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 host and regular guest on SportsGrid, a syndicated audio network dedicated to sports and sports betting, and is a golf betting analyst for CBS Sportsline. You can follow Brady on Twitter at @LasVegasGolferand you can read his picks below for the 2025 Bank of Utah Championship, which begins Thursday in Ivins. Along with Kannon’s recommended shows, you’ll also see data from Chirp Golf, a mobile app featuring free and daily fantasy golf contests where you can win money and prizes with every round and tournament.

With four more events remaining as part of the FedEx Cup FallThe PGA Tour returns to the state this week, settling in Ivins, Utah for the Bank of Utah Championship at Black Desert Resort. Just outside St. Matt McCarty is your defending champion, winning the inaugural Black Desert event last fall with a 23-under par score. The winning proposition bet in this week’s Westgate Las Vegas Superbook is Under/Over 262.5, which translates to 21.5 under par.

The Black Desert Golf Course is a par 71 that stretches to nearly 7,400 yards. However, the golf course will play slightly shorter than this, with the area being more than 3,100 feet above sea level. This was Tom Weiskopf’s final design before he died in 2022. It’s not uncommon for the wind to really blow in this elevated, mountainous, desert terrain. With that in mind, Weiskopf built the golf course to cater to the resort player. He made the fairways extremely wide and the greens very large, so that even in strong winds, you can safely find the landing areas. This week, the forecast doesn’t call for much wind. Sunday is currently showing the highest winds expected, but still only around 10-15 mph.

Without much wind, players should be able to find fairways and greens on this golf course without much trouble. I believe it will come down to winning shots off the tee, getting close, hitting the ball close to the pin and then opening up a few shots. Since the fairways are so wide, I feel that the distance from the top will outweigh the accuracy. Since the greens are so big, hitting them right shouldn’t be difficult, but hitting the ball close to the hole and making birdies is what should separate one from the pack this week.

As for correlations, I looked for other golf courses that have wide fairways and large greens. Vidanta Vallarta (Mexico Open) and El Cardonal in Diamante (World Wide Technologies) should be good examples of this, along with TPC Craig Ranch (Byron Nelson), which also happens to be another Weiskopf design. I looked too Valhallawhere the 2024 PGA Championship was played, and Congolesewhere the 2023 South Carolina CJ Cup was played.

Being close to home here in Las Vegas, I have been to Black Desert Resort in the past. Let’s see if this somehow helps us land on a winner!

Kurt Kitayama (20-1)

Kitayama lives in Las Vegas and went to UNLV. He is very familiar with desert golf, high altitude golf and Southern Utah golf. He finished runner-up at Congaree in 2023 and was fifth earlier this season at TPC Craig Ranch. Kitayama has played particularly well of late with two top-10 finishes, two top-20s and a win, all in his last seven starts. Over the past 36 rounds, he ranks 13th in the field for SG: Off the Tee, is ninth for Hoe Proximity from 125-150 yards, eighth for Birdies or Better Gained and is no. 1 in SG: Approach.

Rico Hoey (25-1)

Like Kitayama, Hoey is one of the best in the field and has been in excellent form of late with three top-10 finishes in his last six starts. He ranks second in the field for SG: Off the Tee over the last 36 rounds and is seventh in the approach, and is tied for 19th in the 400-450 yard Par 4s.

Taylor Montgomery (60-1)

Also like Kitayama, Montgomery lives in Las Vegas and played collegiately at UNLV. He has two top-10 finishes and one top-15 in his last five starts, and was 13th at Congaree in 2023. Over his last 36 rounds, he ranks ninth in the field for Birdies or Better Gained, is third in 400-450 yard Par 4s, and ranks second for SG:Rrass.

Aldrich Potgieter (66-1)

With the connection to Vidanta Vallarta, I immediately thought of the young South African with a lot of success as a possible fit this week, noting his lucky loss in a playoff at the Mexico Open earlier this season. His length off the tee should be a huge weapon here in Black Desert. He ranks 15th in the field for SG: Off the Tee over the last 36 rounds and is third for Birdies or Better Gained. After winning the Rocket Classic in late June, Potgieter went sideways for a few weeks but has righted the ship in his last two starts. He may be ready to fire again here in Utah.

Carson Young (80-1)

Young is the guy that jumped out at me this week with how well he’s done on the cross courses, along with the fact that he finished 11th here last year. He finished eighth at the Mexico Open last year and was runner-up at the World Wide Technologies last November. Over the past 36 rounds, Young ranks 17th in the field for SG: Approach.

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