5 picks our expert likes

Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour gambling tips column, featuring picks from GOLF.com expert prognosticator Brady Kannon. A seasoned golf bettor and commentator, Kannon is a regular guest on SportsGrid, a syndicated audio network dedicated to sports and sports betting. You can follow him on Twitter at @LasVegasGolferand you can read his picks below for the Procore Championship, which begins Thursday in Napa, California. Along with Kannon’s recommended shows, you’ll also see data from Chirp Golf, a mobile app featuring Free-To-Play and Daily Fantasy golf contests where you can win money and prizes with every round and tournament.

After a quick break, the PGA Tour resumes this week, kicking off its fall FedEx Cup at Procore Championship at Silverado Resort & Spa in Napa, California.

Most of the stars we saw two weeks ago in the tournament championship, will take this week off and likely most of the fall series. The Procore Championship is the first of eight events that make up the fall FedEx Cup. Ultimately, that stretch will determine the top 125 players in FedEx Cup points and, thus, eligibility for the 2025 season, which begins in Kapalua, Maui, in January.

Sahith Theegala is your reigning champion, earning his first and, to date, only PGA Tour win here in Napa last fall. Two time winner, Max Homa it’s here. And friend Competitors of the President CupWyndham Clark, Corey Conners, Min Woo Lee and Mackenzie Hughes round out most of the standouts in this week’s field.

Silverado (North Course) is a course where a mixed group of players have seen success. Solid Total Drivers with a good short game seems to be the latest trend, applying to the last four event winners, Theegala, Homa and Stewart Cink. Shorter forwards like Brendon Todd and Matt Kuchar have done well here in the past, as have pure ball forwards like JJ Spaun, Emiliano Grillo and Kevin Streelman. It’s worth noting that many of these holes are doglegs and shorter clubs can and will be used off the tee. We should also mention that while these fairways are relatively narrow and tree-lined, the rough isn’t too bad.

I relied on Strokes Gained: Off the Tee this week, along with Good Drives Gained. I also highlighted Scrambling and SG: Approach. In a smaller capacity, I looked at SG: Par 5’s, Birdies or Better Gained, Hole Proximity from 75-150 yards, and SG: Putting on Poa Annua greens. Note that these greens are actually a mix between bentgrass and poa annua.

In choosing related courses this week, I found other songs that served to work off the tee, approach the game, putt and make birdies. That took me to TPC Craig Ranch (Byron Nelson), Memorial Park in Houston (Houston Open), Detroit Golf Club (Rocket Mortgage), Pebble Beach and TPC Summerlin (Shriners Children’s Open).

This is the first full field tournament we have had since the Wyndham Championship over a month ago. That being the case, I’ll play each of these picks for an outright win and a top-20 finish.

Maverick McNealy (22-1)

The Stanford graduate is definitely familiar with California golf and the placement of these greens. He has done well in the past at Silverado and Pebble Beach, finishing runner-up in each tournament in 2021. In four of his last eight starts, McNealy has gone 17-7-3-12. McNealy ranks 41st in the tournament in total hitting. Over the last 24 rounds, he is eighth in the field for SG: Putting (Poa Annua), 19th in Scrambling and fifth in Birdies or Better Gained. Last year, we hit it off with Theegala in the Silverado, taking his first Tour win. Let’s do the same here this season with another Californian looking for his first Tour win.

JJ Spawn (34-1)

Spaun finished 11th here last year and was 9th in 2020. In each of those years, he shot three of his four rounds in the 60s. Adding a fourth rounder in the 60s just might push him into the winner’s circle. He’s another California guy who is very familiar with these types of greens, and in his last two starts, Spaun has finished third and ninth. In June, he was 10th at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, one of our affiliate courses. Over the last 24 rounds, Spaun is no. 1 in the field for SG: Approach, fourth for Birdies or Better Gained and is third for SG: Par 5s.

Eric Cole (43-1)

In his last seven starts, Cole has posted two seventh-place finishes and one sixth-place finish — with the sixth-place finish coming at Detroit Golf Club, once again a related course for us this week. He was fourth here in Napa last year and has two consecutive top-15 finishes at Pebble Beach. He was also third last year at the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin. Over the last 24 rounds, Cole is 29th in the field for SG: Putting (Poa Annua), 39th in Scrambling, 18th for SG: Approach, 11th in Birdies or Better Gained and no. 1 for both SG: Par 5s and Hole Proximity from 100-125 yards.

Chan Kim (60-1)

Kim has played all over the world and has eight wins on the Japan Tour. He won in back-to-back weeks last year on the Korn Ferry Tour and is now making a name for himself in the big leagues. He has finished in the top 12 in three of his last five starts on the PGA Tour. Kim is ranked 28th on Tour in Total Driving and over the last 24 rounds, he is fourth in the field for proximity to holes from 125-150 yards, sixth in SG: Approach, eighth in Birdies or Better Gained and is 13th in Scrambling. Four of our five picks this week are looking for their first Tour win, and Kim looks to be another worthy candidate to do so.

Jacob Bridgeman (80-1)

Here’s a tour rookie who actually played this event in Napa in 2022. He made the cut and finished 55th. Bridgeman is currently ranked 121st in FedExCup points, so he’ll need a solid FedExCup fall in order to retain his Tour eligibility for 2025. That kind of motivation doesn’t hurt a guy who has been in good form, finishing 12th and 19th in his last two starts. He thrives in three areas: Ball Striking, Putting and Scrambling, all of which we love to have on board this week. Over the last 24 rounds, Bridgeman ranks 20th in the field for SG: Putting (Poa Annua), 23rd in SG: Approach, 26th for Birdies or Better Gained and 16th in Scrambling. He looks to be another youngster on Tour who has a shot to get through this week.

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