All's Wells That Ends Wells
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy brought the Quail Hollow club to its knees this week as he romped to a seven-shot victory over Americans Webb Simpson and Patrick Rodgers. His win was his 11th on TOUR and his second in his last three events. A trio tied for fourth two farther shots behind; T7 was 10 shots off the pace.
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy set course and tournament records this week at the Quail Hollow Club in winning the Wells Fargo Championship for the second time in six years. His 61 on Saturday broke his co-course record, 62, he had shared with Brendon de Jonge; his 267 broke Anthony Kim’s tournament record by a whopping five shots.
McIlroy entered the weekend three shots off the pace set by Simpson and Robert Streb at 10-under. After Saturday there wasn’t much argument about who was going to win on Sunday. McIlroy made 11 birdies and shot 61 to set the course record he already shared. He was so good on Saturday that he admitted in his post-round presser that he was thinking about shooting 59 on No. 14 tee. That’s strong. His par-par finish saw him settle for 60 and a four-shot lead on Quail Hollow member Webb Simpson.
Sunday was a coronation much less a golf tournament, at least for first place. CBS opened their coverage admitting as much and the first five minutes were spent celebrating Jim Nantz’s 60th birthday with a cake and gift from Nick Faldo. McIlroy didn’t disappoint the birthday boy as he laced fairway after fairway, green after green and hole just enough putts to make five more birdies and shoot 69 to win by seven shots.
Quail Hollow played in perfect shape as the two year old greens were very solid and they hadn’t been drenched with rain. The weather was warm and tasty and the wind was never a factor, hence the perfect scoring conditions that McIlroy exploited like the world’s best that he is. The top 12 players all fit into the “long off the tee” category with just two exceptions so Quail did flex its muscle this week.
Just four weeks ago the golfing world was wondering if Spieth was ready to unseat McIlroy as the world’s best player after his runaway win at Augusta. McIlroy’s rebuttals, PLURALY, have been dusting Gary Woodland in the Match Play final and turning Quail Hollow upside down this week to win by seven shots.
Why This Performance Doesn’t Surprise:
When McIlroy is involved it can’t! This was his sixth trip to Quail Hollow and fifth time he’s played the weekend. His finishes are WIN-MC-T2-T10-T8-WIN. When the No. 1 player is also the horse for course gamers couldn’t be happier. His three biggest wins are by eight, eight and now seven shots. They have all come on courses of epic length (Kiawah, Congressional and Quail Hollow) and he’s set the tournament record at all three events.
Why This Performance Surprises:
Nitpicking only, McIlroy, by his own admission, was concerned about his laboring putter after picking apart TPC Sawgrass tee-to-green but finding no love with the flat stick. For those gamers wondered if there was too much travel and too many high-level events in a row, McIlroy squashed any future concerns in that department as well.
How McIlroy Won This Week:
He made 16 birdies.
On the weekend.
He made 27 for the week, a new tournament record, breaking his own (tied with Vijay Singh, 2003) from 2010 of 25.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, he played rounds two and three bogey-free. He made four bogeys for the week (two on Thursday and Sunday) and one double (Thursday) and was in complete control of his golf ball.
He led the field in the following categories:
Birdies (27)
Bogeys (4)
Driving Distance (321.1)
Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (SGTTG)
Strokes Gained: Total (SGT)
Sand Saves (4/4)
Just for laughs I’ll include that he was T2 in GIR and seventh in putts per GIR to round off his dominance in every facet.
Moving Forward
There will be ZERO buyers’ remorse this week as he was FANTASY GOLD across every format. Hell, even the OAD people will be happy with his $1.278 million even though they won’t have a chance to use him in any of the three remaining majors! Gamers won’t have to worry about much as he won’t be back on the PGATOUR until the U.S. Open and the first look at Chambers Bay. He’s the defending champion next week at European PGA at Wentworth so you’re first pick in the second event at the Golf Channel game is already made!
With This Win:
His 11th victory on TOUR is the third-most before the age of 27 as he trails Tiger Woods (29) and Jack Nicklaus (17). He is now the most decorated international player in history before the age of 30 as he surpasses Gary Player (10) with the most victories. He pockets the cash and moves into third in the FedExCup standings.
Déjà vu All Over Again?
After 28 wins in 45 events last season, the USA has continued the dominance this year but not this week. Brooks Koepka, Bill Haas, Jimmy Walker, Patrick Reed, Charley Hoffman, Bubba Watson, Ryan Moore, Robert Streb, Ben Martin, Brandt Snedeker, James Hahn (born in Korea; US citizen), Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Matt Every, Walker again, J.B. Holmes, Spieth again, Jim Furyk and Rickie Fowler are the USA champs. Alex Cejka (Germany), Paddy Harrington (Ireland), Sangmoon Bae (Korea), Nick Taylor (Canada), Jason Day (Australia) Justin Rose (England) and McIlroy times two (Northern Ireland) are the eight international winners in 27 events. It’s quite the global game in the sense that all seven international winners have come from seven DIFFERENT countries.
