General / Editor / 03 May 2007 / Leave a Comment

Defending champion Jim Furyk's suggestion that the cream usually rises to the top at the near immaculate Quail Hollow could leave punters not looking beyond the favourites for the Wachovia Championship.

The George Cobb-creation, twice renovated by Tom Fazio, is one of the principal reasons why some of the game's top stars will be returning for the fifth year of the tournament's history - a theory endorsed by Furyk.

"It's a simple equation," he said. "It's played on a very, very good golf course. It gets a very, very strong field and always has a very big purse. Those three ingredients make a pretty darn good golf tournament.

"It's a tough, penalising but fair, fun golf course. Everyone likes playing the golf course.

You never hear guys complain about it."
"But if you tell me you get to play on a great golf course against the best players and you get to play for a lot of money, I think I'm going to show up," Furyk added

Furyk's comments were backed up by Tiger Woods, who is back in Charlotte for the third time.
"When you have a great golf course the guys will come, and this is one of the neat golf courses we get to play all year,' Woods said.

Furyk has endured a mixed 2007, picking up three top-10 finishes in his first four events of the year before hitting the buffers in his next three competitions. He picked up again when finishing tied 13th at the US Masters only to miss the cut most recently at the Verizon Heritage.

Such form sees the world number two feature as a 25 outsider at Quail Hollow, with Woods unsurprisingly heading the market as the 4.1 favourite.
Phil Mickelson, who has managed three top-10 finishes in his 10 events so far in 2007, is next best at 13.5.