The quail has flown the nest! Quail Hollow, the traditional host venue for the Wells Fargo Championship, won't host the tournament this year. Quail Hollow hosts the PGA Championship this year, so double duty was out of the question.
In its place, Tom Fazio-designed Eagle Point Golf Club plays host this week. The 7,259 yards, par 72 is a marvel of coastal North Carolina geography. Fazio and company made an effort to work with the gently rolling land. The quality of his effort is evidenced by the fact that Eagle Point sits at No. 100 in Golf Digest's top 100. Early indications are this pristine layout emphasizes precise iron play above everything else, but we shall see.
As we don't have any data to go on, speculation as to who the course will favor takes a back seat to player pedigree and recent performance.
Creme de la creme
Adam Scott: $10,000
We haven't seen Adam Scott in action since the Masters, where he tied for ninth. He missed the cut at the Shell Houston Open prior to that thanks to a second-round 77. Scott led the Tour in strokes gained: tee-to-green last year (2.062). And his much beleaguered putting is actually above average this season. Through just 14 measured rounds, Scott is picking up .162 strokes on the field average.
Paul Casey: $9,900
Like Scott, Paul Casey hasn't teed it up since the Masters where he finished sixth, thanks to two sub-70 rounds on the weekend. He tied for 16th at the WGC-Mexico Championship and for 11th at the Honda Classic prior to that. Casey is 16th in strokes gained: tee-to-green (1.216) and 35th in strokes gained: total (.999). He should thrive amid a relatively weak field.
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