Bank of Utah Championship Betting Preview
Following a one week break in the action, the FedExCup Fall returns for the fourth of seven events as the PGA Tour heads to Southern Utah for the Bank of Utah Championship. A new event in 2024, Black Desert Resort is back to host a 132-player field that includes five of the top-50 players in the OWGR and is highlighted by tournament favorite Maverick McNealy at 14-1 odds. Last year, recent Korn Ferry Tour graduate Matt McCarty (50-1) picked up his maiden Tour win by three strokes over Stephan Jaeger.
We don't have a strong data set to work with as this is just the second year of the event, and the top of last year's leaderboard featured a variety of styles including a short hitter in McCarty, a long one in Stephan Jaeger and a strong iron player in Lucas Glover. A par-71 that plays 7,421 yards long, the course sits at around 3,000 feet of elevation so it's going to play shorter than the scorecard yardage. When we think of resort courses, we tend to see easy courses with wide fairways, and I think Black Desert Resort mostly falls into that category. The fairways average roughly 50 yards wide and the winning score was 23-under last year. It can get a little tighter in the landing areas but surrounding two inch rough isn't much of a deterrent and the main thing will be to avoid the really big miss that will leave you in the lava rock formations. Overall, my preference is to target long hitters that aren't overly sporadic and good approach players from 175-225 yards that can take advantage of the longer par-4s and three par-5s.
All odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of 12:00 PM ET Wednesday
Approach Artists
These five golfers, on a per-round basis, have gained the most strokes on approach across their last 20 rounds:
- Ben Kohles: 1.41
- Rico Hoey: 1.14
- Kurt Kitayama: 0.99
- Thomas Rosenmueller: 0.85
- David Skinns: 0.81
Kohles continues to pop off on any statistical lists that include iron play, where he ranks ninth in strokes gained for the season – second best of anyone in this field. The problem is he's been atrocious on the greens, losing 1.24 strokes putting dating back to the beginning of June. Kohles is a longshot at 110-1 odds and capable of contending if he finds some form with the flatstick. Meanwhile, Rosenmueller needs a big finish to his rookie campaign to keep his card at 160th currently in the FedExCup Standings. You wouldn't know it from his recent play, however, considering he's made six straight cuts and has gained over a stroke per round on approach in back-to-back events. He's another player that's struggled with his short game but is still a sneaky option at 80-1.
Bank of Utah Championship Bets: Outright Picks
Michael Thorbjornsen (16-1)
It's difficult to find many ball strikers in this field better than Thorbjornsen. He's ninth in SG: Off-the-tee, first in GIR and is above Tour average in SG: Approach and driving accuracy. The 24-year-old had to WD after a first round 67 last year and is coming off a solo third in Japan.
Pierceson Coody (40-1)
One of the longer hitters in the event, Coody should be able to take advantage of his length on the wide fairways and isn't errant enough to worry about the desert rock. The recent KFT grad was T12 in their Tour Championship, and Coody finished T14 at the upper level earlier this month.
Patrick Fishburn (60-1)
Fishburn is just inside the top 100 of the FedExCup Standings which is surprising for someone with four top-10s. This will be somewhat of a home event as a Utah native that played at BYU. The second-year pro hasn't missed a cut since June, either.
Bank of Utah Championship Bets: Top-10 Wagers
Cameron Champ (5-1)
Coming off a top-5 hit with Takumi Kanaya in Japan, I'll start this section off with Champ. He missed the cut in his last start at the Sanderson in which he gained strokes off the tee for a 10th consecutive time this year but had an unusually terrible putting week. His distance advantage while being relatively straight off the tee sets him up as one of the best course fits.
Luke List (17-2)
I had to do a double take when I saw that List is 40-years-old. He's traded some distance for accuracy as he's gotten older and his short game is improved. List has posted a top-30 in both full field events this fall.
Doc Redman (12-1)
Redman is my darkhorse play of the week as he'll look to keep the momentum rolling after getting into the event following a top-10 in Jackson a few weeks ago. He led the field in SG: Approach there and looks to be in much better form than a lot of players in this price range.
Bank of Utah Championship Bets: Head-to-Head Matchups
Kurt Kitayama (+100) over Maverick McNealy
I'm taking a chance fading this week's favorite, who I'm surprised to see in this field considering he's T23 in the FedExCup. McNealy hasn't been anything special tee to green the last couple events, and I don't think he warrants being this big of a favorite over Kitayama, who has been in excellent form since July. He has the distance advantage and is the superior long iron player to McNealy.
Matt Wallace (+100) over Matt McCarty
Perhaps another risk here betting against the defending champion, but Wallace has shown to be a reliable target in matchups having made 11 of his last 12 worldwide cuts highlighted by a top-10 in his last start and a shared runner-up on the DP World Tour less than two months ago. We'll see if McCarty can duplicate his run from a year ago, but I'm skeptical as he was sixth in SG: Putting and doesn't enter with the same form.
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