Golf Tips: Best bets for Wells Fargo Championship and Canary Islands

Wells Fargo Championship: Riviera form the key to success at Quail Hollow

The PGA Tour heads to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Wells Fargo Championship this week and Steve Rawlings has the lowdown ahead of Thursday's start.

Steve says: "The roll of honour here is a real mixed bag. Major winners David Toms, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, Tiger Woods, Lucas Glover, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day have all won the title and we've seen several really top-class winners too but this event has produced four separate results that have had us all scratching our heads.

"The 2004 edition saw 200/1 shots Joey Sindelar and Aaron Oberholser playoff to decide the outcome, in 2013, 1000.0999/1 shot, Derek Ernst beat 350.0349/1 chance, David Lynn, in extra time, five years ago, another player matched at 1000.0999/1 before the off, Hahn, beat 600.0599/1 shot, Roberto Castro, in a playoff, and as already stated, Homa was 1000.0999/1 when he won two years ago, with 140.0139/1 shot, Joel Dahman, the only other player to trade at odds-on.

"As many as three of the last seven winners have gone off at 1000.0999/1 so if you fancy a rank outsider here, don't be afraid to go for it.

"Bubba Watson has been backed at a high of 120.0119/1 but he's been steadily shortening up since the market opened so he's too short now for the column. In addition to his course form and correlating course form, he appears to be in good heart if his 13th place in the Valspar last week is anything to go by so I've chanced him at 85.084/1."

Steve's bet: Back Bubba Watson @ 85.084/1

Wells Fargo Championship First-Round Leader Tips: Make it Moore

Who's going to make a strong start in North Carolina on Thursday? Dave Tindall has three each-way picks to be First Round Leader at the Wells Fargo Championship.

Dave says: "The idea that the same player can make fast starts in the same tournament has been a theme in the last few weeks.

"For the fourth time in his career, Justin Rose emerged as the first-round leader at Augusta National after firing a 65.

"And last week at the Valspar Championship, Keegan Bradley made what is now an annual fast start. A 64 gave him the 18-hole lead for the second time in the last five appearances and his other end-of-round-one positions were 6-5-6.

"So, having twice had a piece of the first-round lead at Quail Hollow, I'm going to hope Ryan Moore follows suit and hits the ground running again this year.

"Moore is no stranger to low scores on day one. He's been the first-round leader in two of his last 31 starts after topping the R1 leaderboard at the Barracuda Championship in August 2020 and Memorial Tournament in June 2019.

"And we have very recent evidence of him finding an early groove after a 66 put him second after Thursday's play in last week's Valspar Championship."

Dave's bet: Back Ryan Moore E/W @ 91.090/1 for first round leader

Find Me a 100 Winner: Matt's the man at Quail Hollow

Steve makes three long odds selections for the Wells Fargo Championship including a recent winner, a legend of the game and a wager at over 700/1.

Steve says: "He's not the most prolific, with only two PGA Tour wins to date, but Matt Jones has undergone long periods of poor form which goes a long way to explain why his seventh in this event in 2010 is his best effort here to date.

"Jones has been lightly raced this year and since his victory in Florida, we've seen him only once, finishing a respectable 26th in the US Masters in only his second appearance at Augusta following a missed cut in 2014.

"It's always hard to gauge a player's wellbeing after a break but the course should suit and he was in fine fettle before his month off. I was very surprised to be able to back him at 110.00109/1 - a bigger price than he was when winning the Honda - and he's a fairly confident selection."

Steve's bet: Back 2u Matt Jones @ 110.0109/1 Place order to lay 10u @ 10.09/1 & 10u @ 2.35/4

Wells Fargo Championship Each-Way Tips: Webb can win at Quail Hollow

Dave Tindall, who's been in sparkling form with his PGA Tour tips recently, has three each-way selections for the Wells Fargo Championship with a local at the top of the list.

Dave says: "There's absolutely no doubt that Webb Simpson can rise to the occasion in front of his home North Carolina people. What he does want each time he plays here is to arrive in decent nick. And that's the case.

After a solid tied 12th at Augusta National, the former US Open winner finished tied ninth when defending his title at The Heritage - another event in the Carolinas of course.

Looking at the stats, putting has been a key skill at Quail Hollow. Max Homa ranked 1st for SG: Putting when winning the most recent edition in 2019 while 2018 champ Jason Day was 2nd for SGP. In addition, Justin Thomas was 4th for SG: Putting when winning the 2017 PGA Championship held here.

