Golf Picks This Week: Bank of Utah Championship 2026

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Golf picks this week return to PGA Tour stroke play for the Bank of Utah Championship at Black Desert Resort from October 1-4, 2026. Jackson Koivun is the +1100 favorite, but defending champion Michael Brennan offers the stronger outright case at roughly +1750 to +1800. Ben James is the value target if bettors can still find +2000 or better, while former champion Matt McCarty is the longshot to watch at +4000 or better.

Black Desert has produced winning scores of 23-under and 22-under in its first two PGA Tour editions. That makes birdie production, aggressive scoring and the ability to stay hot for four rounds more important than simply surviving difficult holes.

Quick Golf Betting Picks This Week

• Best outright pick: Michael Brennan at +1750 or better.
• Value pick: Ben James at +2000 or better.
• Longshot pick: Matt McCarty at +4000 or better.
• Tournament favorite: Jackson Koivun around +1100.
• Tournament: Bank of Utah Championship.
• Dates: October 1-4, 2026.
• Course: Black Desert Resort in Ivins, Utah.
• Defending champion: Michael Brennan.

Bank of Utah Championship Odds

Odds last checked: September 29, 2026. Prices can change.

Golf prices are showing meaningful differences between sportsbooks this week. That is especially important with James, Maverick McNealy and McCarty, where shopping the market can add several hundred points to an outright ticket.

Those ranges illustrate why golf bettors should compare prices before placing an outright. A +1600 ticket and a +2100 ticket on the same player represent dramatically different value even though the prediction itself has not changed.

Best Golf Pick: Michael Brennan +1750 or Better

SAS Pick: Michael Brennan to win the Bank of Utah Championship at +1750 or better.

Brennan checks more boxes than anyone else near the top of this board. He won at Black Desert last season at 22-under, closing with a 5-under 66 to beat Rico Hoey by four shots.

That was not an isolated breakthrough. Brennan added another PGA Tour victory at the Wyndham Championship in August, giving him two Tour wins before returning to a course where he has already demonstrated exactly how to attack the layout.

He also enters the week as the highest-ranked golfer in the field by the current world ranking shown on the PGA Tour field list. That combination of course success and current-season winning form makes a price around +1750 to +1800 more attractive than paying +1100 for Koivun.

At +1750, the raw implied win probability is about 5.4%. Brennan does not need to be the most likely winner in the field for that number to offer value. He only needs his realistic winning chance to exceed what that price demands.

Main risk: Repeating at a low-scoring tournament is difficult. One average putting round can force a player to chase because Black Desert has already shown that the winning total can move beyond 20-under.

Playable price: +1750 or better. If Brennan falls much below +1600, the gap between him and the favorite becomes less attractive.

Golf Value Pick: Ben James +2000 or Better

Ben James enters Utah with one of the strongest recent form profiles in the field, but this is also where price shopping becomes essential.

James finished runner-up at the Biltmore Championship Asheville after closing with a 61. That followed a third-place finish at the Wyndham Championship, giving him two top-three finishes in his last two PGA Tour stroke-play starts.

His power also makes sense on a 7,421-yard course where the fairways provide room to attack. Black Desert is not a venue where bettors should be scared of backing a player capable of creating a large number of birdie opportunities.

The problem is that James is available at dramatically different numbers depending on the book. At +1600, much of the value is already gone. At +2000 or +2100, the calculation changes.

SAS Value Pick: Ben James at +2000 or better. Pass if the only available price is around +1600.

Longshot Golf Pick: Matt McCarty +4000 or Better

Few golfers in the field can match Matt McCarty’s two-year record at Black Desert.

McCarty won the inaugural PGA Tour event at this course in 2024 at 23-under. He returned as defending champion in 2025 and finished tied for third at 16-under.

That gives him a win and another top-three finish in two appearances. Course history alone is not enough to make a wager, particularly because his broader 2026 statistical profile has been less convincing than the leading contenders.

Price solves part of that problem. The market has shown McCarty anywhere from the mid-30s to close to 50-1. That is too wide a gap to ignore.

SAS Longshot Pick: Matt McCarty at +4000 or better. The stronger target is +4500 or higher if available.