Haas, Bae, Martin, Moore, Walker and now Spieth have closed their 54-hole leads. Walker and Spieth are the only persons on BOTH sides of his list. Walker couldn’t close out at HTOC but came back and won the following week at Sony. Spieth, who was 0-4 with the 54-hole lead in his career on TOUR, couldn’t hold out at SHO before winning the Masters. McIlroy has now closed out seven of nine 54-hole leads in his career. STEP ON THE THROAT.
After 13 first-time winners in 2013 there were only 10 last year. After 23 events in 2015, Martin, Streb, Taylor, Koepka, Hahn and Cejka have made their breakthroughs. Patrick Rodgers, playing on a sponsor’s exemption gave a valiant effort in his career-best finish of T2.
McIlroy becomes the first multiple winner in 12 tries (13 events) at Quail Hollow.
He also continues the trend of twenty-somethings winning here as he just turned 26 two weeks ago.
Defending champion J.B. Holmes kept the bizarre streak of defending champions stinking up the join afloat as he MC (69-76). That’s now five of the last six champs who didn’t make the weekend. If you knew that Derek Ernst (T30 in 2014) was the only champ to avoid this fate, buy yourself a beer.
McIlroy becomes just the fifth 54-hole leader to close the deal in 13 events. The other eight didn’t break par.
McIlroy should refer to the final three holes as the Green Smile as he’s now won a ton of cash in his five weekends navigating that stretch.
Lucas Glover remains the only winner to put all four rounds in the 60s. Think about that for a minute: McIlroy set the tournament record by FIVE shots and didn’t put all four rounds in the 60s. (70-67-61-69). Wow.
Young Guns Versus Prime Time Versus Old Guys
I annually keep track of the age of the winners on TOUR because I’m an ageist. GET OFF MY VIAGRA.
Bae got the youngsters (under 30) on the board first in 2014-15 followed by Martin and Streb, both 27. Nick Taylor, 26, popped in to close out 2014 at SFC. Reed joined the party at a whopping 24 at HTOC followed by Koepka, 25 in Phoenix and Jason Day, 27, at Torrey Pines. Spieth, who turns 22 on 29 July, has won at Valspar and Augusta. McIlroy turned 26 on Monday, May 4. Fowler, 26, and now McIlroy again have made it three in a row. The youngsters now have 11 winners in 27 events this year.
Dustin Johnson (30), James Hahn (33), Brandt Snedeker (34), Bill Haas (32), Jimmy Walker TWICE (36), Charley Hoffman (37), Bubba Watson (36), Ryan Moore (31), Matt Every (31), J.B. Holmes (32) and Justin Rose (34) are the prime time guys with silverware (30-39 years).
The old guys (40-and-over) have Jim Furyk, Paddy Harrington and Alex Cejka as representatives in their smallish club in 2015. Phil Mickelson gave it another course-horse shot this week as the 44-year-old finished T4.
Hindsight
What I learned from the finishers in the top 10 this week:
Patrick Rodgers: This was his 23rd event as a pro and only his 13th on TOUR. A solo second would have secured him Special Temporary Membership but he’s in the field the next three weeks and could gain enough $$$ in those starts to reach that mark. If he gains STM, he’ll get UNLIMITED sponsor’s exemptions for the rest of the 2015 season. He would NOT be eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs UNLESS he wins a TOUR event. He’ll play next week at Colonial on a sponsor’s exemption as a former Ben Hogan award winner, the following week at HPBNC because of his top 10 and he’ll wrap up three in a row at Memorial as the Nicklaus award winner from his college days. His 11 wins at Stanford (skipped his senior year) tied Woods for the most in school history. He turned pro in 2014 and won his first tournament earlier this year in Colombia. He’s played on every major amateur team and has the pedigree to become a big-time player. He should already be gone in every keeper league but if he isn’t, I’d go right ahead as he’s only 10 points short of membership.
Webb Simpson: With only one round in the 60s in his last two at Quail following his T4 in 2012, I wasn’t sure the home course advantage was valid this week. Entering the week off a spring of T7-T43-T28-T51-T17-T66 didn’t inspire much confidence either. Heck, the T66 at THEY PLAYERS was AFTER a closing round 69! He must have found something as he opened the week 67-67-68 before closing with 72 to share second. Gamers who don’t pay attention and went with the “major champion on his home course angle” will think they are geniuses this week; make sure you bet against them if this is their weekly theory. Simpson has proven again that gamers trying to take his temperature on a weekly basis will tear their hair out. His all-or-nothingness started last season and has been alarmingly consistent. I’m not sure what the motivation is anymore for him. His last back-to-back top 10s were in the early days of the 2013-14 season. Be careful. No North Carolina native or resident has ever won here in 13 tries.
