Bank of Utah Championship Best Bets and Golf Odds:
On Sunday, the U.S. team rallied from a three-point deficit (10-5-7.5) and won nine of the 12 singles matches to win its 11th consecutive Presidents Cup over the Internationals.
A bright spot for the American team was the performance of 21-year-old PGA Tour rookie Jackson Koivun, who went 2-0-1 in his first top professional-level team competition. The youngster gets no rest this week as he assumes the favorite role in the Bank of Utah Championship at 11-1.
Koivun is the lone U.S. team member playing in Utah this week, while International team members Nick Taylor (55-1) and Christiaan Bezuidenhout (60-1) are right back into competition. Koivun is not the only PGA Tour rookie making immediate noise, as Ben James (20-1), while not procuring the victory that Koivun (3M Open) already has, has finished second (Biltmore Championship Asheville) and third (Wyndham Championship) in his last two starts.
Last year at Black Desert Resort, Michael Brennan (18-1) won his PGA Tour debut on a sponsor’s exemption at 125-1, and he is back to defend. Matt McCarty (45-1) was the winner of the inaugural event in 2024.
Utah native Tony Finau (100-1) is playing in his home state’s event for the first time as he sits at No. 100, right on the bubble, in the FedExCup Fall standings and needs to pick up points to ensure a full-time return to the PGA Tour next season. Right behind him at No. 101 is Billy Horschel (55-1).
The Field
The Course
The Black Desert Resort is a relatively new facility built in Ivins, Utah. Set 120 miles northeast of Las Vegas near St. George, Ivins sits 3,100 feet above sea level and is part of the Greater Zion region. Black Desert is Tom Weiskopf’s (along with design partner Phil Smith) 93rd and final golf course design before his passing in 2022. Black Desert Resort is owned by Reef Capital Partners, which is in the third of a four-year deal to host the PGA Tour.
The course is a par-71 layout that measures 7,421 yards. It is sculpted through a lava field, and the exposed course is framed by black lava rock islands and a few large white sand bunkers.
Black Desert plays at 3,100 feet of elevation, and there are some moderate elevation changes throughout the course, which occasionally create blind shots off the tee. While the Bentgrass fairways are very generous (49 yards wide, third widest on tour), there are bunkers and rock formations that do encroach on the landing areas, however, there is little Kentucky Bluegrass rough (two inches).
The Bentgrass greens are firm and undulating but are also large (7,000 square feet) and will play at an average 12 on the stimpmeter this week.
Water only comes into play on three holes. The three par-5s are all reachable in two and there is a drivable par 4 on each nine – the 320-yard fifth and the 322-yard 14th. However, there are three 500+ yard par-4s on the back nine.
Over the first two years, Black Desert has averaged -1.56 per round and ranked as the ninth easiest course on tour. Some yardage has been added in an attempt to increase the course’s difficulty, but this is still a resort course, so scoring should be low.
Terminator Golf’s YouTube channel provides us with a drone hole-by-hole flyover of the Black Desert Resort.
TPC Scottsdale (another Weiskopf design), TPC Summerlin, Summit Club, PGA West, TPC Craig Ranch, Vidanta Vallarta and El Cardonal at Diamante are other PGA Tour courses with some correlations to Black Desert Resort.
Weather
The AccuWeather forecast indicates a hot one this week. Temperatures will be about 20 degrees warmer than last year’s event, plus there is no wind, so scoring should be even lower than the last two years.
Bank of Utah Championship Recent History
2025: Michael Brennan (-22/262); 125-1
2024: Matt McCarty (-23/261); 66-1
Statistical Analysis
Black Desert Resort has played as one of the easier courses in the two years it has hosted this event. You have to score -20 or better just to have a chance here.
Birdie Or Better Percentage (Last 50 rounds)
- Kevin Yu 26.7%
- Hayden Springer 25.5
- Jackson Suber 25.3
- Tyler Duncan 25.3
- Zach Bauchou 25.0
- Doug Ghim 24.9
- Ben Kohles 24.9
- Will Gordon 24.7
- Ben James 24.7
- Eric Cole 24.2
- Gordon Sargent 24.1
- Jackson Koivun 24.1
- Mac Meissner 24.0
- Tom Hoge 23.9
- Michael Brennan 23.9
- Aaron Wise 23.8
- Pontus Nyholm 23.7
- Austin Eckroat 23.7
- Chandler Phillips 23.5
- Seamus Power 23.5
- Taylor Moore 23.5
While Black Desert proved to be easy to gain strokes on approach (sixth easiest in 2024 on the PGA Tour) due to the massive greens, players still cannot miss here on the short side and have to find the proper quadrants.
