Odds Outlook: Davis Thompson among contenders at Biltmore Championship Asheville

Autumn officially arrives in the Northern Hemisphere on Sept. 22, 2026, but the FedExCup Fall on the PGA Tour begins this week with the brand-new Biltmore Championship Asheville in North Carolina. Young gun Jackson Koivun (+1500) sits atop the FanDuel Sportsbook as the favorite in the field of 132 players. The Cliffs at Walnut Cove, a Jack Nicklaus-designed par-71 (7,249 yards) nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, hosts the first of eight events to determine final eligibility for the 2027 season.

Making his 17th start as a professional and seventh start as a PGA Tour member, the 21-year-old Koivun arrives in North Carolina as the winner of the 3M Open in late July and a captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup in two weeks. While his victory in Minnesota secured him a two-year exemption on Tour, his newest goal is to become eligible for the first two Signature Events of 2027 through the FedExCup Fall series.An elite putter, Koivun, plays out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and arrives rested and ready to prove Captain Brandt Snedeker made the right decision by giving him a spot on his squad. In seven previous starts on Tour in 2026, he made the cut six times, and all six paydays were T31 or better.

Jacob Bridgeman (+1800) answered any questions about his intestinal fortitude by knocking off Rory McIlroy at The Riviera Country Club last February to win The Genesis Invitational. A South Carolina native, Bridgeman cranked out five more top-10 paydays in 2026, including a solo ninth place at the BMW Championship followed by a T4 at the season-ending TOUR Championship, his last two events. Leading the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting last season, he also ranked 50th in driving accuracy and SG: Approach the Green. He also ranked eighth in birdie average and will not be afraid to go low.

The top three choices at FanDuel Sportsbook have all previously won on the PGA Tour. Davis Thompson (+2500) won a shootout at the John Deere Classic in the summer of 2024, posting a tournament record of 28-under par. The par-71 layout at The Cliffs features four par 5s and five par 3s and plays 2,500 feet above sea level, suggesting that low scores might rule again this week. Thompson ranks 12th in SG: Tee-to-Green and 11th in bogey avoidance, two excellent metrics if a shootout is on the cards. Doug Ghim (+2500) is the only player of the top four who does not have a PGA Tour trophy on the shelf. The 30-year-old who played his college golf at Texas is making his 191st start and has not cashed outside T31 since late March (T40, Valspar Championship). The veteran ranks in the top 10 in both SG: Off-the-Tee (ninth) and SG: Tee-to-Green (eighth). His best payday in 2026 on his own ball was T6 at the John Deere Classic in July.

Rasmus Højgaard (+2700) and Ben James (+2700) are both in search of their first victory on Tour. Højgaard, the Dane, began 2026 ranked 40th in the OWGR but currently ranks 72nd. He found form in late July with a solo fourth at the Rocket Classic, plus T2 at the Danish Golf Championship two weeks later playing on the DP World Tour. The five-time winner in Europe owns two podium paydays from 60 career starts on the PGA Tour. James, a Virginia native, earned his membership card as the No. 1 player from PGA Tour University in 2026. The seven-time winner at the University of Virginia was the 36-hole leader at the RBC Canadian Open in his first start as a professional in June. He played in the final group at the Corales Puntacana Championship in July and closed with 61 at the Wyndham Championship in his previous start.

The man with the best odds of the five members from Geoff Ogilvy's International Team in the field competing at the Presidents Cup next week in Chicago is Corey Conners (+3000). The 34-year-old ball-striking machine cashed in 19 of 21 events in 2026 but only produced one top-10 result, a T7 at the Travelers Championship in June. A two-time winner on Tour, both at the Valero Texas Open, the Canadian should be eager to prove his pick was a worthy selection. Leaning on a premium ball-striker on unfamiliar greens is not a terrible angle this week.

Other International Team Presidents Cup players in the field:

• Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+4000)
• Ryo Hisatsune (+4000)
• Nick Taylor (+5500)
• Nico Echavarria (+6500)

Here's a look at the odds for the rest of the field at the Biltmore Championship Asheville, with odds via FanDuel:

• +3300: Johnny Keefer, Keita Nakajima, Kevin Yu, J.T. Poston
• +3500: Marco Penge, Beau Hossler, Mac Meissner, Blades Brown, Eric Cole
• +4000: Jackson Suber, Michael Kim
• +4500: Denny McCarthy, Pierceson Coody, Andrew Novak
• +5000: Ben Kohles, Kevin Roy, Rico Hoey
• +5500: Mackenzie Hughes, Max Greyserman
• +6000: Taylor Pendrith, Billy Horschel, Emiliano Grillo, Ricky Castillo, Stephan Jaeger
• +6500: Haotong Li, Zach Bauchou, Chris Kirk
• +7000: John Parry, Taylor Moore, Tony Finau
• +8000: Lee Hodges, Austin Eckroat, Chandler Phillips, Neal Shipley, Zac Blair, Kristoffer Ventura, Steven Fisk, William Mouw

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