Par 4 Scoring is another key. Four of the last six winners ranked 1st on the Par 4s while the other two of that half-dozen were 4th and 5th. Simpson is 18th on the season-long SG: Putting stats and also 18th for Par 4 Scoring.

Given all those credentials it would be easy to see him around the 16/1-18/1 mark so I'm happy enough to take the local man at 22s.

Dave's bet: Back Webb Simpson each-way @ 23.022/1

Wells Fargo Championship 2021: Your form guide for the PGA Tour event in North Carolina

Andy Swales brings you course and current form stats for the PGA Tour's trip to Quail Hollow, one of golf's most highly-regarded venues.

Andy says: "There are plenty of golfers who will arrive in Charlotte with a strong course history, none more so than McIlroy.

"Turning 32 on Tuesday, McIlroy is a two-time winner of this event. He's also posted five other top-10s here.

"Without a victory since November 2019, the Northern Irishman will be hoping that Quail Hollow reignites that confidence so lacking in recent months."

Rory McIlroy @ 21.020/1 to win the Wells Fargo Championship

Canary Islands Championship: Improved putting points to Pepperell

The European Tour remains in Tenerife for the Canary Islands Championship and our man's back with his in-depth preview ahead of Thursday's start.

Steve says: "The last two winners on the European Tour, Garrick Higgo and Dean Burmester, are first and second in the betting and understandably so.

"Higgo lost his way a bit on Friday afternoon last week but that side of the draw was disadvantaged to the tune of 2.12 strokes. He didn't quite get going on Sunday but he was never going to get to the impressive winner and he played the long holes better than anyone else, despite knocking some length of his game. If he's fresh enough he can contend again but if I had to side with either of the front two it would be Burmester.

"He won so easily that it's impossible to discount him but it's hard to know how he'll be mentally. When he won his first European Tour event - the Tshwane Open in 2017 - he took a month off before finishing 48th at the Trophee Hassan II so it's hard to tell.

"The Kenya Open winner, Justin Harding, has caught the eye over the last two weeks, finishing 15th and 12th and Laurie Canter is expected to find plenty of improvement after last week's tied 48th in his first start in a couple of months.

"I may add a couple more once the market matures and I'll update Twitter if I do but for now my only selection is Eddie Pepperell who finished tied for 33rd last week, despite a poor third round. He signed off the week with a six-under 65 and he ranked a much-improved 5th for Putting Average."

Steve's bet: Eddie Pepperell @ 65.064/1

Canary Islands Championship Each-Way Tips: Lagergren can land second win

Matt Cooper has enjoyed some big winners recently and recommends more three each-way selections for the action at Golf Costa Adeje with the Betfair Sportsbook paying seven places.

Matt says: "Joakim Lagergren has never been an entirely consistent sort, but he's always enjoyed playing in windy conditions and by the sea so should the breezes rise to anything like the very blustery wind that has occasionally buffeted the course over the last fortnight (the forecast says it might), he'd not be too despondent.

"His win in Sicily in 2018 was on a resort course by the ocean and it also required him to go low, posting a third round 63. More recently, he's landed tied third at the Portugal Masters and tied eighth at the Golf in Dubai Championship - more breezy resort golf (he's also the winner of a mini tour event on a Spanish resort course in Marbella).

"Last week he carded 67-69-66-67 to finish T18th and it was particularly notable that his putter warmed up at the weekend: he ranked fifth for Strokes Gained Putting in round three and first in the final lap (he also leads the Putts per Round averages for the season)."

Matt's bet: Joakim Lagergren each-way @ 71.070/1

Canary Islands Championship 2021: Form stats for this week's tournament in Tenerife

The third and final event of the European Tour's Canary Islands Swing takes place on Tenerife's south-west coast and our form stats expert Andy Swales can fill us in on what to expect.

Andy says: This week's field is largely identical to last week's one, with just two members of the world's top 100 taking part.

Once again, quality is thin on the ground but so far during 2021, the European Tour has witnessed some strong performances by golfers from South Africa.

The opening two events of the Canary Islands Swing were won by South Africans, and both Garrick Higgo and Dean Burmester tee-up again on Thursday.

The 21-year-old Higgo is going places fast and over the past three weeks has gone: 4th-1st-8th.

During the past 23 months, the Johannesburg-born pro has chalked up five victories in various parts of the globe, and is now 66th in the World Ranking, having stood 473rd in February of last year.

Garrick Higgo @ 15.529/2 to win the Canary Islands Championship