Opinion & Analysis

Hot & Cold: Where strokes were won and lost at the Wells Fargo Championship

Published

7 years ago

May 6, 2019

In “Hot & Cold,” we’ll be focusing each week on what specific areas of the game players excelled and disappointed in throughout the previous tournament. On Sunday, we saw Max Homa produce a nerveless display at the Wells Fargo Championship to win his first title on the PGA Tour. Here’s a look at where some of the most notable players gained and lost strokes over the four days of action.

Hot

The bedrock of Max Homa’s victory at Quail Hollow was undoubtedly his putter. Armed with his Scotty Cameron T5W, Homa produced the putting display of his life last week, leading the field in strokes gained: putting, with a total of 9.8 strokes gained with the flat-stick. Homa’s previous best performance in this area came in 2014 where he gained 6.7 strokes on the greens at the Safeway. Check out the clubs Homa used to win the Wells Fargo Championship here.

Justin Rose said he wasn’t sure where his game was before teeing off last Thursday at Quail Hollow, but he found out it was in a positive place after four good days and a top-five finish. The Englishman gained over five strokes over the field for his approach play and an impressive 7.3 strokes on the greens. That four day total with the flat-stick is the best of Rose’s career on the PGA Tour.

Heading to Bethpage Black in a couple of weeks, Rickie Fowler’s entire game looks on point. At Quail Hollow, Fowler gained over eight strokes for his play tee to green, which is his best performance in this area of the year. Not since last year’s PGA Championship has Fowler played better tee to green. Look for Fowler to mount a challenge in New York as he once again goes in search of his first major title this month.

Cold

While Rory McIlroy’s T8 finish is by no means poor, the reason why he wasn’t able to win last week at Quail Hollow boiled down to his balky short game. The Ulsterman lost over two strokes to the field both on and around the greens last week. It’s just the second time that McIlroy has lost strokes in either department in 2019.

Phil Mickelson was way off the pace last week in North Carolina, and his major issue came on the greens. Mickelson lost almost two and a half strokes to the field with his flat-stick over the two days he was in town. Worryingly for Lefty is that he has now dropped strokes on the greens in his last four successive events.

Tony Finau was another who was far from his best at Quail Hollow, with the American settling for a T60 finish after struggling for four days. Finau’s major strength, his play off the tee, deserted him in North Carolina, with the Utah native losing over two strokes to the field in this area. That number represents Finau’s worst display off the tee since the 2016 Canadian Open.

Opinion & Analysis

AVL: My U.S. Amateur local qualifying experience

Published

6 days ago

Jun 5, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.

I teed off at 10:48 a.m.. With the 7:30 am tee time, you can get a feel for the leaders’ pace, and they were off and running on the challenging setup at Rock Creek.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.

With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.

Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!

Club Junkie

Building my 2026 gamer WITB: Ranking the contenders and new putter projects – Club Junkie Podcast

Published

1 week ago

Jun 4, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

The annual What’s In The Bag build is underway, and on this episode of Club Junkie, Brian breaks down the clubs currently leading the race for a spot in his 2026 gamer setup. From drivers and fairway woods to irons, wedges, and shafts, he ranks the equipment that’s performing best and explains what’s separating the front runners from the rest of the field.

Brian also heads into the workshop to discuss several putter projects currently on the bench. From head options and shaft choices to build ideas and testing plans, he shares what he’s working on and which putters could become serious contenders for the bag this season.

If you’re a gear junkie who loves equipment testing, club building, and the never-ending pursuit of the perfect setup, this episode is for you.

Follow Club Junkie:
Instagram: @clubjunkiepod
TikTok: @clubjunkiepod
Threads: @clubjunkiepod
X: @ClubJunkiePod

Club Junkie

Tour Edge Exotics mini driver review + TaylorMade Spider ZT Max first look – Club Junkie

Published

2 weeks ago

May 28, 2026

Brian Knudson

On this episode of Club Junkie, I put the new Tour Edge Exotics Mini Driver to the test and break down the performance, forgiveness, distance, and where it fits compared to a traditional driver or strong fairway wood. If you have been curious about adding a mini driver to the bag, this one is worth a look.

I also dive into the new TaylorMade Spider ZT Max putter that was recently spotted and discuss the growing zero torque putter trend. Plus, there is a closer look at the new Project X Titan Yellow shaft showing up on the PGA Tour and what makes it different from other profiles currently out there.