The PGA Tour returns this week with the inaugural Biltmore Championship taking place at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove. This is an event with absolutely no history to go on, but these are exactly the sort of events I enjoy dissecting! We’ve got a completely new tournament and a completely new course to get stuck into.
Only two guys made my squad for this event, but they are the best Biltmore Championship winner bets, in my view. Before I reveal their names, let’s talk about the course.
Biltmore Championship 2026 Course Preview
The course is a 7,249-yard par 71, designed by the great Jack Nicklaus, and the setup looks absolutely fantastic. On first look, I’d describe this as a tough course that will punish you if you don’t bring your best game, but at the same time, it looks very scoreable for those who are dialled in and accurate.
That gives us two very different ways of looking at this event, and it’s something that has played a big part in how I’ve approached the betting this week.
The course is nicely tree-lined, generally with trees sitting on one side of the hole, but it also has narrow fairways and plenty of elevation changes. Those elevation changes are important because I think players are going to have to take them into account with their course management off the tee.
You can obviously take the conservative route and aim for the middle of the fairway, but there are also some subtle slopes and angles out there, so you could be penalised if you don’t pay attention to them.
Finding fairways is perhaps even more important here because the greens are relatively small, and missing the fairway can leave you with some really difficult angles of attack. That’s particularly important because the par 4s and par 5s look very scoreable when you are playing them from the fairway. So, accuracy off the tee is definitely something welcomed here.
As we all know though, you don’t score simply by finding fairways. You need to be a good approach player and, ultimately, you need to be able to convert those chances when they come along.
That did cause me a little bit of a problem when it came to narrowing down the squad, because there are so many golfers in this field who fit that consistent, accurate profile of golfer.
Instead, I’ve decided to take a slightly different angle. I’ve gone with two real flashy players, in the hope of catching them in a tournament where they can shoot those really deep, low numbers.
I wouldn’t necessarily describe either of them as conservative players, but when you look at what’s on offer here, I think taking a chance and going all-out attack could actually pay off on this occasion. If we get the right conditions,
I think there are 7 or 8 under rounds out there for those players who can really get everything clicking, and I want to be on the side of the players who have the ability to produce those numbers. So, it could be a case of all or nothing this week.
I have put together a small two-man squad for the Biltmore Championship this week, but do check out my four-man squad for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth if you haven’t done so already. It’s a fantastic week of golf, and don’t forget to sign up here at the Sports Geek completely free for more!
1. Jackson Koivun (+1200)
First things first, I am not one who likes to back favourites in golf tournaments for a few reasons really. One, there are generally over 150 players in the field, so value seems tight, but secondly, I don’t always agree on who is the right favourite given by the bookies.
However, on this occasion, I think Jackson Koivun needs to be backed. This is the sort of golf course that he could tear apart if he turns up in good form this week, and that’s exactly what I expect.
He is only 21 years old at this stage and came through the college ranks as the world number one amateur, winning the player of year award twice, but also made three top 10 finished on the PGA Tour in 2025 as an amateur.
That is only the beginning of his story though, because since then, he has gone on to breakthrough on the PGA Tour already, with a win in the 3M Open where he beat world number one Scottie Scheffler by three shots in a ridiculous display of pure class. With regards to his game, he isn’t the tallest player, and wouldn’t be considered a bomber by any means, but his approach play and putting has been nothing short of sensational all season long.
You can’t achieve what he has, and you can’t score as well as he has, unless you strike the ball like a world-class player, and I think he is no doubt a star of the now, and the future.
With his approach play and putting becoming a real asset, and this being the first Biltmore Championship, it does feel like Jackson Koivun could be destined to take this event. He is one of the players that could absolutely post a deep number around this course. Jackson Koivun is a standout win only selection for me this week.
2. Marco Penge (+3500)
To go alongside Jackson Koivun, I’m going to throw Marco Penge into the mix. He is one of the most entertaining golfers to watch, and he has some really fascinating attributes in his golf game.
Now, I actually had the pleasure of competing against Marco Penge on the Jamega Tour some years back. Back then, I never would have expected his game to get to this level, but he really does now seem to have it all. He is a multiple winner on the DP World Tour, he has now earned his PGA Tour card, and he is rapidly growing a big following.
He is a very different player to Jackson Koivun, but as mentioned in my introduction to the event, he does fit the mould of the flashy, aggressive players I’m looking for this week. He hits the ball an absolute mile and sits inside the top five for driving distance across both tours, but he has also put that distance to very good use by honing in on his approach play.
What Marco does so well is attack the par 5s. He hits loads of them in two, and even when he does miss, he is generally only just missing the greens and leaving himself straightforward up-and-downs. The obvious advantage comes from bombing his driver past the field. He is certainly the longest player in this lineup, but that then means he is often only hitting short irons into par 5s, which is a huge advantage when it comes to scoring.
Something that has improved plenty this season also, is his putting. As mentioned, he has often left himself a lot of eagle chances, but his conversion rate has been really good. I can think of a handful of times this season where he has had tricky eagle putts, only to absolutely nail them straight into the middle of the cup.
So again, Marco Penge is another player this week who has the ability to shoot a really low score, and he has to be on the side for both the win and the place markets.
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