Wells Fargo has been the financial backer of the tour’s North Carolina stop at Quail Hollow since 2011. Last season, the Wells Fargo Championship was named a signature event, a new designation given to a series of tournaments featuring limited fields and elevated purses. The tournament is keeping that status for the 2024 season, along with its new $20 million prize money payout.

However, according to the Charlotte Business Journal, the bank and financial services company will not renew its contract, which ends in 2024. Following the report, Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter wrote that Wells Fargo wanted to stay on as tournament sponsor, but was unwilling to pay the increase in the purse (the tournament paid out $9 million in 2022).

The news comes amid reports that tournaments and their sponsors are unhappy with the changes in the PGA Tour’s schedule and infrastructure, particularly with the tour’s ask that tournaments handle a greater portion of the purse responsibility. Not only are many tournaments’ financial backers stretched thin, but many are wondering what they are getting for their money, sources tell Golf Digest, especially if their events are not part of the signature series.

Wells Fargo wanted to stay on but was not willing to pay what was being asked. https://t.co/s7Ln1kRc3r

— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) December 8, 2023

Wells Fargo’s decision also comes the day after one of golf’s best players, Jon Rahm, defected to LIV Golf, a move that could possibly accelerate—or complicate—the tour’s negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to end professional golf’s civil war.

The 2024 Wells Fargo Championship begins May 9. Wyndham Clark is the defending champion.

Image: Mike Ehrmann

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It will be a difficult task for the three-time major winner. No, not avoiding an 81, but avoiding going backwards. He’s had his moments this year, a first-round 66 at Pebble Beach, a T-3 at the PGA, a 65 at Colonial and a strong weekend at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational last week, just to name a few. But he’s yet to put four rounds together, potentially leading to a second straight winless season.

Ending that drought will take more than a first-round 64, but he’s on the right path. For now, he’s two off the lead of Sungaje Im and Byeong Hun An, who each shot eight-under 62s.

Three players are tied at seven under, including former Stanford standout Patrick Rodgers, who is coming off a pair of injuries that sidelined him for four months.

Two former winners of the Wyndham, Brandt Snedeker and Webb Simpson, are tied with Spieth and others at six-under.

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It will be the 13th consecutive year that the Swede has ventured out on the National links, yet he has been unable to claim the illustrious Falcon trophy thus far.

Despite holding the course record, a 10 under 62 in the inaugural playing of the event in 2006 when he finished a shot behind winner Chris DiMarco in his best Abu Dhabi effort, it will be no stroll for the Iceman. With a field boasting the World Number 1 Dustin Johnson, golf’s hottest player of the moment Justin Rose, and the returning juggernaut Rory McIlroy, the shootout in the desert packs plenty of firepower.

The World No. 9 was quick to admit that the 2017 season wasn’t his finest.

Related: Groups to watch on Thursday

“When you have a great run like I had in 2013 and 2016, it takes a lot out of you mentally more than anything, energy levels get eaten away at all the time and your calendar gets more and more busy… I kind of feel the same on both occasions that the steam kind of runs out a little bit, and last year it did for me.”

Despite the 2016 Open Champion ‘running out of steam’ he still managed a win at the Wyndham Championship for his fourth regular season PGA Tour title.

“I’m still pretty happy with my ’17 season. I think it was about 20 guys who accumulated more World Ranking points, so if you’re not quite up to speed over the year and still can stay around those numbers, I think you’ve done it pretty good.”

In preparation for the Desert Swing and September’s Ryder Cup in Paris, the three-wood specialist played in the EurAsia Cup. Despite losing his first match to an opposition that produced a terrifying 11 birdies in 14 holes, Stenson rallied to win his Saturday foursomes match with Tommy Fleetwood and his singles 2&1 over Hideto Tanihara on Sunday.

“Yeah, had a fun week in Kuala Lumpur last week with the rest of the team. As you know, we don’t get to play that much team golf, so it’s always good fun when those chances arise. It gives you a chance to see where your game is at early on and what to work on and so on from there.

“So that’s always good to start out the year that way, and I’ve done that in the past when we had the Royal Trophy going. I played that on I think five occasions, and a lot of times I came here and played really well in The Desert Swing after that.”

When the subject of the upcoming Ryder Cup was raised, Stenson signalled his intent to represent Europe at Le Golf National in September. The satirical Swede has an impressive record in the Transatlantic showdown, having great success while partnered with man-of-the-moment Justin Rose.

When questioned if Tommy Fleetwood could be the new Englishman he calls partner, Stenson replied with his usual drollery.

“Of course I’d hoped for both Justin and myself to be there in Paris and continuing our great partnership. But I really enjoyed playing with Tommy last week and I definitely see that as a possible pairing as well, if we both make it there. You know, Justin is not a spring chicken anymore, so he might need to rest a round, so maybe I could play with Tommy.”

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Yes, Fowler was happy for his good friend Justin Thomas winning the PGA Championship. But you got the sense this one maybe stung a little more than it did at Erin Hills, where Fowler went into the final round just two strokes off the lead of Brian Harman and one back of eventual winner Brooks Koepka.

“It’s special,” he said of Thomas’ victory, watching the trophy ceremony near the edge of the 18th green at Quail Hollow Club on Sunday. “I told him I was gonna go out and try to show him something. At least I was able to do a little bit of that on the back nine.

