With eight events on its fall schedule, the PGA Tour returns this week with the inaugural Biltmore Championship in Asheville, North Carolina.
Justin Thomas, one of the field’s biggest headliners, withdrew late Sunday to give oddsmakers the chore of scrambling to figure out who was the new betting favorite ahead of Thursday’s opening round.
That honor wound up being bestowed on 21-year-old Jackson Koivun.
The 3M winner enters as the tournament favorite for the first time in his young career. He’s listed above U.S. Presidents Cup teammate Jacob Bridgeman and long-time close friend Ben James.
Here’s a look at the top dozen and a half players heading into The Cliffs at Walnut Cove.
2026 Biltmore Championship odds (courtesy of DraftKings, as of September 16)
- Jackson Koivun (+1375)
- Jacob Bridgeman (+1800)
- Ben James (+2400)
- Doug Ghim (+2600)
- Davis Thompson (+2600)
- Corey Conners (+2900)
- Rasmus Hojgaard (+3000)
- J.T. Poston (+3100)
- Marco Penge (+3200)
- Mac Meissner (+3500)
- Eric Cole (+3600)
- Keita Nakajima (+3600)
- Ryo Hisatsune (+3800)
- Kevin Yu (+3800)
- Beau Hossler (+4000)
- Blades Brown (+4000)
- Jackson Suber (+4100)
- Pierceson Coody (+4600)
- Michael Kim (+4600)
Biltmore Championship winner prediction
Hard to believe Bridgeman’s objective this week is to get ensnared in a competitive, four-day affair ahead of the biggest moment of his career. With that said, there’s really nobody in this field playing better at the moment.
The 26-year-old Clemson product has finished inside the top 45 in every tournament he’s been at since missing the cut at Aronimink — his only MC in nearly two dozen events this year. It’s an impressive three-month run that saw Bridgeman shoot over par just twice on Sunday and card 70 or lower every first round since the U.S. Open.
If we were to give a non-favorite pick, Marco Penge at +3500 seems as good as any to hand out. The Englishman took some time in the middle of his season to get back to full health, and the results have been noteworthy — a T-18 finish at the Open Championship in July, a T-6 at the British Masters a month later and another T-18 spot at the European Masters in the Swiss Alps two weeks ago.
Add in the fact that he’s seventh on Tour in stokes gained: off the tee, and there’s almost zero reason to resist a play on Penge.
Favorite longshot to win Biltmore Championship
Going to give out a pair of Max’s here — Max Greyserman at +5500 and Max McGreevy at +10000.
Both players enter the tournament in less than stellar form, but these are motivation-based recommendations. Greyserman is No. 103 in the FedExCup Fall points list — three spots shy of earning full status in 2027. McGreevy is No. 123 on that list, two spots above the cutoff for conditional status.
A good fall will keep McGreevy inside the top 125; a less than desirable finish could have him on the outside looking in after playing in two signature events at the start of this year.
Biltmore Championship first-round leader pick
We were looking for a player who hasn’t been on too long of a break for this prop field and stumbled upon one in Haotong Li at +7000.
Li, who is No. 133 in FedExCup Fall points, teed it up last week at the Irish Open and finished T-14, so he’s in good form — in addition to fitting the criteria of playing recently.
It’s worth noting that Li is in the last group going out on Thursday which isn’t exactly ideal.
In case you want a player who’s off the tee a little earlier, we’ll offer Jackson Suber at +5400 to be first round leader. He’s going out with Austin Eckroat and Jonathan Byrd at 12:32 p.m ET. He led after Day 1 at Royal Birkdale earlier this summer. We’re expecting a repeat performance.
Best bet for Cliffs at Walnut Cove
Keita Nakajima to finish top 10 at +300 is the play of the week. Been circling the 26-year-old Japanese native after a T-3 finish at the Scottish Open this summer but have failed to find a place to add him onto the betting card until now.
This is a good spot for Nakajima, who finished T-23 at the European Masters two weeks ago and T-4 at the Nexo Championship two weeks prior to that.
Sitting at No. 115 on the fall points list, he’s also plenty motivated get inside the top 100 and ear full status next year.
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