2026 Truist Championship Preview | Quail Hollow Club Guide, Field Analysis, Player Profiles
The Course
After being played at the Philadelphia Cricket Club last season, the Truist Championship returns to the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. Quail Hollow was used on the PGA Tour schedule last year as host of the PGA Championship, and while we will see a rolled back version from that PGA Championship, it will still play as one of the PGA Tour's heavyweights this season. Simply put, it is a course that demands power, precision and patience across the week, most holes will play over par and it will force players to grind from the outset.
This week it plays as a par 71 stretching over 7,500 yards, putting it among one of the longer tests players see all year. Tree-lined fairways, thick rough and complicated greens mean this course will test every aspect of your game. Distance off the tee is an advantage, but this is a course that plays lower in Fairway Accuracy and Good Drive %, essentially proving distance is just one piece of the puzzle. Bombers will have to take their chances and pick some aggressive lines to overpower Quail Hollow, if they can't find a way to do that, it likely won't be their week.
Due to it's length, Quail Hollow will see more approach shots from 175+ against the PGA Tour Average, this brings the mid to long iron players into play with GIR becoming exceedingly more important. This leads us into the final piece of the puzzle, the greens. These large undulating greens play as some of the toughest we will see all season. Scrambling and Three Putt % sees an increase at Quail Hollow, highlighting the importance of simply just hitting greens and taking your medicine.
The Signature Stretch of Quail Hollow known as “The Green Mile”, is typically where this tournament is won and lost. Holes 16, 17 and 18 form one of the toughest closing stretches on the PGA Tour.
16th (Par 4) – Long, demanding and now doglegging with water guarding the green.
17th (Par 3) – Water everywhere, club selection is everything.
18th (Par 4) – Brutal finishing hole with water down the left and a tough approach.
This stretch is not about scoring, it is survival and it caps off the beautiful challenge that the Quail Hollow Club will provide.
Course Name: Quail Hollow
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Designer: George Cobb, Tom Fazio (Redesign)
Opened: 1961
Par: 71
Length: 7,583 Yards
Bunkers: 61
Water Holes: 6
Fairway: Bermuda/Ryegrass
Greens: Bermuda/Poa Trivialis
The Field
Field: 72 Players
Cut: No Cut
FedExCup: 700 Points (Winner)
Purse: $20,000,000
Notable Inclusions: Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Ludvig Aberg, Xander Schauffele
Notable Omissions: Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Russell Henley, Jake Knapp
Recent History
With the PGA Championship being here last year we are able to see how the scoring fared against what we would normally see in the Truist.
Simply put, it played hard last year with ramped up conditions but even without that, it still plays hard. The Par 5's will be an obvious source for scoring and will play under par but most holes will not and the scoring average here should play over par every round. In the recent years we have seen the following Strokes Gained ranks:
2025 (PGA Championship)
Winner: Scottie Scheffler -11
Tee To Green - 1st
Off The Tee - 6th
Approach - 9th
Around The Green - 6th
Putting - 24th
Top 10 & Tied Finishers with Top 10 Ranks
Tee To Green - 7
Off The Tee - 5
Approach - 6
Around The Green - 3
Putting - 4
2024
Winner: Rory McIlroy -17
Tee To Green - 1st
Off The Tee - 1st
Approach - 4th
Around The Green - 9th
Putting - 8th
Top 10 & Tied Finishers with Top 10 Ranks
Tee To Green - 4
Off The Tee - 4
Approach - 5
Around The Green - 4
Putting - 6
2023
Winner: Wyndham Clark -19
Tee To Green - 1st
Off The Tee - 20th
Approach - 1st
Around The Green - 38th
Putting - 3rd
Top 10 & Tied Finishers with Top 10 Ranks
Tee To Green - 5
Off The Tee - 2
Approach - 3
Around The Green - 2
Putting - 6
2022
Winner: Max Homa -8
Tee To Green - 17th
Off The Tee - 3rd
Approach - 16th
Around The Green - 62nd
Putting - 2nd
Top 10 & Tied Finishers with Top 10 Ranks
Tee To Green - 6
Off The Tee - 6
Approach - 4
Around The Green - 3
Putting - 4
Course Success
In terms of predictability, Quail Hollow is probably one of those courses where we can feel pretty comfortable in terms of knowing how to find success here. You'll need to do at least three things strongly here, driving, approach and putting. Hardly a revelation as that is basically just success on any golf course, but you can't get away with doing one of those three poorly here. If you do one averagely, the other two need to be lights out. The key stats for me this week are:
SG: Approach
SG: Putting
SG: Off The Tee
Driving Distance
Approach 175+
I'll be looking for guys who tick three boxes, with it being a Signature Event and with the strength of guys coming back in for this, I don't want to take a chance on someone who does one of the three poorly. The one exception I would make is if the scrambling play is elite then I would be prepared to counter with below average putting numbers, but my focus here really is really going to be guys who bomb and hit greens.
