Fortinet Championship 2022 Betting Preview/Prop Picks
14 September 2022
The two-week break is over, and the PGA Tour is set to begin a new season on the West Coast with the Fortnite Championship at the Silverado Country Club in the heart of wine country, Napa, California. The first round of the four-day event begins on Thursday, September 15th, with a traditional cut after the first two rounds.
Formerly sponsored by Frys, the tournament debuted in 2007. Since 2014, the North Course at the Silverado Country Club has hosted the event. Once part of the PGA Tour’s Fall Series, in 2013, when the PGA Tour elected to start its new year in October, the tournament became the season-opening event.
Max Homa returns to Napa to defend his title after tallying the second-lowest score in tournament history at 19-under. Homa defeated runner-up Maverick McNealy by one stroke. The victory was the first of two wins for Homa during the 2021-22 season.
Players will take advantage of the Tour’s elite using the fall slate as a break from golf and get a head start on FedEx Cup points. The winner earns 500 FedEx Cup points and $1.44 million of the $8 million dollar purse.
The Field
Hideki Matsuyama highlights the playing field as the top-ranked player in the World Golf Rankings using the Fortnite Championship as a warmup to next week’s President’s Cup. International teammates Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, and Cam Davis join Matsuyama in the field this week.
Homa joins a handful of past winners, including two-time champion Brendan Steele, hoping to capture the magic again. The season-opener also ushers in a group of Korn Ferry Tour graduates making their Tour debuts as full-time members this season.
Notable players making their Tour debuts include Justin Suh, Kyle Westmoreland, Erik Barnes, and MJ Daffue. Sponsor exemptions were handed out to Harry Higgs, Dylan Wu, Chris Gotterup, and Jacob Bridgeman.
The Course
The North Course at Silverado Country Club opened in 1955 and plays as a par 72 and 7,123 yards from the back tees. The course was redesigned by the legendary Robert Trent Jones Jr. in 1966 and again by Johnny Miller in 2011.
Located in Northern California, the course is lined with mature trees, and the fairways give players fits with numerous uneven lies. The green complexes are small and challenging, presenting a tough test out of the gate for Tour pros.
The average score last year was just under par, and Stewart Cink holds the tournament record with a four-day tally of 21-under accomplished in 2020.
The Dunkel Index for the Fortnite Championship
The Dunkel Index gives us the top 10 golfers that could win the event. The players are below:
- Max Homa -37.810
- Taylor Pendrith -38.111
- Tomas Detry -38.984
- Hideki Matsuyama -39.841
- Cam Davis -40.274
- Andrew Putnam -40.914
- Emiliano Grillo -41.109
- Corey Conners -41.276
- Tom Hoge -41.673
- Denny McCarthy -43.144
Potential Winning Pick
Cam Davis (-40.274) closed out 2021-22 play cashing in on his last ten tournaments. Over that three-month span, Davis had five top-25 finishes along with three top-10s. The 27-year-old won the Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2021, so he’s had a taste at the top.
Prop Picks
Tournament Matchup: Taylor Pendrith (+105) over Maverick McNealy
Pendrith is slotted right behind Homa on the Dunkel Index as he gets ready for next week’s President’s Cup. The 31-year-old had a strong finish to end last season, highlighted by a T2 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Tournament Matchup: Sahith Theegala (-120) over Brendan Steele
A nominee for Rookie of the Year last season, Theegala had a fantastic debut year on the PGA that ended with a trip to East Lake and the TOUR Championship. Steele is a two-time winner here, but his best days might be behind him while Theegala’s is on an upward trajectory.
Top 20 Finish: Hideki Matsuyama (+110)
Matsuyama picked up two more titles last year at the Sony Open and ZOZO Championship to run his total to eight PGA Tour victories. His tie for 6th at the Fortinet was one of six Top 10 finishes. Matsuyama finished No. 14 on Tour in birdie average (4.18).
Rated No. 4 in this week’s Dunkel Index, take Matsuyama (+110) to get off to another strong start this year with a Top 20 finish.
Top 20 Finish: Corey Conners (+110)
Conners had 12 Top 25 finishes in 25 events, including a tie for 5th at the BMW Championship in August. He finished the year No. 2 in greens in regulation percentage (71.90%).
Rated No. 8 in this week’s Dunkel Index, take the accurate Conners (+110) to finish in the Top 20 in Napa.
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