Paulie's Picks: 2026 Biltmore Championship Asheville

After a short break, the PGA Tour starts its FedEx Cup Fall series at the Biltmore Championship Asheville in North Carolina this week. The top 100 in the FedEx Cup standings at the end of the fall will receive Tour cards for 2027, which will be very important given the upcoming changes in eligibility in 2028. The Biltmore Championship is a new event on the PGA Tour and will be held at the Cliffs at Walnut Cove, a par 71 Jack Nicklaus design. With this being a new course for both players and bettors, it makes it very difficult to determine which players are likely to succeed this week. It makes it even harder to determine given that many players haven’t played an event in over a month. With all that being said, I would limit the size and amount of bets for this week and save it for next week at the Presidents Cup at Medinah. But for those who still want action this week, I would focus on approach play, an emphasis for most Nicklaus designs. 

There may also be an edge for players who played an event last week. By my count, 20 of the 132 players in the field played last week. Sixteen played the Simmons Bank Open (Korn Ferry Tour) while four others played the Irish Open (DP World Tour). I would stay away from the four players who played the Irish Open due to jet lag and re-acclimating to the U.S. time zones. That leaves us with 16 players. Let’s take a look at my two favorites from that group:

Blades Brown: Top 20, +194

Blades Brown ranks third in approach in the field this week. The young talent shook off the rust last week with a 49th-place finish on the KFT, and has great long-term potential to be a mainstay on the Tour for years. Brown has finished in the top 20 in six of his nine starts on Tour this year, most of which were of similar field strength to this week. Asheville could be a great spot to back him for a top 20 at a solid price.

Ben Kohles: Top 30, +136

Ben Kohles ranks second in this field in approach and finished 27th a week ago on the KFT. He keeps the ball in play off the tee and is above average with his irons, which usually leads to very consistent results. He has finished top 30 in each of his last six starts on the PGA Tour. He looks to be a great bet this week at plus money for a top 30.