‘Dawgs on Tour: Horse and Buggy Edition

Tournament: Wells Fargo Championship, May 6-9, 2021

Course: Quail Hollow Golf Club, par 71, 7,521 yards. About 10 miles due south of downtown Charlotte. Excuse me... uptown Charlotte.

Purse: $8.1 million, $1,485,000 to the winner.

Defending Champ: Max Homa. The golf swing roaster on Twitter is now a 2 time Tour winner, having captured the Genesis Invitational earlier this year. But Homa is defending his 2019 crown, since the 2020 version was canceled due to COVID-19. In that 2019 tournament, Homa broke out of a 3-way tie in the final round, survived a weather delay, and won his first title on an extremely hard golf course.

Fun Fact: UGA’s own Brian Harman won the 2017 Wells Fargo, but at the Eagle Pointe course in Wilmington, NC. The tournament was moved for one year since the course was awarded the 2017 PGA Championship, and the Tour didn’t want to 1) interfere with major course prep work (which can take months) and 2) give any players a preview at a major course prep. Guess what? This happens again in 2022 as Quail Hollow will host the President’s Cup (USA vs. International), so the Wells Fargo will go to the Tidewater area at TPC Potomac. And it will hold the PGA Championship in 2025, so who knows where the Wells Fargo will be contested at any given time. I’m glad I don’t serve on that volunteer tournament committee.

TV Times: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS)

‘Dawgs in the Field: 7. Harris English, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Keith Mitchell, Sepp Straka, Brendon Todd, and Bubba Watson.

This won’t be a total golf takeover at Dawg Sports, but there will be a decent amount of golf content posted. We are in professional major season, the NCAAs start soon, and there’s some international team competition around the corner... all with a prominent presence of current and former Georgia Bulldogs. And that’s what we like to celebrate ‘round here.

This tourney gets a lot of visibility, and it’s warranted. The tournament committee really does a bang up job of accommodations, swag for the pros, and fan experience, plus it runs really smooth. The course has, in the last dozen years, continued to grow in prestige. The redesign made it as tough as you could ask for and in a condition that is rarely rivaled. The fact that it’s now held one major, will host the President’s Cup, and has another major scheduled in the next few years is testament to all of that.

Not to mention the field this week. They’ve attracted an impressive group considering there is a major next week. 7 of the top 10 in FedEx, and 15 of the top 20 will tee it up. Savannah native and former Georgia Bulldog golfer Brian Harman won the 2017 Wells Fargo, and in dramatic fashion. He beat out Dustin Johnson in the process, so it’s one of the better accomplishments in his career. The winner this week will likewise have a prestigious entry in their CV, not to mention pretty rich earnings from one of the bigger purses outside of the majors and WGC events.

So seven former Bulldogs will attack the Green Mile (the 3 finishing holes) and try to take some money out of Wells Fargo. Tune in this weekend if you can, and as always...

GO ‘DAWGS!!!