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Power Rankings
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Golf is Hard at Quail Hollow Club
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Written by Rob Bolton
The sixth Signature Event of the PGA TOUR season transports membership to Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, where a field of 72 vies for victory at the Truist Championship.
Some venues are as strong as all others, but then there’s this one that sat out the 2025 edition of this tournament to host the PGA Championship, for which this year’s edition is next week. All entrants are promised four rounds to chase 700 FedExCup points, $3.6 million and an array of other perks, all the while taking the pulse of and putting to the test one’s game on a proven track for a major.
Details of the return to Quail Hollow, a couple of reminders about how and where it will challenge most, and more can be found below the ranking of those projected to contend.
With two PGA Championships (2017, 2025) and a Presidents Cup (2022) among its premier events, the fierce and flexible Quail Hollow Club is, as the touring professionals are keen to say, all they want. It checks more boxes as the host of this week’s Signature Event immediately ahead of a major. If the guys could sequester themselves to completely immerse themselves in the competition across this fortnight, special things could happen. When you hear some talk about needing to peak at certain times, this is one of them.
Quail Hollow is built for the postmodern profile, but it always has been since debuting on the PGA TOUR in 1969. The powerbrokers have remained open-minded and have continued to listen to the feedback as the years have transpired. It’s a beast, but that’s precisely the point.
When it last hosted the Truist Championship in 2024, the field averaged 71.731. That’s about where it should land again this week, but not without the kind of setup that will demand quality from those for whom victory is attainable with the checkered flag waving ahead.
Primary rough usually is allowed to grow to 2½ inches, while the three-year-old, TifEagle Bermudagrass greens are groomed to reach 13 feet as measured by the Stimpmeter. They are a little above average in size among all courses the PGA TOUR utilizes. The entire course is overseeded per usual.
Part and parcel with keeping up with the Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick of the world, Quail Hollow tips at a beefy 7,583 yards. It’s a par 71 with a trio of par 5s. Since it last hosted two years ago, three holes (Nos. 9, 13 and 16) that underwent some adjustment for the PGA Championship are poised to play the same distance again this week, so overall length is up 45 yards. It’s proof of how the evolution of the course never ceases. However, the 495-yard, par-4 first hole has shed 10 yards since the major, while the 190-yard, par-3 17th is down 33 yards. The field for the 2025 PGA Championship averaged 72.505.
Of course, no preview would be complete without attention and respect paid to The Green Mile. Nos. 16, 17 and 18 comprise a par-4-3-4 sequence to conclude a traditional round. In each of the last two years, both for the Truist Championship and for the PGA Championship, they ranked a respective third, second and first in difficulty among all holes on the course. When the punishing 494-yard 18th averaged 4.500 in 2024, it was the hardest of all 900 holes on the PGA TOUR all season. Last year for the major, it checked up at 4.410 to slot ninth-hardest among 882 holes. So far this season, the par-4 18th on the Blue Monster at Trump National Doral has been the most challenging at 4.382, so consider this pathway to next week’s PGA Championship anything but a runway.
Aside from the potential for a rocky (and thunderous) Thursday, Mother Nature should do her part. Inclement weather is all but guaranteed for the opening round, but she’ll calm down for the remainder. After a blast of cooler air on Friday, daytime highs will return to more seasonable readings for a comfortable weekend
PGATOUR.com’s Rob Bolton previews and recaps every tournament. Refer to the timing of his contributions below. He’s also active as @RobBoltonGolf on X where you can connect with him
MONDAY: Power Rankings (Truist Championship)
TUESDAY*: Sleepers* (Truist Championship); Power Rankings (ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic); Expert Picks**
WEDNESDAY: Fantasy Insider
SUNDAY: Points and Payouts (Truist Championship); Points and Payouts (ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic); Qualifiers
* – Sign up now for content found exclusively in “The Early Card” newsletter, arriving to your inbox each Tuesday.
** – Rob also is included in Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf that publishes on Tuesday.
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May 4, 2026
The First Look: Truist returns to Quail Hollow ClubThe First Look
