The PGA Tour heads to Charlotte for the second major of the year, the PGA Championship. The host venue this week will be Quail Hollow Club, host of the 2017 PGA Championship and the annual event now known as the Truist Championship (held last week in Philadelphia with Quail’s major hosting duties). Quail Hollow was designed in 1961 by George Cobb, but it has seen multiple renovations in the years since by Tom Fazio. While it featured Bermudagrass from head to toe for the 2017 PGA Championship, the move to May has called for an overseed, which should decrease the missed fairway penalty and create more scoring opportunities for professionals. Still, Quail Hollow is an incredibly long golf course that measures over 7,600 yards, and upwards of 60 percent of approach shots will be coming from over 175 yards.
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Scottie Scheffler enters the week as the highest-priced player on the DraftKings slate on the heels of a record-setting victory at the Byron Nelson Championship at TPC Craig Ranch. Scheffler is a full $1,000 clear of the reigning Masters champion, Rory McIlroy, who will be looking to capture his sixth major championship victory. Bryson DeChambeau, Ludvig Aberg and defending PGA Championship winner, Xander Schauffele, headline an intriguing crop of challengers.
Let’s dive into the DraftKings slate for the season’s second major championship.
$10,000 range Play: Bryson DeChambeau, $11,500:
Bryson DeChambeau should yield a tremendous advantage off the tee at Quail Hollow, and he has already two top-10 finishes in four appearances at the George Cobb design from his playing days on the PGA Tour. DeChambeau might be the best driver of the ball on the planet, as he has gained over four strokes off in eight straight starts. I would not be the least bit surprised if DeChambeau picked up his third major championship victory this week in Charlotte.
Fade: Ludvig Aberg, $10,800: 
Emilee Chinn
While Ludvig Aberg’s elite upside off the tee is certainly intriguing, his approach play has not looked right for months. The young Swede is coming off a 60th-place finish at the Truist, where he lost 4.3 strokes on approach, and he has now failed to gain a single stroke on approach since his victory in February at the Genesis Invitational. To win a PGA Championship, all aspects of Aberg’s game need to be firing on all cylinders, and his approach play is simply too much of a weakness at the moment.
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$9,000 range Play: Joaquin Niemann, $9,600: 
Chung Sung-Jun
While major success has eluded Joaquin Niemann, the young Chilean is in some of the best form of his career. Niemann is coming off another recent win at LIV Mexico, and he has gained significantly in both ball-striking categories in nearly every start this season. Niemann is far too talented of a player to not perform in majors this long into his career, and Quail Hollow is the perfect entry point for Niemann to find success at the season’s biggest events.
Fade: Jordan Spieth, $9,300:
There have been flashes of brilliance this year with Jordan Spieth, but I still have significant concerns with his approach play. The three-time major winner is coming off a 34th-place finish at the Truist Championship, where he lost nearly five strokes on approach. While Spieth is driving the ball great, and there have been some moderate gains on the greens, his approach play will continue to hold him back in his quest for the Grand Slam.
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$8,000 range Play: Wyndham Clark, $8,500: 
Andrew Redington
Wyndham Clark won the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, and his combination of power off the tee and elite putting upside has proven invaluable at the George Cobb design. While Clark is not playing his best golf at the moment, his course history at Quail Hollow and general skill profile is worthy of a flier at low ownership.
Fade: Jason Day, $8,800:
Jason Day is coming off a last-minute WD last week at the Truist, and this is a fairly robust price tag to pay on a player with considerable health concerns. While Day possesses some of the stronger Quail Hollow course history in this field, his ball-striking has been inconsistent all season, particularly his long iron approach play.
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Courtesy of PGA of America Private Quail Hollow Club Charlotte, NC 4.2 14 Panelists
- Second 100 Greatest
- Best In State
Few golf course projects had more national attention in recent years than Quail Hollow, mainly because its front nine was redesigned just a year before it hosted the 2017 PGA Championship. The par-4 first and par-3 second holes were completely torn up, replaced by a new long dogleg-right par-4 opening hole. Several acres of pines to the left of the fifth tee were removed to make room for a new par-3 fourth. (With its knobby green fronted by three traps, it proved to be the most frustrating hole for pros in the 2017 PGA.) More pines were removed to the left of the par-4 11th, replaced by bunkers, and even more trees chopped down on a hill left of the par-4 18th to make room for money-making hospitality boxes. There’s no question that this latest remodeling, rushed though it was, improved the course. Quail Hollow hosted the 2022 Presidents Cup (the order of the holes were rearranged to ensure the majority of matches would reach the vaunted Green Mile, 16-18) and the 2025 PGA Championship. View Course $7,000 range Play: Robert MacIntyre, $7,500: 
Andrew Redington
Robert MacIntyre’s power off the tee and long iron approach play make him a great fit for Quail Hollow and PGA Championship setups in general. MacIntyre finished top 10 at Valhalla last year, and while he is not in his best form, a Sunday 67 at Philadelphia Cricket Club was a perfect momentum builder for the Scotsman.
Fade: Sahith Theegala, $7,900:
This is a fairly ridiculous price for Sahith Theegala in his current form, who is coming off a WD in Philly. In 14 starts this year, Theegala has failed to record a single top-10 finish, and his ball-striking has been mired in inconsistency all season. There are far more trustable options in this price range.
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$6,000 range Play: Kurt Kitayama, $6,200: 
Richard Heathcote
Kurt Kitayama is another bomber off the tee with elite long iron upside, and prior high-end finishes at Congaree, Bay Hill and Oak Hill, prove that he is more than capable of navigating another long and difficult golf course against a strong field.
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$5,000 range Play: Sami Valimaki, $5,500: 
Ross Kinnaird
Sami Valimaki is the perfect salary saver to take a flier on this week. Valimaki ranks top 20 in this field in both proximity from 200 yards plus and putting from five to 15 feet, two skill-sets that make him an intriguing sleeper at Quail Hollow this week.
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Andy Lack is a PGA Tour writer and podcaster from New York City who now resides in Los Angeles. Andy is the founder and CEO of Inside Sports Network, a website devoted to the predictive quality of advanced analytics and golf course architecture. He came to Golf Digest’s betting panel after previously writing for Run Pure Sports, RickRunGood.com, the Score and GolfWRX. In his free time, Andy can likely be found on a golf course. Follow him on Twitter: @adplacksports
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