“My time’s coming. It’s not long.”

Maybe not. But it didn’t happen last week, thanks in part to a bogey-double bogey-bogey third-round finish Saturday that took him, for all intents and purposes, out of the tournament.

A day later, Fowler rattled off four straight birdies between Nos. 12 and 15 on his way to a 67 but finished three back. The thought of what happened at the end of the third round was still on his mind.

“It’s not an easy course, not an easy closing stretch,” he said. “Anything can happen.

“To see [Thomas] post [63] at Erin Hills, the start he got off to this year and the wins, it was just a matter of time. Some of it is playing good golf, some of it was being in the right place at the right time. I think it was a little of both for J.T. this week. [Saturday] he fought it out when he wasn’t having the best day. I was out in front of him for most of the day, and I struggled coming in and he made some good pars coming in to put himself in position to do what he did today.”

Fowler finished in the top five of two majors this season, and the seventh time over the last seven years. But he also has zero wins, as he noted in a humorous Snapchat post when he joined Thomas and Tiger Woods at Woods’ restaurant earlier this week.

Most players go through some form of blowing it before winning the big one. Fowler will break through at some point. And after Sunday it feels like that time is getting closer.

MORE CHANGES TO QUAIL HOLLOW

So much was made about Quail Hollow and the changes to the course for the PGA Championship (more on that later). It was best summed up by Rory McIlroy, who said, “This is not the Quail Hollow we have gotten to know over the last 10 years. It’s a completely different golf course.”

When the Presidents Cup is played there in 2021 it probably won’t be the one that we saw for the year’s final major, either.

The biggest difference could be … everyone at once now … The Green Mile. Currently, holes 16 through 18 make up the difficult stretch. According to Quail Hollow president Johnny Harris, a re-routing for the match-play event will push The Green Mile up to holes 13 through 15 so that they impact more matches.

“Everyone gets to play it then,” he said.

Other potential routing changes according to Harris would include the 10th hole being played as the 16th, the 11th as the 17th and nine as the finisher, among other possibilities.

As for the future of the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo Championship held annually at Quail Hollow, that’s still TBD. The tournament will be there through the end of 2019 but with several scheduling changes expected, Quail Hollow could move from an annual venue to a big-event spot for the Presidents Cup, PGA Championship or other marquee championships every handful of years.

A CASE FOR RORY TO PLAY?

Rory McIlroy sounded on Sunday like he was trying to convince himself to play in the FedEx Cup Playoffs as his rib injury continues to linger.

His answer when asked why would he play?

“A sense of duty,” he said. “But then at the same time, if you are not capable of playing at your best, why should you play? So, again, it’s a Catch-22.

Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

”He has already won a FedEx Cup (last year) and has a lot to sort out—injury, caddie, short game. With little offseason to handle all this, a big-picture, long-term approach would probably be better than meandering through a few more events of what has already been a long year for the 28-year-old Northern Irishman on and off the course.

Which speaks to another point. More and more, we’re seeing top players get worn down by a never-ending calendar (see: Jason Day).

Even if players aren’t teeing it up every week and only playing around 25 weeks a year (on tour and elsewhere around the world), some extended time off seems only beneficial. Especially with how cramped the season gets this time of year.

THREE THINGS I THINK I THINK

I think the PGA of America saved itself from what could have been a disaster in the waiting by adjusting its setup for Sunday’s final round and making it a little more player friendly. For the first three days, a lot of golfers said birdie opportunities were scarce because of a combination of faster-than-expected putting surfaces and holes located on ridges that couldn’t necessarily accommodate the green speed. Couple that with some simply poor changes—the fourth green, with, in short, no good hole-locations, was most notable to players I talked to—and the whole thing just seemed off, until it was saved by the finish. What does it tell you that club member Webb Simpson was critical of the “new” Quail Hollow’s setup for the PGA? …

I think Thomas is the leader in the clubhouse for Player of the Year honors if voting ended today. But having talked to a handful of players, a lot can change depending on what happens in the Playoffs. Jordan Spieth is still in the mix with an outside shot for Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson. …

I think the PGA Tour’s unveiling of its fall schedule for the 2017-’18 season, complete with the inaugural CJ Cup at Nine Bridges in South Korea, is the latest sign of not only how global golf is but how the biggest tour in the world is becoming more global, too. It was only a few years ago that all the fall events were played in the U.S. Now half of the eight are scattered across the globe, including three in Asia.

WHO I LIKE THIS WEEK

The Wyndham Championship is the last chance for those hovering around the 125 spot in the FedEx Cup standings to secure a spot in the postseason. At 116th, that includes Ben Martin. The good news for the 2009 U.S. Amateur runner-up, who is now 29 and won the tour’s annual stop in Vegas three years ago, is that he’s trending in the right direction of late with three finishes in the top 15 in his last six starts. He also putts well on Bermudagrass and in his last start at the Barracuda Championship ranked third in the field in greens hit, an important number to keep in mind at Donald Ross-designed Sedgefield. The player I like even more, though, is Chez Reavie. He tied for fourth at Memphis in June and has been steady for a couple of months with top-25s in the U.S. Open and PGA. He’s also in the top 30 on tour in total birdies, par-4 performance, is 32nd in GIR and leads in proximity to the hole. He also has a couple of top 10s in the event.

David Cannon/Getty Images

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