PGA Tour Stats Review: Entering the Wells Fargo Championship

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Updated on May 13, 2015 4:34PM EST

This week the PGA Tour goes to Charlotte, N.C., for the Wells Fargo Championship. The event, which usually takes place the week before The Players, this year comes the week after. Here's our stats preview:

History Lesson

The defending champion is J.B. Holmes, who beat Jim Furyk by one. In 2013 Derek Ernst, in what may become one of the flukiest wins in PGA Tour history, beat David Lynn in a playoff and in 2012 Rickie Fowler got his first PGA Tour win in a playoff against D.A Points and Rory McIlroy.

Fowler is not in the field this week and Lynn has retired, per a tweet that made the rounds earlier this week.

McIlroy, the 2010 champion (it was his first PGA Tour win), returns to the field this year. He finished eighth last week at TPC Sawgrass, a week where he lingered around on the weekend but never seemed to string together enough good shots to make a run up the leaderboard, shooting only one round in the 60s. For the week he ranked third in strokes gained-tee to green, gaining 10 total on the field over the four days, and was T2 in driving accuracy, a positive sign. What held him back? A balky putter that lost him two strokes and left him T60 in strokes gained–putting. He's the guy we recommend from the history lesson, though.

Who Is Playing

Also in the field are Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Ben Martin, Henrik Stenson, Daniel Berger, Justin Thomas,

Fowler is not in the field this week and Lynn has retired, per a tweet that made the rounds earlier this week.

We recommend Martin, Kisner and Simpson while not recommending Mickelson, Haas or Scott.

Martin missed the playoff at The Players last week by one shot, finishing the week T8 in driving accuracy, 13th in strokes gained–tee to green and 10th in strokes gained–putting.

Kisner was a playoff loser and has a ton of momentum, losing in playoffs at both Hilton Head and The Players in the last month. Could all that golf and all those near misses hold him back this week? Certainly. But from a stats standpoint, he's on fire, ranking 36th in driving accuracy, 41st in scoring average and fourth in three putt avoidance.

We recommend Simpson not necessarily because of the season he's having -- though he does have three top-10s and ranks 17th in greens in regulation and 11th in strokes gained–tee to green -- but more because he's a Charlotte resident and Quail Hollow and the Wells Fargo Championship is a home game for him this week. That local knowledge is always a positive.

Meanwhile, we don't recommend Mickelson because his game is just not sharp. In missing the cut last week by five shots, he lost more than four shots to the field, mostly from tee to green. He hit just over 53 percent of his fairways and less than 53 percent of his greens. That just won't cut it.

Haas could have either won The Players outright or ended up in that playoff but missed two short putts (3 feet, 1 inch on No. 2, and about three feet again on No. 9) on Sunday -- he ranked 39th in strokes gained–putting for the week -- which ended any chance at victory. He's 82nd on the PGA Tour this year in putts from 3-5 feet, a stat that won't do for someone looking to break through and add a major (or unofficial fifth major) to his resume.

Speaking of putting, that's been Scott's nemesis all season. His move to the short blade failed, and he reverted to the long putter and anchored style looking to find his old stroke. But it hasn't happened, and in tying for 38th last week at The Players, Scott ranked 71st in strokes gained-putting, losing five strokes for the week on the field on the greens. This season he's 193rd(!) (of 202 players) in that category. Ouch.