Player Profiles
Matt Fitzpatrick
Odds: 19, 18/1, +1800
I want one of the top group here, I think the gap from these five guys to the rest is significant and I really can't understand how Fitzpatrick, who is clearly in the top two players on tour right now for form lines, is the biggest price out of this group? Rory, Cam, Xander and Ludvig are all great course fits here and I can't fault anyone for taking one or two of those guys and that being your only action this week, but for me I will happily take a guy who had a T10 here last year at the PGA Championship and has three wins and a second in his last five starts. Easy play for me.
Key Ranks:
SG: Approach - 3rd
SG: Off The Tee - 4th
Driver Accuracy % - 2nd
Bogey Avoidance % - 2nd
Scrambling % - 7th
Sam Burns
Odds: 48, 47/1, +4700
Burns isn't someone typically I have bet a lot of, not sure what it is about his game that doesn't always line up for me but I like this fit and price point here. One of the best putters on tour, gained 7 strokes putting at the PGA Championship last year, and has two top 20's in his last two starts at Quail. Driving numbers paired with the putting are what got me over the line here, with the approach play still being good but not strong enough to put him into that second group of betting. He hits greens, that is a part of the recipe this week, we know his putter will keep him from turning in some big scores, this to me is the kind of player that should hang around and be suited to a grind approach. If the iron play is dialed up, that putter could help him rack up a nice score that you tend to need on a moving day when the scoring is low.
Key Ranks:
SG: Putting - 6th
Overall Proximity - 1st
Driving Distance - 8th
Gary Woodland
Odds: 90, 89/1, +8900
I spoke about doing three things well, Woodland ticks all three and is a huge price here which is an easy play for me. The putting is great, the driver you know is always going to be a weapon here and his approach play has been good. This was my first bet of the week at this price, to me it feels like he is being priced in the wrong group of players here. We saw Ben Griffin take a huge price jump after his performance last week, which is the result of him having the weekend he did and Woodland is here based on the weekend he had. Take the weekend away were his irons were absolutely awful, Woodland ticks the three main boxes and has every chance to be there on the weekend for me.
Key Ranks:
SG: Putting - 7th
SG: Approach - 12th
Driving Distance - 6th
Bogey Avoidance % - 5th
Taylor Pendrith
Odds: 200, 199/1, +19900
Happy to take a shot here at this price, I'll play Pendrith mainly in Top Finishes but he is value here at this price. Last two starts at Quail Hollow were a T5 and a T10, he gains shots off the tee but the rest of the game is where you have to hold on for the ride. He is such a streaky player but at a course like this which doesn't play as a birdie fest, that is the kind of shot you want to take if you want to play someone in this range. His Thursday/Friday at Doral were great, gaining 3.4 strokes on approach and 5.8 off the tee, he fell apart on the weekend but his putter was okay which does make me feel good about this. Good driving, streaky irons, okay putting, easy sell for me at this price range.
Key Ranks:
SG: Off The Tee - 11th
Driving Distance - 14th
* All rankings are based on the last 16 rounds of play.