Wells Fargo Championship: Past Winners, Stats & History

The Wells Fargo Championship is a PGA Tour event which is played at the Quail Hollow Club in the city of Charlotte in North Carolina.

The tournament was established in 2003 and Quail Hollow has been the host course for each season with the exception of 2017 when it was held at Eagle Point Golf Club in the coastal city of Wilmington. This was due to that year’s PGA Championship being held at Quail Hollow.

Banking firm Wells Fargo have backed the tournament since 2008, becoming title sponsors in 2011.

Rory McIlroy is the only player to win more than one Wells Fargo Championship, doing so in 2010, 2015 and 2021. McIlroy’s 2015 victory was a record low of -21 and had the event’s widest winning margin at 7 strokes.

Course Info

Quail Hollow has been used for all but one renewal of the Wells Fargo Championship. It took a break in 2017 whilst work was undertaken to prep it to host that year’s PGA Championship and made its return last season having changed to a par 71 from a par 72 following Tom Fazio’s changes.

That work saw the greens relaid, a brand new hole in the shape of the 167 yard, par three fourth hole, and the fifth hole become a par four from a par five. The reduction in par but increase in length makes Quail Hollow very long indeed for a par 71 and the fact that the long hitting duo of Justin Thomas and Jason Day have won at the North Carolina course is no coincidence. Quail Hollow does pose more than enough of a challenge of strategy, ball striking and short game to ensure that players of all ilks have a chance of scoring well, even if bombers have the edge providing they back their up their power with a solid display of putting.

Rory McIlroy’s win in the 2015 Wells Fargo Championship was both his second at Quail Hollow and the tournament’s record low score. The Northern Irishman set the template for what’s required at Quail Hollow in many ways by making the most of the scoring opportunities provided by the par fives before toughing it out on the other holes. Jason Day also utilised his power on the par fives as did Justin Thomas for his win at the 2017 PGA Championship.

Brian Harman chalked one up for the shorter hitters but his win came at Eagle Point where a different style of golf is favoured. James Hahn’s win followed the same sort of pattern in terms of his golf but he was a very long shot at a general 500/1 compared to the 7/2 that McIlroy went off at in 2015. Day was pretty short at 20/1 but longer odds winners are fairly common at Quail Hollow.

Quail Hollow will test almost all aspects of the games of those competing but in general it’s the first and last shot on every hole that will decide the winner. The best drivers have an instant advantage but they will fail to climb the leaderboard if they do not putt well. The best iron players will have a chance to outscore the field on the par threes as most would jump at the chance to go round them in level par.

Wells Fargo Championship Recent Winners

About the Wells Fargo Championship

Since the Wells Fargo Championship was created in 2003, the PGA Tour event has become one of the most popular tournaments on the Tour, quickly establishing itself as a favourite with many of the top players. The competition is held at the Quail Hollow Golf Club in North Carolina every year, apart from 2017 when Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington hosted the tournament.

The first edition back in 2003 was won by David Toms. The Louisiana man hit 278 to finish two strokes ahead of fellow American Robert Gamez. Over the years, several of the world’s best players have won the Wells Fargo Championship including Vijay Singh from Fiji, Jim Furyk and Rory McIlroy (who won the tournament in 2010 and 2015).

The competition started as the Wachovia Championship, a title it held until the event became the Quail Hollow Championship in 2009 and 2010. From 2011, American multinational financial services company Wells Fargo, who purchased Wachovia in 2018, put their name to the tournament.

Rory’s Magnificent Treble

Only one man has won the Wells Fargo Championship more than once in the tournament’s history. That man is Northern Ireland ace Rory McIlroy, who followed up his 2010 victory with his second title five years later, adding a third in 2021.

McIlroy played outstanding golf on the Sunday to win his first crown in 2010. Rory ended up finishing four strokes ahead of the golfing great Phil Mickelson. Five years later, McIlroy was sensational in North Carolina, hitting a tournament record 267 to win by seven strokes, with Americans Patrick Rodgers and Webb Simpson sharing second spot, albeit some way back.

McIlroy’s third win was a much tighter affair, winning by just a single stroke ahead of Mexico’s Abraham Ancer. The Northern Irishman started the final round two shots behind American Keith Mitchell but a three-under par 68 was enough to secure victory.

Vijay’s Tight Victory

The third Wachovia Championship was one to remember. Fijian legend Vijay Singh was a whopping six shots behind leader Sergio Garcia going into the final round of the 2005 tournament. However, while Garcia struggled in the last round, Singh stepped up to the mark, setting up a playoff with Garcia and Jim Furyk.

Singh held his nerve to prevail and add another PGA Tour title to his trophy cabinet. Singh has had a fabulous career since turning pro way back in 1982 with his two US PGA Championship victories (in 1998 and 2004) and his 2000 US Masters triumph being the big highlights.

Day’s Unforgettable Day in Charlotte

Americans have dominated this tournament on home soil since David Toms won the first event in 2003. In fact, 13 of the 17 Wells Fargo Championships up to and including the 2019 edition have been won by golfers from the United States. Rory McIlroy (twice), Vijay Singh and Jason Day are the only non-Americans to have won this prestigious event.

In 2018, Jason Day became the first Australian winner of the Wells Fargo Championship. Day picked up his second win of the season in a topsy-turvy tournament at the Quail Hollow Club. Despite back-to-back bogeys at the 13th and 14th, Day got his act together to beat American duo Nick Watney and Aaron Wise by two strokes.

Year	Non-American Wells Fargo Championship Winners	Score (To Par)
2005	Vijay Singh	276 (-12)
2010	Rory McIlroy	273 (-15)
2015	Rory McIlroy	267 (-21)
2018	Jason Day	272 (-12)

Tiger Roars Past Rivals

In 2007, Tiger Woods won the Wachovia Championship in North Carolina. Woods hit 275, finishing two shots ahead of Steve Stricker, and four in front of South African-born Slovakian Rory Sabbatini and the great Phil Mickelson.

The following week, Sabbatini said that Woods was “more beatable than ever,” which didn’t really endear him to Tiger. The pair locked horns again a few months after, this time at the 2007 Bridgestone Invitational. Tiger once again got the better of Rory, finishing two strokes ahead of Sabbatini and Englishman Justin Rose.

Kim Seals First PGA Win

A year after Tiger Woods’ one and only success in this tournament, Anthony Kim picked up his first ever PGA Tour victory when he reigned supreme at the 2008 Wachovia Championship.

The Californian was starting to make a real name himself on the Tour, but he really came of age in North Carolina. Kim had a fine tournament, beating Ben Curtis to the number one spot by a big margin of five strokes. Two months later, Anthony won the AT&T National in Maryland.

Fowler Finally Comes Good

Rickie Fowler also picked up his first PGA Tour win at the Wells Fargo Championship. In 2012, the talented Californian won with a birdie on the first extra hole of a playoff with Rory McIlroy and DA Points. Fowler had to wait another three years for his next Tour win, as he prevailed at The Players Championship in May 2015, beating Sergi Garcia and Kevin Kisner in a playoff.