Why Jackson Koivun Is the Favorite

Jackson Koivun deserves his position at the top of the market. The question is whether bettors should pay the +1100 price.

Koivun won the 3M Open in July, finished tied for fifth at the Biltmore Championship and then went 2-0-1 for the United States at the Presidents Cup. He finished his week at Medinah by defeating Si Woo Kim 2-up in Sunday singles.

That gives the favorite both stroke-play form and confidence from a successful Presidents Cup debut. There is also little doubt about his ability to make enough birdies to win a tournament where 20-under may be required.

The concern is the number. +1100 implies an 8.3% chance before sportsbook margin. In a full-field PGA Tour event, that is a significant amount to pay for a golfer making his first tournament appearance at Black Desert.

Koivun is the most obvious winner on the board. Brennan is the preferred bet because the additional price provides more room for uncertainty.

Bank of Utah Championship Course Breakdown

Black Desert Resort is a par-71 layout measuring 7,421 yards in Ivins, Utah. The Tom Weiskopf and Phil Smith design runs through black lava fields and features unusually wide fairways with only two water hazards in play.

The first two winning totals tell bettors what they need to know. Pars will not be enough. The eventual champion needs four rounds of sustained scoring.

Wide fairways reduce some of the punishment off the tee, so aggressive players can create scoring opportunities. Approach play still matters because golfers must convert those good driving positions into realistic birdie chances.

Recent Winners and Results at Black Desert

There are only two years of PGA Tour history at Black Desert, but both are useful because McCarty and Brennan return this week.

McCarty also finished tied for third during Brennan’s victory in 2025, while Jaeger followed his 2024 runner-up finish with a tie for 11th last season. Course history is already beginning to identify golfers who consistently see Black Desert well.

What the Presidents Cup Means for This Week

The United States has won the @PresidentsCup 🇺🇸

Rookie Jacob Bridgeman seals the victory and the celebration begins! pic.twitter.com/6NTC3plfXh

— PGA Tour (@PGATour) September 27, 2026

The United States completed a Sunday comeback at Medinah to win the Presidents Cup 17-13. Koivun was one of the Americans making the quick turnaround from team match play to stroke play in Utah.

Koivun finished the Presidents Cup unbeaten at 2-0-1, including his singles win over Si Woo Kim. Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Nick Taylor are among the other Utah entrants coming directly from Medinah.

The quick turnaround is not automatically negative. Match play can keep a golfer competitively sharp without requiring four consecutive stroke-play rounds. It does, however, create an extra variable for bettors paying the shortest price in the field.

Why Recent Form Matters at Black Desert

Low-scoring tournaments tend to punish golfers who arrive searching for their swing. A player can survive an occasional bogey at a difficult major venue, but losing several shots to the field at Black Desert can become impossible to recover from when leaders are making birdies in bunches.

That is one reason James stands out. His runner-up finish at the Biltmore came immediately after a third at the Wyndham. Brennan brings an even stronger combination because his recent run includes a victory, and he already owns the course trophy.

Weekly final results and previous PGA Tour winners are tracked on our golf tournament results page.

Bank of Utah Championship Tournament Information

How to Bet Golf This Week

The biggest lesson from this week’s board is simple: do not judge a golf pick without judging the price.

James is a clear example. A bettor taking +2100 has a substantially better long-term proposition than someone taking +1600 on the exact same golfer. McCarty presents an even wider difference between books.

Outright bets are only one option. Top-five, top-10, top-20 and tournament matchup markets can reduce some of the volatility that comes with asking one golfer to beat the entire field. Our golf betting guide explains the major markets and how golf odds work.

Final Golf Picks for the Bank of Utah Championship

Best Bet: Michael Brennan to win at +1750 or better.

Brennan does not have the shortest odds, but he has already won at Black Desert and added another PGA Tour victory at the Wyndham Championship this season. That makes him easier to justify at roughly 18-1 than Koivun at 11-1.

James becomes the second outright target only if the market offers +2000 or better. His recent results are strong enough to contend, but paying +1600 removes too much of the advantage.

McCarty is the longshot option because no golfer in his price range can match a Black Desert résumé that already includes a victory and a third-place finish. The target is +4000 or better, with +4500 providing a much more attractive entry point.

Golf Picks This Week FAQs