Day by two shots that day. This week he needed a 58-foot putt on the last to drop to chop the runner-up cash. This was Watney’s third top-10 finish at QHC in the last five years so make a note for next year! Close Encounters Rookie Aaron Wise was tied with Day as he teed it up on No. 16. There’s no shame in making three pars to close on “The Green Mile” and that’s exactly what he did. He played his final 16 holes on Sunday in 4 under after bogeying the second hole. The former NCAA champion from Oregon picks up his best finish as a pro and sits inside the top 50 in the FedExCup standings at No. 49.  Bank on Lefty His worst 36-hole total (+2) in 14 appearances probably scared most of his investors to death. His 64-69 weekend saw Phil Mickelson claim another top 10 in Charlotte, the 10th of his illustrious career. Don’t fall into the trap of following him on to TPC Sawgrass, though. His recent record there is dire and his last top 10 was his win in 2007. The Landlord The only two-time champion at this event struggled to find anything in his game this week. Rory McIlroy’s T16 payday is his worst check he’s collected here in eight tries. Even his “bad” is good but he’s forced gamers to set the bar ridiculously high and I understand the frustration. I don’t think next week is time to break him out if he’s struggling across the board. Sunday Silence I don’t think many expected Peter Uihlein to back up his 62 with something tasty on Sunday. He didn’t, but his 71 only dropped him three spots to T5 to match his best finish of the season. … There have been two players over the years that cause gamers to bite their nails on Sunday: Paul Casey and Rickie Fowler. Casey bogeyed the last to fall into a share of T5 while Fowler finished double bogey-bogey to drop all the way to T21. … Peter Malnati held the 36-hole lead alone before 75-74 on the weekend saw him eventually land at T34. … Tiger Woods didn’t make a birdie on Sunday and ended up T55. Study Hall Sunday’s scoring average jumped to 71.973 from 70.368 as QHC played almost 100 yards longer than Saturday. The scoring average for the week was 72.132. … Wise and fellow top-10 finishers Charl Schwartzel (T9) and Sam Saunders (T9) led the field with 19 birdies for the week. … Emiliano Grillo bogeyed his last two holes to collect T9 money. That’s 13 straight paychecks this season when playing his own ball. 

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Six of the top 10 in the FedExCup roll into 7,392-yard, par-72 Muirfield Village Golf Club. In addition to No. 1 Matt Kuchar, No. 3 Xander Schauffele and No. 4 Rory McIlroy, the Memorial will feature five-time winner Tiger Woods, who is chasing what would be a record-tying 82nd PGA TOUR victory, Phil Mickelson, and Bryson DeChambeau, whose win here a year ago kicked off a stretch of four victories in 12 starts. Justin Thomas, coming off a wrist injury, will make his first start since the Masters Tournament. In all, the Memorial boasts 23 of the top 30 in the FedExCup standings. Related: Watch Tiger exclusively Thursday on PGA TOUR Live | The First Look | Power Rankings THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER Tiger Woods – Can he rebound after missing the cut at the PGA? It wouldn’t exactly be shocking, as the Memorial is one of seven TOUR events he’s won five or more times.  Rickie Fowler – Suffered first missed cut in 22 starts at the Charles Schwab Challenge, now looks to bounce back at Muirfield Village, where he was T8 last year and T2 in 2017. Matt Kuchar – The newly-minted 41-year-old is the FedExCup leader and playing in a high-wattage group (Phil Mickelson, Fowler), but Kuchar is the only one to have won here, in 2013. THE FLYOVER The hardest hole on the course, the 484-yard, par-4 18th hole played to a 4.211 stroke average last year, giving up just 51 birdies compared to more than twice as many bogeys (93), doubles (12) and others (five) combined. Add that it’s the hole players must face with the trophy on the line (sometimes more than once in less than an hour, in the case of playoff winner Bryson DeChambeau last year), and it’s all the more challenging. The hard dogleg right plays downhill off the tee, with trees, rough and a creek awaiting left misses, but right misses aren’t great, either, as Kyle Stanley found when he bowed out of the playoff last year. Uphill approaches are played to a large, two-tiered green protected by four bunkers and surrounded by spectators.     LANDING ZONE Hit the fairway on the 529-yard, par-5 15th hole and you’re in business; the players who found the short grass off the tee last year averaged 4.56 strokes on the hole, helping make it Muirfield’s third easiest hole. Players who missed the fairways off the tee averaged 5.06. The hole plays slightly uphill and is cut through a forest, so the ideal tee shot avoids overhanging trees on either side and crests the top of the hill, opening up the possibility of reaching in two for long hitters. WEATHER CHECK From meteorologist Wade Stettner: “Stormy conditions are forecast on Thursday with rain and thunderstorm chances possible through much of the day. It will not be an all-day washout on Thursday, but there will be threats for rain and thunderstorms in the morning and afternoon. Temperatures will be cooler on Thursday with a high in the middle 70s. Dry weather is expected on Friday with partly cloudy skies and comfortable temperatures. There is a chance for scattered thunderstorms on both Saturday and Sunday.â€� For the latest weather news from Muirfield Village, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I learned very quickly there’s not a lot to do in South Florida when you can’t golf or fish. BY THE NUMBERS 1 – Number of players to have won the Memorial and the FedExCup in the same year. Woods did it in 2009.  T15 – Local resident Jason Day’s best result, in 2017, in 10 starts at his hometown tournament. It’s his only top-25 finish. 0 – Number of other courses to have hosted the Presidents Cup (2013), Ryder Cup (1987) and Solheim Cup (1998). Muirfield Village also hosted the U.S. Amateur in 1992. SCATTERSHOTS Rankin honored: Judy Rankin, an LPGA winner, a pioneering golf broadcaster, and widely known as one of the nicest people in the game, will be this year’s Memorial honoree in a ceremony planned for Wednesday. Peter Alliss, a broadcasting legend from the other side of the pond (BBC), will also be honored.   Strong international field on tap: In addition to Australia’s Day (who has adopted Columbus as his hometown), the Memorial will feature a deep roster of European players, including Danny Willett, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Alex Noren. Reigning British Amateur champion Jovan Rebula, nephew of Ernie Els, will make his seventh start as a professional. Brothers Carlos and Alvaro Ortiz of Mexico are in the field, too. Alvaro, the younger of the two, won the 2019 Latin America Amateur Championship to earn a spot in the Masters, where he finished T36. He has since turned pro.     Weather adds intrigue: Storms ripped through Ohio and elsewhere earlier this week, and they didn’t spare Muirfield Village. The course has taken a lot of rain and could get more Thursday and this weekend if the forecast is correct, which could put an added premium on distance off the tee. “This one is going to require a lot of good driving,â€� said five-time Memorial champion Tiger Woods. “It’s going to be soft. Guys are going to be aggressive. The ball is not going to be going anywhere.â€� Added Justin Thomas, “When it’s soft like this, it’s going to favor a long hitter.â€�

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