The PGA Tour heads to Charlotte, North Carolina for the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Quail Hollow Club is a familiar stern test that demands both distance and accuracy off the tee. With such a premium on driving at this 7,558-yard par-71, it is no surprise that Rory McIlroy has some of the best course history here. He is one of the most complete drivers of the golf ball to ever live, and that is always rewarded at Quail Hollow.
Below, I have highlighted three golfers who fit this narrative but should not be over the top in terms of ownership. In One & Done pools, hitting on contrarian picks can really set you apart.
Find 2024 Wells Fargo Championship One & Done Picks and analysis below.
2024 Wells Fargo Championship One & Done Picks
Xander Schauffele +1100
Xander Schauffele is a beautiful selection this week for so many reasons. To start, a lot of people have used him already in their pools.
Schauffele is a strong fit this week because he is one of the most complete drivers on Tour, ranking 10th this year in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. If you are into the weeds on a weekly basis, you know how hilarious Schauffele's stats are. Week in and week out, they look impressive, but he still hasn't won since the 2022 Scottish Open.
Nonetheless, Schauffele has thrived in his last two trips here as he tied for 14th in 2021 and was second in 2023. He has incredible upside, even if he gets off to a slow start.
He can surely get off to a great start as he is 17th on Tour in Round 1 Scoring Average, but if not, he is a generational backdoor top finisher. If you still have him available, lock in Schauffele in your 2024 Wells Fargo Championship One & Done Pool.
Patrick Cantlay +2000
Like Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay has as much backdoor top-finish potential as anyone in this field. He also is an elite total driver of the golf ball as he ranked among the top four on Tour in 2023 in both Total Driving and Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. While Cantlay hasn't been driving the ball at that level this season, I have confidence in his game, and he has gained strokes to the field with his driver in five straight events.
Cantlay also has had the iron play to match in the last two. This tells me that Patty Ice is slowly rounding into form. He has done great work on longer East Coast golf courses in his career with wins at Caves Valley and Wilmington Country Club.
The UCLA Bruin has only played this event twice and is yet to crack the top 20. Consequently, his ownership should be relatively low this week.
Quail Hollow makes so much sense for Cantlay, and he has winning upside as well. Outside of Muirfield Village, there is nowhere else where it makes sense to save Cantlay. This is a great spot to run him out if you still have access.
Akshay Bhatia +6000
22-year-old Akshay Bhatia does not have the polished course history or reps to write home about, but he sure does have the game to thrive this week.
Bhatia is one of the best young ball-strikers on Tour and offers the high end driver needed to succeed on this track as he is 34th in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and 19th in Total Driving this season.
He grew up in Wake Forest, North Carolina which gives him the Carolina connection that may just channel the great vibes this week. Bhatia has won on Tour this season at a difficult course in TPC San Antonio (Oaks) and is finding more confidence as the weeks go by.
He is a great longshot option this week and has plenty of upside with extremely low ownership.
