The first name on the tee sheet annually at the Wells Fargo Championship when hosted at Quail Hollow Club outside Charlotte, NC, is Rory McIlroy (+750). Closing with 62 in the final round of 2010, the 20-year-old picked up his first TOUR victory on debut at the event. The second of three titles came in 2015 when he ran roughshod over, at the time, a par-72 layout at 7,556 yards. A scalding 61 on Saturday set the course record. His 21-under 267 total established the tournament scoring record and margin of victory mark as he won by seven shots. Producing nothing worse than T16 from nine weekends in 10 visits, he signed for 10-under in 2021, the last time the event was played at Quail Hollow Club, to win for the third time. Owner of nine rounds of 66 or better, eight of nine weekends have gone for top-10 paydays.

Max Homa (+2500) broke through here in 2019, picking up his first TOUR victory. Needing only one prior visit to learn the ropes at Quail Hollow Club (T76, 2015), the big hitter separated himself from a three-way tie after 54 holes to win by three. The highlights of his victory were a 63 in the second round and leading the event in SG: Putting. The winner at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in the DC suburbs last year loves this event regardless of where it is played. Homa did MC in his title defense in 2021.

Jason Day (+2800) didn't play Quail Hollow Club from 2013 until his return at the PGA Championship in 2017 (T9). Whatever he experienced from the Tom Fazio par-71 redesign he must have loved. Returning the following season, he picked up the trophy by posting 12-under and posting all four rounds in the 60s. The Aussie signed for T24 in defense in 2019 to run his streak of T24 or better to four consecutive appearances over 10 years. The streak snapped with MC in 2021, but he's posted 13 of 18 rounds in the red.

Quail Hollow has produced an excellent list of first-time TOUR winners and Rickie Fowler (+3300) is part of that proud history. It's never easy beating McIlroy anywhere but knocking him out in a playoff in 2012 for his first TOUR win was epic. The up-and-comer gave clues with solo sixth on debut in 2010 backed up with T16 in 2011. He popped another streak from 2016 thru 2019 as he cashed T4-T5-T21-T4 before missing out in 2021, ending a streak of eight consecutive weekends of TOUR play.

Nobody loves a horses-for-courses trend more than I do. While there are other winners in the field, Keith Mitchell (+6600) has turned it up each year since his debut in 2018 (T34) and has never missed the weekend. Three rounds in the 60s in 2019, including closing 66-69, saw him claim his first top 10 (T8). In 2021 he posted another 66 in the third round to lead by two after 54 holes. Closing with 1-over 72 saw him slide to T3 as McIlroy stormed from behind with 68 to win, again.

Oddsmaker's Extra

(cuts made/appearances)

Justin Thomas (3/4; +2200): T7 on debut in 2015 comes with T21 in 2018 and T26 in 2021. Extra credit for winning the 2017 PGA Championship here even though August played in different conditions.

Viktor Hovland (1/1; +2000): The par-71 playing 7,521 yards in 2021 didn't bother the Norwegian as he shared third. Three rounds in the 60s were buoyed by T7 GIR and holing almost 350 feet of putts for the week.

Gary Woodland (7/9; +6600): Co-leader after 36 holes last year before settling at T5. Best of the bunch is T4 in 2015. Cashed in his first six appearances at Quail Hollow.

Matt Wallace (1/1; +15000): Co-leader after 36 holes last year on debut before cashing T6. Posted three rounds of 70 or better. Made 17 birdies, same as the winner McIlroy.

Luke List (4/5; +17500): Cashed in three straight at Quail Hollow including T6 in 2021 and T9 in 2018. Of those 12 rounds, six are in red. Big hitter made his debut in 2013 with T16.

Extra Credit:

(only if entered this week)

What to know:

Field of 156 with the top 65 and ties playing the final two rounds.

Quail Hollow Club, designed by George C Bell (1959) and redesigned by Tom Fazio (1997, 2016), plays par-71 (35-36) and tips out at 7,538 yards.

Scorecard is 17 more yards than the 2021 edition. Read Rob Bolton's Power Rankings to learn why.

"The Green Mile" is the moniker for the difficult three-hole finish.

$20 million prize pool with the winner taking home $3.6 million plus 500 FedExCup points.

The PGA TOUR is committed to protecting our fans. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, the National Council on Problem Gambling operates a confidential toll-free hotline that you can reach by phone or text at 1-800-522-4700.