Strokes Gained: Approach — Average Per Round (Last 50 rounds)
- Ben Kohles 0.76
- Davis Thompson 0.75
- Jackson Koivun 0.68
- Jackson Suber 0.64
- Zac Blair 0.60
- Chris Kirk 0.56
- Matt Wallace 0.54
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout 0.53
- Ben James 0.51
- Joel Dahmen 0.50
- William Mouw 0.49
- Davis Chatfield 0.49
- Luke Clanton 0.49
- Billy Horschel 0.48
- John Parry 0.43
- Austin Smotherman 0.41
- Doug Ghim 0.40
- John Keefer 0.39
- Tyler Duncan 0.39
- Tom Hoge 0.38
- Paul Peterson 0.36
- Jordan Smith 0.36
- Michael Brennan 0.34
- Lucas Glover 0.33
The Bentgrass greens at Black Desert are large, so they are easy to hit in regulation, but they are also easier to three-putt. Black Desert was also the sixth-toughest course on the PGA Tour last year to gain strokes putting.
Strokes Gained: Putting — Average Per Round — Bentgrass Greens (Last 50 rounds)
- Maverick McNealy 0.99
- Denny McCarthy 0.98
- Eric Cole 0.93
- Lee Hodges 0.91
- Matt Wallace 0.86
- Garrick Higgo 0.75
- Seamus Power 0.70
- Ben James 0.67
- Erik van Rooyen 0.66
- Max Homa 0.64
- Nick Taylor 0.63
- Andrew Putnam 0.61
- Vince Whaley 0.59
- Davis Chatfield 0.59
- Pierceson Coody 0.59
- Mackenzie Hughes 0.56
- Ben Silverman 0.54
- A.J. Ewart 0.53
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout 0.50
Three-Putt Percentage (Last 50 rounds)
- Beau Hossler 0.97%
- Eric Cole 1.00
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart 1.02
- Jackson Koivun 1.11
- Brendon Todd 1.19
- Nick Taylor 1.22
- Ben Silverman 1.30
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout 1.44
- Marty Dou 1.46
- Paul Peterson 1.59
- Mac Meissner 1.62
- Zach Bauchou 1.64
- Denny McCarthy 1.67
- Austin Eckroat 1.67
- Steven Fisk 1.69
- Davis Thompson 1.72
- Seamus Power 1.75
- Davis Chatfield 1.75
- Kevin Roy 1.78
- Luke Clanton 1.81
- Vince Whaley 1.85
- Garrick Higgo 1.85
- Matt McCarty 1.89
- Ben James 1.96
- Lee Hodges 1.96
The toughest part of Black Desert Resort in its first two years has been on and around the greens, where 55 percent of the shots came from short grass lies and resulted in a below-average scrambling rate of only 55%.
Scrambling (Last 50 rounds)
- Garrick Higgo 69.1%
- Takumi Kanaya 68.0
- Tyler Duncan 67.6
- Steven Fisk 67.4
- Chandler Phillips 65.9
- Beau Hossler 65.7
- Mackenzie Hughes 65.4
- Kevin Streelman 65.4
- Seamus Power 65.3
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout 65.3
- Max Homa 65.2
- Doug Ghim 65.0
- Neal Shipley 65.0
- Zac Blair 64.9
- Matt Wallace 64.6
- Ben Kohles 64.6
- Stephan Jaeger 64.1
- Erik van Rooyen 64.1
- Mac Meissner 63.8
- Andrew Putnam 63.7
- Maverick McNealy 63.5
- Jackson Suber 63.5
- Denny McCarthy 63.5
- Jackson Koivun 63.4
- Paul Peterson 63.2
- Chad Ramey 63.2
- A.J Ewart 63.0
The top 8 overall finishers in last year’s event ranked inside the top 20 for Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee in the same event.
Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee — Average Per Round (Last 50 rounds)
- Neal Shipley 0.83
- Michael Brennan 0.71
- Doug Ghim 0.69
- Kris Ventura 0.63
- Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen 0.63
- Gordon Sargent 0.63
- Jordan Smith 0.54
- Jackson Koivun 0.49
- Jesper Svensson 0.49
- Kevin Yu 0.47
- Rico Hoey 0.46
- Ben James 0.40
- Alejandro Tosti 0.40
- Marco Penge 0.40
- Patrick Fishburn 0.39
- Matthieu Pavon 0.37
- John Keefer 0.36
- Aldrich Potgieter 0.36
- Jimmy Stanger 0.33
- Steven Fisk 0.32
The bulk of approach shots will come anywhere from 150 to 200 yards.
