2023 Wells Fargo Championship: Predictions, expert picks, odds, field rankings, best bets at Quail Hollow

The Wells Fargo Championship returns to Quail Hollow Club after a one-year hiatus

The PGA Tour schedule really heats up as the calendar flips to May, beginning with the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship this week. In what will be the last start for many of the best players before the second major championship of the year -- the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club -- Quail Hollow Club will provide a stern examination of all aspects of one's game.

An omission from last year's playing schedule while hosting the 2022 Presidents Cup, Quail Hollow has been a welcomed spot for many of the top names in this field. Rory McIlroy headlines the action as the world No. 3 player makes his first start since a disappointing missed cut at the 2023 Masters. McIlroy withdrew from the field at the RBC Heritage without reason, and has been an omission from the weekend in four of the eight designated events thus far.

This should be an ideal landing spot for McIlroy, however; he claimed his first victory at Quail Hollow and has since won twice more including 2021 when the tournament was last held outside the Queen City. Rickie Fowler and Max Homa are a pair to have first entered the winner's circle on this property while Jason Day's last win came here in 2018.

While the top two players in the world -- Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler -- have decided against traveling to North Carolina, in their place are Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Tony Finau, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and many more.

Event information

2023 Wells Fargo Championship field, odds

• Rory McIlroy (13/2)
• Patrick Cantlay (12-1): Honestly a little surprised Cantlay added the Wells Fargo Championship to his schedule given the fatigue he cited in his last outing at the Zurich Classic. This will be the world No. 4's second tournament appearance but fourth competitive stroll around Quail Hollow when factoring in the 2022 Presidents Cup and 2017 PGA Championship. Cantlay has now collected seven straight top-20 finishes dating back to the Genesis Invitational, four of which were good enough for top-four efforts. Over the last three months, he ranks behind only Rahm and Scheffler in total strokes gained and is second on the PGA Tour in strokes gained tee to green.
• Tony Finau (14-1): Finau won in back-to-back weeks late last summer and should have a real opportunity to do so again. Claiming his fifth victory in his last 41 starts at the Mexico Open, the 33-year-old became just the fourth multiple-time winner on the PGA Tour this season joining Rahm, Scheffler and Homa. He is the best iron player in this field over not only the last three months but also the last six months. For one reason or another, it has never clicked for Finau at Quail Hollow — he only has one top 20 in seven showings — but he's confident and primed to claim one of these designated events.
• Cameron Young (15-1)
• Xander Schauffele (16-1)
• Viktor Hovland (18-1)
• Jordan Spieth (20-1): This is the start of a very busy stretch for the world No. 10. Given his ties to the Lone Star State, Spieth will be teeing it up each of the next five weeks with two Texas events, two designated events and the elephant in the room: the PGA Championship and the final leg of his career grand slam hopes. However, this may be a good thing because Spieth is playing some of his best golf in recent memory. A loser to Matt Fitzpatrick in a playoff at the RBC Heritage, Spieth's play in Hilton Head followed up strong efforts at the Masters, the Valspar Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Over the last 20 rounds, he ranks behind only Scheffler in total strokes gained.
• Collin Morikawa (22-1)
• Jason Day (22-1)
• Justin Thomas (22-1): The memories should be fond for Thomas, who claimed the first of two Wanamaker Trophies at Quail Hollow in 2017. Despite the return to such a special location, Thomas still possesses many red flags in his game. His putter has been atrocious, and while his iron play looks strong on paper (and is), it falls short of his historical levels. There's a real chance he is beginning to put too much pressure on his approach play given his shortcomings on the greens. The recently turned 30-year-old hasn't been in contention on Sunday since last June. That's almost a year.
• Sungjae Im (25-1)
• Matt Fitzpatrick (25-1)
• Sam Burns (25-1)
• Max Homa (28-1): He's a two-time Wells Fargo Championship winner albeit at two different golf courses. Fending off Keegan Bradley and Co. outside the nation's capital en route to victory last year, Homa claimed a multiple-win season for the first time in his career. He has already won twice this season, but Homa is beginning to show some cracks in the armor. He's now missed two straight cuts and hasn't looked like his normal self since the end of the Florida Swing. He's been poor off the tee, worse on the greens and suspect with his irons. 

2023 Wells Fargo Championship expert picks

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