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Odds Outlook: Maverick McNealy has edge as TOUR heads to Utah

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Maverick McNealy's confidence grows with each event on the PGA TOUR

Maverick McNealy's confidence grows with each event on the PGA TOUR

    Written by Mike Glasscott

    The PGA TOUR FedExCup Fall continues this week with a return to the Beehive State for the Bank of Utah Championship. Black Desert Resort, located in Ivins, Utah, will serve as the host for the second edition.

    Betting favorite Maverick McNealy (+1300) is the top choice at the FanDuel Sportsbook from the field of 132 players. Located just 120 miles from The Strip and Las Vegas, Black Desert Resort will serve as a quasi-home game for players like McNealy who call "Sin City" home. McNealy’s only win on TOUR came less than a year ago at The RSM Classic to end the 2024 FedExCup Fall. McNealy played the weekend in 21 of 25 events and owns seven top-10 paydays. Making his second start in the FedExCup Fall, he will look to improve on his T13 finish at the Procore Championship last month, his last start on TOUR. Ranking in the top 50 in Greens and Regulation (48th) and top 25 in Strokes Gained: Putting (21st), the formula of finding greens and holing putts is the recipe in a shootout.

    Big-hitting Michael Thorbjornsen (+1500) will not be bothered by the par-71 layout at Black Desert adding 50 yards of new tees for the 2025 event. The second of two former Stanford men at the top of the board, Thorbjornsen is the bigger hitter of the duo and ranks in the top 10 in Driving Distance. More importantly, he leads the PGA TOUR in Greens in Regulation as he looks for his first win. He paced the field at the Sanderson Farms Championship, hitting 61 of 72 and was second at the Baycurrent Classic (57 of 72). Thorbjornsen finished third in Japan two weeks ago, his fourth top-four payday of 2025.

    Las Vegas resident Kurt Kitayama (+1900) makes the trip for the second consecutive year and will look to improve on his T25 result from 2024. The winner at the 3M Open in late July, Kitayama added T9 and T19 in the first two events of the FedExCup Playoffs but at No. 35 on the FedExCup Playoffs points list, he did not qualify for The TOUR Championship. Kicking off his FedExCup Fall two weeks ago at the Baycurrent Classic in Japan, he knocked off the rust with a final-round 67. Ranking in the top 12 in both SG: Off the Tee (11th) and SG: Tee to Green (eighth), he will need his putter to cooperate to win for the second time in six events. Posting rounds of 64 and 65, he sat just five shots off the 54-hole lead in 2024 before fading on Sunday. He is the only one of the favorites to post four rounds in 2024.


    Kurt Kitayama | Round 4 | Rapid Rounds | 3M Open

    Kurt Kitayama | Round 4 | Rapid Rounds | 3M Open


    Sitting No. 17 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Alex Noren (+1900) is the highest-ranked player in the field this week. The Swede, who missed the first six months of 2025 recovering from injury, flipped the switch with T7 at the 3M Open followed by T3 at the Regular-Season finale at the Wyndham Championship. Unable to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs in August, he returned to Europe to win twice in three events before assuming his role of vice captain for the victorious European side at the Ryder Cup in late September. The 43-year-old earned T27 at the Baycurrent Classic two weeks ago.

    Jason Day (+2000) makes his first fall appearance on the PGA TOUR since 2022. The Australian, who owns four top-10 paydays from 16 events in 2025, makes just his fifth start since the calendar flipped to July and first since cashing T23 at the BMW Championship. The 13-time TOUR winner picked up his last trophy in another shootout, posting 23-under at TPC Craig Ranch in 2023. Like Craig Ranch, Black Desert has plenty of room to move it off the tee, and perfect Bentgrass greens to rack up birdies. The winning score in the inaugural event here last year was also 23-under, set by Matt McCarty (+2700). The left-hander won by three shots in just his third start on the PGA TOUR. He circled 24 birdies last time out at the Baycurrent Classic in Japan and shot 60 in the final round with a penalty on the final hole!

    With only one top-10 payday in 2025, Davis Thompson (+2200) always finds himself on the upper half of the board when a shoot-out is on the cards. Posting 28-under (256), he set the tournament scoring record in his first TOUR victory at the 2024 John Deere Classic in July. Last fall, he signed for 18-under (266) at TPC Summerlin to share fifth. He’s posted 14 consecutive rounds of par or better and earned T19 (Procore Championship) and T21 (Sanderson Farms Championship) in two starts in the FedExCup Fall. Like Kitayama, ball-striking is his strength. Like Kitayama, his putter will need to have a big week to contend. Thompson currently sits outside the top 60 at No. 75.

    Kevin Yu (+2500) bounced back on to the radar after finishing T11 in his first title defense at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He backed up his best payday since early June with T20 at the Baycurrent Classic, which included a final round 66. A menace from tee to green, Yu currently sits outside the top 60 at No. 61 in the FedExCup Fall standings. Remember, the players ranked Nos. 51 through 60 at the end of the seven-tournament stretch will qualify for the first two Signature Events of 2026.

    Rico Hoey (+2700), Alex Smalley (+3500), and Takumi Kanaya (+5500) all shared fourth place two weeks ago in Japan, plus 2024 runner-up Stephan Jaeger (+4500) are in the field.

    Here's a look at the odds for other notable players, via FanDuel:

    • +2700: Thorbjørn Olesen
    • +3300: Matt Wallace, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Emiliano Grillo
    • +3500: Pierceson Coody
    • +4000: Ryan Gerard, Max Homa, Steven Fisk
    • +4500: Sahith Theegala, Victor Perez, Billy Horschel, Luke Clanton, William Mouw
    • +5000: Doug Ghim, Beau Hossler, Mac Meissner, Jesper Svensson, Vince Whaley
    • +5500: Lee Hodges, Kevin Roy, Cameron Champ, Mark Hubbard
    • +6000: Aldrich Potgieter, Patrick Fishburn
    • +7000: Ricky Castillo, Taylor Montgomery
    • +7500: Sam Ryder, Seamus Power, Taylor Moore, Karl Villips, Max McGreevy
    • +8000: Antoine Rozner, Greyson Sigg, Nick Hardy, Carson Young, Joseph Bramlett, Isaiah Salinda, Patrick Rodgers, Thomas Rosenmuller

    For resources to overcome a gambling problem, call or text 1-800-522-4700 today.

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