Average Proximity To the Hole 150-200 Yards (Last 50 rounds)
- Tyler Duncan 29.4
- Jackson Koivun 29.8
- Will Gordon 29.9
- Tom Hoge 30.0
- Ben James 30.1
- John Parry 30.5
- Joel Dahmen 30.7
- Kevin Yu 30.8
- Lucas Glover 31.1
- Davis Thompson 31.1
- Chris Kirk 31.2
- Austin Eckroat 31.2
- Lee Hodges 31.2
- Hank Lebioda 31.3
- Paul Peterson 31.4
- Ben Kohles 31.7
- Doug Ghim 31.7
- Neal Shipley 31.7
- Eric Cole 31.8
- Zach Bauchou 31.9
Black Desert played as the sixth-easiest course on the PGA Tour in 2024.
Total Strokes Gained — Easy Courses — Average Per Round (Last 50 rounds)
- Ben Kohles 2.20
- Ben James 2.17
- Kevin Yu 1.96
- Matt Wallace 1.78
- Michael Brennan 1.73
- Doug Ghim 1.54
- Jackson Koivun 1.47
- Zac Blair 1.37
- Beau Hossler 1.32
- Patrick Fishburn 1.09
- Davis Thompson 1.09
- Emiliano Grillo 0.91
- Harry Hall 0.88
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout 0.86
- Rico Hoey 0.81
- Kevin Roy 0.81
- Chandler Phillips 0.80
- Jackson Suber 0.80
- Will Gordon 0.79
- A.J. Ewart 0.78
- Austin Eckroat 0.76
- Zach Bauchou 0.75
- Maverick McNealy 0.75
Selections
Ben James (19-1, DraftKings)
James made his PGA Tour debut earlier this summer, having earned his card through the PGA Tour University rankings. He has already posted three top-4 finishes in his last five events, including a runner-up finish two weeks ago in Asheville.
He has ranked inside the top 5 for both Strokes Gained: Approach and Strokes Gained: Tee to Green in three of his last five events, including first in Tee to Green and second in Approach last time out.
Jackson Suber (32-1, Circa Sports)
Suber finished 15th here in Utah last year and also has three top-6 finishes this season.
He led the field for Strokes Gained: Approach in Asheville two weeks ago and was fifth for Strokes Gained: Tee to Green.
Harry Hall (45-1, Circa Sports)
Hall is No. 56 in the FedExCup standings and inside the 51-60 ranking to earn his way into next season’s first two Signature Events.
The Englishman resides in Las Vegas, so he practices and plays regularly at altitude and he has just finished third a month ago at altitude in the Omega European Masters in the Swiss Alps.
Kris Ventura (55-1, FanDuel)
It has been a long grind for the highly touted Ventura to return to the PGA Tour, and at No. 107 in the FedExCup standings, he needs one more high finish at least to ensure that he stays there full time for 2027.
He has a win in the state of Utah (2019 on the Korn Ferry Tour) and was 11th here on debut last year.
Ventura has placements of fifth at the ISCO Championship, 15th at the Corales Championship and fifth at the Rocket Classic across his last six events.
Neal Shipley (60-1, FanDuel)
The 2024 Masters low amateur found immediate success last year with two victories on the Korn Ferry Tour, but 2026 has not provided much return for Shipley in his PGA Tour rookie season as he sits No. 135 in the FedExCup standings and needs a couple of big finishes to get inside the top 100 and keep his full card for 2027.
Two weeks ago in Asheville, Shipley produced his best result with a third and was both the 36- and 54-hole leader.
One of those Korn Ferry wins in 2025 came at altitude in Colorado, and he is the leader in this field for Strokes Gained: Off The Tee over the last 50 rounds.
Gordon Sargent (130-1, Fanatics)
Sargent was Koivun and Ben James last year, having been promoted to the PGA Tour through PGA Tour University. Unfortunately for Sargent, immediate success has not come his way.
The former World No. 1 Amateur and 2022 NCAA Division I individual champion at Vanderbilt is No. 132 in the FedExCup standings and needs a couple of big finishes.
He is one of the longest hitters and best drivers in the field and looks to be a good price to contend here.
Placement markets, props, matchups and/or other bets will be available Wednesday at VSiN.com/picks.
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