Bank of Utah Championship betting guide: 5 picks our betting expert loves this week

Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour betting tips column, featuring tips from GOLF.com’s expert prognosticator, Brady Kannon. A veteran golf bettor and commentator, Kannon is a host and regular on SportsGrid, a syndicated audio network dedicated to sports and sports betting, and is a golf betting analyst for CBS Sportsline. You can follow Brady on Twitter at @LasVegasGolferand you can read his picks below for the 2025 Bank of Utah Championship, which kicks off Thursday in Ivins. In addition to Kannon’s recommended plays, you’ll also see data from Chirp Golf, a mobile app that offers both free-to-play and daily fantasy golf competitions where you can win money and prizes at every round and tournament.

With four events remaining as part of the FedEx Cup Fall, the PGA Tour returns to the United States this week, settling in Ivins, Utah for the Bank of Utah Championship at Black Desert Resort. Just outside St. George, Utah, and about two hours northeast of Las Vegas, Nev., this is quite a growing area in the Southwest. Matt McCarty is your defending champion, winning the inaugural event in Black Desert last fall with a score of 23 under par. The winning score suggestion bet at Westgate Las Vegas Superbook this week is Under/Over 262.5, which translates to 21.5 under par.

Black Desert Golf Course is a par 71 that extends to almost 7,400 yards. However, the golf course will play a little shorter, as the area is more than 900 meters above sea level. This was Tom Weiskopf’s final design before he passed away in 2022. It’s not unusual for the wind to really whip around and blow right through this elevated, mountainous, desert terrain. With that in mind, Weiskopf built the golf course to cater to the resort player. He made the fairways extremely wide and the greens very large, so that even in strong winds you could find the landing areas safely. This week the weather forecasts don’t predict much wind at all. Sunday currently shows the highest expected winds, but still only around 10-25 km/h.

Without much wind, players should be able to find fairways and greens on this course without much difficulty. I believe this boils down to hitting shots off the tee, on the approach, hitting the ball close to the pin, and then making a few putts. Because the fairways are so wide, I think distance from the tee will trump accuracy. Because the greens are so large, hitting them in regulation shouldn’t be difficult, but hitting the ball close to the hole and making birdies is what should separate someone from the pack this week.

As for correlations, I looked for other golf courses with wide fairways and large greens. Vidanta Vallarta (Mexico Open) and El Cardonal at Diamante (World Wide Technologies) should be good examples of this, along with TPC Craig Ranch (Byron Nelson), which also happens to be another Weiskopf design. I also looked at Valhalla, where the 2024 PGA Championship was played, and Congaree, where the 2023 South Carolina CJ Cup was played.

Being close to home here in Las Vegas, I have been to the Black Desert Resort in the past. Let’s see if that somehow helps us reach a winner!

Kurt Kitayama (20-1)

Kitayama lives in Las Vegas and attended UNLV. He is very familiar with desert golf, elevation golf and southern Utah golf. He finished second at Congaree in 2023 and was fifth at TPC Craig Ranch earlier this season. Kitayama has been playing particularly well lately with two top-10 finishes, two top-20s and a win, all in his last seven starts. Over the last 36 rounds, he ranks 13th in this field for SG: Off the Tee, ninth for Hole Proximity from 125-150 yards, eighth for Birdies of Better Gained, and No. 1 in SG: Approach.

Rico Hoey (25-1)

Like Kitayama, Hoey is one of the best in this area off the tee and has been in excellent form of late with three top-10 finishes in his last six starts. He ranks second in this field for SG: Off the Tee over the past 36 rounds, is seventh on approach, and is 19th on the 400-450 yard Par 4s.

Taylor Montgomery (60-1)

Like Kitayama, Montgomery lives in Las Vegas and played collegiately at UNLV. He has two top-10 finishes and a top 15 over the course of his last five starts, and was 13th at Congaree in 2023. Through the last 36 rounds, he is ninth in this field for Birdies or Better Gained, is third in the 400-450 yard Par 4s and is second for SG: Putting (Bentgrass).

Aldrich Potgieter (66-1)

With the connection to Vidanta Vallarta, I immediately thought of the young, big South African as a possible fit this week, given his unfortunate play-off loss at the Mexico Open earlier this season. His length off the tee should be a big weapon here at Black Desert. He ranks 15th in the field for SG: Off the Tee over the last 36 rounds, and is third for Birdies or Better Gained. After winning the Rocket Classic in late June, Potgieter went sideways for a few weeks but has righted the ship in his last two starts. He could be ready to shoot again here in Utah.

Carson Young (80-1)

Young is the man who jumps off the page this week with how well he has done on the associated courses, along with the fact that he finished 11th here last year. Last year he finished eighth at the Mexico Open and second at the World Wide Technologies last November. Over the past 36 rounds, Young ranks 17th in this field for SG: Approach.

Which Chirp Golf users are choosing this week

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