The PGA Tour continues this week as it visits TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm for the 2022 Wells Fargo Championship. Read on below to see our prediction for who will win the tournament, as well as our predictions for who will finish in the top 10, our dark horse, and our player to fade.
Winner: Rory McIlroy- Fresh off a runner-up performance at The Masters, McIlroy enters the week as a heavy favorite, as he has 3 wins and 8 top 10’s in 10 career starts at the Wells Fargo Championship. Even though the tournament has moved to TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, McIlroy’s game has been particular sharp on tour this season, as he is currently ranked 9th in Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green and 7th in Strokes Gained: Total. You’ve got to ride the hot hand sometimes and there may be nobody hotter on tour than McIlroy after his closing 64 at The Masters. New course, same old story, as Rory McIlroy will win the Wells Fargo Championship for a fourth time!
Top 10: Keith Mitchell- Mitchell has put together a solid season on tour to this point, with 4 top 10’s and 7 top 25’s in 15 starts. TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm sets up as a course for excellent ball-strikers and Mitchell certainly fits the bill, as he is currently ranked 2nd in Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee and is hitting 69.57% of his Greens In Regulation, good enough for 27th on tour. Mitchell has finished in the top 10 each of the last two years at the Wells Fargo Championship and is primed for another top 10 performance this week.
Dark Horse: Sung Kang- Currently ranked #479 in the Official World Golf Rankings, Kang has been slumping, missing the cut in 6 of his last 8 starts, as well as earning just 1 top 25 finish in 21 starts this season. Surprisingly, there is room for optimism. Kang finished inside the top 5 in both 2017 and 2018 when TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm hosted the now defunct Quicken Loans Invitational. A win would be out of the question given Kang’s recent form, but Kang has a game that seems suited for this course and I predict he will recapture some of his past mojo on the way to a top 30 finish this week.
Player to Fade: Larkin Gross- Making just his second career PGA Tour start this week, Gross earned his invite to the Wells Fargo Championship due to him currently being the reigning PGA Section Champion/Player of the Year. Gross will definitely be a feel good story, but he has no chance of winning, let alone sniffing the cut line. Shooting 80-84 in his lone start in the 2021 PGA Championship, I predict that Gross will struggle in a field filled with top tier players and miss the cut this week.