NOTE: Sleeper Picks did not appear in Rob’s Power Rankings, but each presents value for the bet specified.

Outright

Akshay Bhatia (+6400) ... Finding a guy not in the Power Rankings who deserves this endorsement with odds that are worthy of your unit is more challenging in a Signature Event. The winner should emerge from the Power Rankings every time, but the gentle rise from the shortest odds on the betting board in a premier competition with no cut mutes potential punch. So, the calculus to circle the lefty involves multiple equal-weighted factors. For one, he’s already a winner of a Signature Event this season with his come-from-behind victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Unlike Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club and Lodge, where he missed the cut in his only prior try in 2025, the 24-year-old is 2-for-4 at Quail Hollow Club, albeit without a top 40. The absence of a noisemaker as he ascends sharply feeds directly into his value at the Truist Championship. The scorer leads the PGA TOUR in both converting greens in regulation into par breakers and putts per GIR, but the totality of his skill set is realized best in the all-around ranking, in which he’s No. 4.

Top 5

Jason Day (+670) ... Sticking with the theme of dynamic performers but shifting into a proven fixture at Quail Hollow, the Aussie prevailed here in 2018 and finished T4 in the last edition of the Truist Championship contested on the course in 2024. The latter result is particularly topical, given it was everyone’s first chance to test the renovations ahead of the 2025 PGA Championship. That included a shift from Champion Bermudagrass to the current strain of TifEagle Bermuda. He and his reliable putting took to it immediately, obviously. It and his entire short game remain the best subset of his attack. Currently 10th in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green, 17th in SG: Putting and fifth in bogey avoidance. Opened 2026 with a co-runner-up at The American Express and finished one stroke outside the top five at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.

Top 10

Denny McCarthy (+720) ... This one has the course-history buffs salivating. In the last three tournaments that Quail Hollow has hosted, he’s finished a respective T8, T6 and T8. The tail of that trio was at the 2025 PGA Championship, where he put his local knowledge to work for what is his second-best finish in 17 combined starts in the majors. Now, and of course, the rub is that his current form has him coincidentally a pedestrian 94th both in the FedExCup and the Official World Golf Ranking. His only reasonable glimmer this year was a T12 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, where he signed for four sub-70s. The correlation is that he was 4-for-4 with a pair of top-15 finishes at Memorial Park Golf Course when he arrived there in late March. Indeed, this is an aggressive send, but it’s on a tough test, the likes of which he’s proven he prefers.

Top 20

Alex Fitzpatrick (+260) ... The unmitigated gall to slot him with those odds for this finish! Then again, that’s good news for you, so zero complaints, really. Still, consider that in nine starts worldwide, the Brit has connected for, count ‘em, seven top 20s. It includes his breakthrough victories at the Hero Indian Open and alongside his brother, Matt, at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, but Alex has four straight top 20s on his own ball. In what was his PGA TOUR membership debut at the Cadillac Championship, all he did en route to a T9 was lead the field in both fairways hit and Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. And when he wasn’t in the shortest grass, he was perfect in scrambling from the rough to co-lead. His confidence is bursting because he knows he belongs.

Top 20

Matt McCarty (+225) ... I’ve been itching to inject him in somewhere over the last few weeks, but better late than never. Although it’d be tough to argue that his bag is balanced, the lefty still jumps off the page in a variety of ways with just about every club. He’s below average in distance off the tee but among the TOUR’s leaders in finding fairways. He also trails in his frequency of hitting greens in regulation, but he’s 12th in proximity to the hole when he does. His putting also is inconsistent, but he's efficient – currently 11th in putts per GIR and 15th in converting par breakers. A two-month lull ahead of the Masters spoiled a hot start, but he’s surging in advance of this week’s tournament debut with a T24 at Augusta National, a T12 at the RBC Heritage and a T9 at the Cadillac Championship, all hosts to elite fields. And while he missed the cut at Quail Hollow at the 2025 PGA Championship, it’s a taste of experience.

Odds were sourced at DraftKings.

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