Golf picks: Biltmore Championship predictions & Asheville best bets from Joe Champion
The PGA Tour makes a low-key return in Asheville, North Carolina, as The Cliffs at Walnut Cove hosts the newly minted Biltmore Championship.
This is the start of the Fall Series and the presence of rising star Jackson Koivun adds intrigue ahead of his debut for the US at the Presidents Cup next week.
The Cliffs has not hosted a top-tier tournament before and it is hard to be certain who will flourish with most of the field coming off breaks of varying degrees, although this is a Jack Nicklaus design so strong iron-play is a good starting point.
Let's break down my expert golf predictions for the Biltmore Championship this week, starting by looking at the odds.
Biltmore Championship odds
Odds courtesy of bet365 and available at time of publishing.
- Jackson Koivun +1300
- Jacob Bridgeman +1700
- Benjamin James +2700
- Doug Ghim +2700
- Rasmus Hojgaard +2700
- Davis Thompson +3000
- JT Poston +3000
- Keita Nakajima +3000
- Kevin Yu +3000
- Corey Conners +3200
- Marco Penge +3200
- Johnny Keefer +3500
- Mac Meissner +3500
- Eric Cole +3700
- Ryo Hisatune +3700
- Andrew Novak +4500
- Beau Hossler +4500
- Blades Brown +4500
- Michael Kim +4500
- Pierceson Coody +4500
- Billy Horschel +5000
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout +5000
- Jackson Suber +5000
Koivun enters as the hot favorite but faces pressure from Jacob Bridgeman, who also excelled on the PGA Tour this season, while there are plenty of seasoned players also in contention, including Rasmus Hojgaard, JT Poston, Corey Conners and Billy Horschel.
Biltmore Championship best bet: Davis Thompson (+3000)
Odds available at bet365 at time of publishing.
Koivun will be keen to justify his captain’s pick ahead of the match at Medinah for the Presidents Cup, but it is Davis Thompson who appeals most.
The Georgia man was disappointed to miss out on the FedEx Cup playoffs, but he signed off the campaign with form figures of 7-8-14 in the final three events, and nobody in the Biltmore field ranked higher in strokes-gained approach on the PGA Tour last season.
Biltmore Championship prediction: Ben James (+2700)
Odds available at bet365 at time of publishing.
Thompson’s most recent start came in the Wyndham Championship, and the same is true of Ben James, who was third at that tournament, which is also in North Carolina. He is one in a growing line of young stars who appear ready to win almost straight after finishing college.
Biltmore Championship longshot pick: Chris Kirk (+7500)
Odds available at bet365 at time of publishing.
Six-time PGA Tour champion Chris Kirk is at the other end of his career, but he found something to finish eighth at the Rocket Classic at the start of August, and his top-ten finish in the 2024 BMW Championship, at another high-altitude Nicklaus course in Colorado, reads well in the context of this event.
