Rory McIlroy Favorite Over Tiger Woods at Wells Fargo Championship 2012

After a brief recess following The Masters, the best players in the world return to action at the Wells Fargo Championship 2012. This week, the PGA Tour takes a trip to Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods will be competing for the $6,500,000 purse.

But, it appears as though golf-betting oddsmakers have finally fallen out of love with the former world No. 1. After putting together his worst showing of his career at the Masters last month, Woods is no longer entering a tournament as the favorite. This is one of the few instances in which the 14-time major champ isn’t projected as the outright winner.

Instead, McIlroy will lead the way in the list of Wells Fargo Championship 2012 favorites. For those that are expecting the young Northern Irishman to be rusty after competing just once over the last seven weeks, no need to panic.

“I know I’ve been criticized a little bit for not playing as much as some other guys leading into these few weeks,” McIlroy said, “but I know I’ve got a big stretch coming up, and I want to be as fresh as possible for this.”

According to the 22-year-old 2011 US Open champion, his trimmed schedule is all part of the plan to not only prolong his season but also his overall career. McIlroy is trying to avoid going down the same route he did last year, when he missed significant time due to injury.

“I don’t want to be burned out by the time I’m 30,” McIlroy added. “I want to try and prolong my career as much as I can. The most important time for me in the golf season is from the start of April until the end of August. That’s when all the big tournaments are, and that’s when you want to play your best golf.”

McIlroy will be teeing off at 1:35 PM ET on Thursday and 8:35 AM on Friday’s second round. McIlroy’s six-some for the first two days will consist of David Toms, Hunter Mahan, Martin Laird, Jim Furyk and Ben Crane.

In the case of Woods, he will be playing in the group ahead, as he Nick Watney, Webb Simpson, Carl Pettersson, Geoff Ogilvy and Jason Day will be blasting off at 1:25 PM ET and again on Friday morning at 8 o’clock sharp. Take a look at the top-10 betting odds favorites to win the Wells Fargo Championship 2012:

• Rory McIlroy 7/1
• Tiger Woods 9/1
• Phil Mickelson 10/1
• Lee Westwood 12/1
• Jim Furyk 20/1
• Hunter Mahan 20/1
• Webb Simpson 30/1
• Zach Johnson 30/1
• Bo Van Pelt 30/1
• Keegan Bradley 30/1