Gary Woodland: Speaking of consistency, Woodland fits right in that same category as well. After falling to McIlroy in the Match Play final, the big hitter crashed and burned at TPC Sawgrass (79-74) where he was 11th last year. Gamers can mark Woodland down as horse-for-course as T4 this year adds to 73rd-T68-T61-T18 over the last six years. Anyone notice a pattern? After seven bogeys opening 70-71 he rallied for 10 birdies and one bogey for 68-67 to close. What was the big turnaround this week? Simple, he led the field in SGP and that combined with his power is an awesome recipe around Quail Hollow.
Phil Mickelson: Other than the U.S. Open Quail Hollow is the scene of Mickelson’s most top 10s without a victory. No wonder why gamers thought he was a smart OAD pick this week! His T4 rewarded the faithful, which included yours truly, as he reinforced that he’s VERY comfortable on certain tracks and not so comfortable on others. This was his first non-major top 10 since 2013 (The Barclays) so there’s the proof. Now that I’ve burned him in OAD I happily don’t have to worry where I’m going to use him down the road! This was his 12th start and eighth top 10 at Quail Hollow; six of those are top five including this week. He’ll be 47 at the PGA Championship here in 2017. Heck, he’ll probably be the Presidents Cup captain here in 2021!
Robert Streb: Hey, look! Another sub-30 bomber and quality putter inside the top 10! The 36-hole co-leader entered the week with MC in four of his last nine starts after his sizzling start to the year. His best finish of those five weekends was T30 last week at THE PLAYERS. During that nine event run he had two rounds in the 80s and three in the 60s so anyone who had him going this week needs to buy a lottery ticket. He played the weekend in two-under and was T4; McIlroy played the weekend 14-under. He was second in SGP and T6 GIR while only hitting 43% of the fairways. No wonder why Phil loves it here too! #escapability
Geoff Ogilvy: He entered the week never missing a weekend in 10 tries in Charlotte. He’s now 11-for-11 with his best-ever finish, T4, so gamers that used him to fill rosters this week should be commended. He cost himself solo third with a double on the final hole and it didn’t help he started Saturday with a double either. He only made six bogeys on the week thanks to a solid week on the greens. He entered the week 190th in SGP but was T3 this week. Think that made any difference? He’s now made seven of nine cuts in 2015 including back-to-back top 25s (T24-T7). He didn’t fire over par at TPC Sawgrass and he put all four rounds under par this week. Hmmmmmmm…
Justin Thomas: He’s Rodger’s roommate. He’s boys with Spieth. GET ON THIS MAN’S TEAM AND GOOD THINGS HAPPEN PEOPLE!! He weighs 150 lbs. and has NO problems getting the ball around courses of any length. Did I mention he’s just 22 as well? Ok. He’s 19th in driving distance and 71st in SGP. Still not convinced? He’s fourth in the all-around ranking. He’s the same kid who made 10 birdies last week, a record for a round, at THE PLAYERS. Did I mention he’s 22? He shares a room in Range Rover weekly with Daniel Berger because each week one or the other is hitting the top 10. He’s now played 19 events and seen 14 weekends. Of those 14, 10 have gone for top 25s and half of those are top 10s including T7 this week. Nobody reading this column for a second time should be the least bit surprised.
Kevin Streelman: Another from the course form category, Streelman was T6 in 2013 and T14 last year and none of those rounds were above par. His T9 this year keeps the faith in the angle that some guys just take to certain courses as he entered the week off T12 at Augusta backed with T55 and MC. This was his first top 10 in 15 events since he was second in Las Vegas last fall. Circle him for the Travelers if you haven’t already.
Shawn Stefani: He showed flashes of brilliance here last year as he opened 69-68 before 75-75 killed his chances. His T9 this week was his fifth T26 or better in his last six starts on TOUR so he’s been quietly going about his business. He’s 12th in birdie average, 14th in scoring average and seventh in the all-around. His career year continues and the next stop will be breaking his maiden.
Jason Bohn: He’s the third from Course Horses to hit the top 10 this week joining Streelman and Ogilvy. Bohn makes it seven weekends from 12 tries and his T9 is his third top 10 in his last eight. He entered the week T55-MC-MC so this was a play based on one thing and one thing only. Not a bad finish for a guy who only made 11 birdies! His four eagles didn’t hurt…#pyrite
Brendan Steele: Welcome back, Brendan! The two hardest things to do in fantasy golf: Get off a guy who’s playing well and get back on a guy before he starts playing well. Steele’s T9 came with bogeys on two of the last three holes but will be a relief to season-long gamers who endured back-to-back MCs in his last two. Chalk up another top 25 (7) and a top 10 (3) for the season.
