The beautiful Quail Hollow original design by George Cobb © Quail Hollow Club
Lee Westwood 14/1 Eugene Goh
The PGA Tour heads off to Charlotte North Carolina this week and tees up at the Quail Hollow Club, home of Rory McIlroy’s first PGA Tour victory and who can forget that stunning final round of 62 in 2010.
George Cobb originally designed the course in 1961 but the course has undergone a series of improvements and redesigns, including modifications to several holes by Arnold Palmer in 1986 and a redesign by Tom Fazio in 1997.
The course now measures 7,442-yards, its very much a shot shapers course from the tee and around its tree-line doglegs, the greens are very fast here during the tournament so good putters will come to the fore.
This is a track that has four par fives that are all reachable in two and two drivable par fours at the eighth and fourteenth, the 14th measures 346 yards, a 15 acre lake frames the left side of the hole and the rough on that side slopes down to the water. The narrow landing area measures about 27 yards across and is guarded by two bunkers on each side. The two-tiered green has bunkers guarding the left front and middle of the green and a collection area waits just off the right front of the green for short approach shots hit off line. There should be plenty of birdies and eagles this week but don’t expect the pro’s to tear the course apart, the average winning score here is 12.5 under par.
Hunter Mahan 20/1 © Keith Allison
My tips to win:
Hopefully Lee Westwood 14/1 has been working on his putting, tee to green there is no better player on either of the major tours, but it’s taking the many birdie chances that he sets up has been Lee’s problem, something that doesn’t get any better as you get older. I can’t see him winning a major but can see him winning plenty of these types of events
Leading the FedEx rankings at the moment is Hunter Mahan 20/1 its proving to be a great season for the lad from California, with two wins he’s only been outside the Top-25 once in the eight tournaments his played in this year.
2006 winner Jim Furyk 20/1 seems to like Quail Hollow, he also had a runners up here in 2005 and has not been outside the Top-25 here since 2008 so obviously a track he loves to play on and comes into this making the Top-15 in his last four outings.
My each-way tips:
Another player who is in great form is Cameron Tringale 66/1 who has finished in the Top-10 in his last three tournaments he also tied forth at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier in the year. Cameron who wanted to be an actor seems to be doing well playing golf just at the minute and his first Tour win could be just round the corner.
I was surprised to see Ben Curtis 80/1 at these odds, he seems to be in a very rich vain of form after his recent win at the Texas Open, but he has also had another two Top-15 finishes and was a runner up here at Quail Hollow back in 2008.
Another Top-25 finish last week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans sees Brendon de Jonge 80/1 making my outside bet. I have tipped Brendon a couple of times this year and he’s not quite put four great rounds together yet, but I don’t think he’s that far away and a 69,69,66 finish last week, will see him come into this week in a confident mood.
For updated betting odds during the tournament go to www.planetgolfreview.com
The beautiful Quail Hollow original design by George Cobb © Quail Hollow Club
