NOTE: Sleeper Picks did not appear in Rob’s Power Rankings, but each presents value for the bet specified.

Outright

Matt McCarty (+6000) … The lefty will be defending his first PGA TOUR title in two weeks at the Bank of Utah Championship. While he was on some kind of heater at the time, after scaling straight to the PGA TOUR after three victories on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024, the correlation is that, like Yokohama Country Club, Black Desert Resort Golf Course was also a site unseen by most in the field. As it concerns this year’s form upon arrival in Japan, he’s taken his lumps at this level but still managed two top 10s and another two top 25s in his last nine starts, thus the timing of this attention. Holds his own from tee to green and relies on the putter to close the deal. It’s how he broke through a year ago.

Top 5

Sungjae Im (+900) ... It’s been rough sledding of late relative to the elevated bar that he set early in his career. With only three top 10s and eight top 25s, he’s about to post record lows in both totals. But this isn’t as much about recent play as it is about how the value of a scuffling but dynamic talent is boosted in a limited field with no cut. Twenty-three percent of the field (18 of 78) has shorter odds for this finish. He’s still one of the most accurate off the tee and his putting remains strong. And build some confidence that all three of his top 10s this year are top fives. Also, remember that three of my endorsements for this finish have paid this year; a total of eight have delivered since early last season.

Top 10

Keita Nakajima (+550) ... The best almost always figure it out. The 25-year-old from Japan is among the lot. He was a star in the making as he ascended to No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, a perch that he occupied for a record 87 consecutive weeks until turning professional three years ago last month. A few weeks later, he finished T12 in the Baycurrent Classic, which today still is his personal-best finish in 16 PGA TOUR appearances. Already a winner as an amateur on the Japan Golf Tour, he’s gone on to capture three more, including at Yokohama Country Club in 2023, when he went on to lead his circuit in earnings for the season. Now he’s seeking to become just the sixth Japanese non-member of the PGA TOUR to join the top-10 club in tournament history. Thanks largely to a trio of top 10s in 2025, he’s currently three slots outside the top 10 among eligible DP World Tour members who are chasing a PGA TOUR card in 2026.

Top 20

Gary Woodland (+175) … Recent first-time winner (ISCO Championship) and first-time father William Mouw, whose wife delivered their daughter on Sept. 5, which also is his birthday, also is intriguing at +210 for a Top 20, but it’s sensible to accept shorter odds for a veteran who isn’t rusty (even though there’s an argument for Mouw supported by the "Nappy Factor"). Since the Travelers Championship in June, Woodland is 6-for-6 with a pair of top 20s, including in his last start at the Procore Championship (T19), where he ranked third in converting greens in regulation into par breakers. He was a vice captain for the Americans in the Ryder Cup, but he’s had ample time to lick his wounds and focus again on his own game.

Mac Meissner (+180) … Some guys make their season in one week, while most others require a few strong outings to achieve the first objective to retain fully exempt status for the following season. If the 26-year-old is going to make it three in a row since splashing in 2024, he’ll have needed the entire year. Consider that he was outside the top 150 in the FedExCup when he arrived at the Wyndham Championship. With everything to gain, he just about did in finishing alone in second place (topping the "B flight" six strokes back of breakthrough champion Cameron Young). With another pair of paydays to open the FedExCup Fall, including a consistently strong T14 at the Sanderson Farms Championship, Meissner is 85th in the FedExCup and poised to ensure his position in Japan. Most impressive is that he’s improved in all critical components of his game during this surge, so it hasn’t been about one facet getting outrageously hot.

Odds were sourced at FanDuel.

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