Chalk Dust
A quick recap of what happened to the Chalk from my preview column:
Rory McIlroy: Win, see above.
Henrik Stenson: Another week, another disappointment from a guy who should have been healthy and is in the top five in strokes gained everything. His T58 is even more disheartening knowing that he played the final three holes two-under-par, was T6 in fairways and T11 GIR. Don’t look up his putting numbers. Just don’t.
Jim Furyk: He missed the weekend for the first time in seven events in Charlotte as his 72-76 wasn’t close. His up-and-down season continues as he’s backed up his win at RBC and fourth at Match Play with T56 on his home course and MC this week where he was second last year and has been T26 or better the last six years. Ouch.
Kevin Kisner: After losing in playoffs twice in his last four events, including last week at THE PLAYERS, he gets a pass for not firing this week. The reason he was in this position is because he played himself into it (P2-T28-P2). His T38 this week is nothing to be bummed out about. His inability to kill any wild hogs with Boo Weekly on Monday was disappointing, though. He’s 19th in the FedExCup standings and continues to add to his career year.
Hideki Matsuyama: Ho-hum, another top 25 as the young Japanese checked in at T20. All four rounds were par or better as he improved on his T38 maiden voyage last year. He’s now made 14 cuts from 15 attempts this year and 12 of them have been top 25s. Ding.
J.B. Holmes: Once again proves that the defending champion here should be omitted. He’s the fifth defender in six events to WD/MC; Derek Ernst’s T30 is the best on record. Weird.
Bill Haas: He couldn’t keep the momentum of T4 at THE PLAYERS going and a possible top 25 evaporated on Sunday with 42 coming home. His T68 was highly disappointing for a guy who had played in all 12 of these. He didn’t have a good week ball-striking or on the greens. #MrObvious
Ryan Moore: His bogey-bogey finish knocked him from T28 to T47 but this is five straight years playing the weekend at Quail Hollow so he’s figured out how to get around this joint.
Patrick Reed: He opened with eight birdies and 66 and I thought he was going to be a large factor this week. He made six birdies the rest of the week and finished T58. This was his worst finish since T74 at the DBC last Labor Day weekend. No ball-striking and an ice-cold putter didn’t help.
Adam Scott: Aussie Ben Everill told me via Twitter that his countryman is not too fond of the new shafts he’s using in his irons. New parent. Married just over a year. New life. Putter issues. New caddy. Something is quite wrong. He hit SEVEN of 28 fairways. MC. Please press panic season-long gamers!
Justin Thomas/Daniel Berger: This coupled entry will be in Range Rover just about every week. Check on Thomas above as he hit the top 10; Berger entered Sunday T14 and looked to chase down his contemporary but going out in 38 killed any momentum he created in the first three days. He still finished T28 after MC last week at THE PLAYERS.
Jason Kokrak: I apologize for throwing the spotlight on again. The last time I got excited he MC at Shell. Just when I thought the Charlotte resident was figuring it out he’s MC in three of his last four. Absence makes the heart grow fonder; he’ll be absent from my list next week.
Phil Mickelson: T4, see above.
Pat Perez: After making the cut on the number Perez continued his excellently steady run of form by playing the weekend six-under to finish T20. He adds this to T20 at a difficult Valero, T11 SHO, T26 RBC and T17 last week at THE PLAYERS so he needs to be on your radar. Remember, there is PLENTY of value in guys who bang T26s or better so use them!
George McNeill: He’d like to have his Saturday round back. He began the day just four shots out of the lead and EVERYONE was going low. His 75 on Saturday knocked him to T39 but he rallied with 70 on Sunday to finish T28. Make it five T28 or better in nine tries at Quail and 11 of 12 weekends in 2015 including the last six in a row. #heater
Coming TUESDAY
I’ll publish my weekly preview, Range Rover, around lunchtime, children permitting. I’ll focus on history, current form, course characteristics, winning qualities and those who I think will and will not.
Coming TUESDAY Afternoon
Playing the Tips will be up and running this and every Tuesday late afternoon and will list all of the Rotoworld experts picks in the GolfChannel.com game, the Yahoo! Fantasy Golf game, DFS plus the European Tour! Oh, and my One-and-Done feature. Look for it every Tuesday until the Presidents Cup.
Coming Wednesday
And the analysis doesn't end here. Rotoworld's Rob Bolton and I will be co-hosting a one-hour live chat Wednesday at NOON ET. We will be breaking down the field at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial plus answering your questions. Simply return to the golf home page to join in on the chatter. Don’t forget to follow Rob (http://twitter.com/RobBoltonGolf) and Glass (http://twitter.com/mikeglasscott) on Twitter.
