Biltmore Championship Ashville 2026: Dave Tindall's each-way picks from 22/1 to 35/1

Introduction to the Biltmore Championship Ashville 

For over a decade, The Procore Championship (previously the Fortinet and Safeway Open) got the Fall Series underway but there's a shake-up in the schedule this year.

Out go the Procure and the Sanderson Farms Championship and in comes the rather unusual sounding Biltmore Championship Ashville to kick us off.

It's the first event of an eight-tournament series which concludes with the RSM Classic at the end of November. Players inside the top 100 in the FedEx Cup standings after that stretch will earn full PGA Tour status for 2027.

As well as the slightly overblown tournament name, the course is also a bit of a mouthful: The Cliffs at Walnut Cove.

Cutting to the chase, it's a par 71 measuring 7,249 yards and was designed by Jack Nicklaus. The North Carolina layout opened in 2005 and has quick, bentgrass/poa greens.

The other feature is that it's set 2,200 feet above sea level. Oh, there are also five par 3s.

Looking at the field, seven players will be contesting next week's Presidents Cup.

That's Jacob Bridgeman and Jackson Koivun for the US and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Corey Conners, Nico Echavarria, Ryo Hisatsune and Nick Taylor from the International team.

Biltmore Championship Ashville Bet 1 - Billy Horschel each-way @ 33/134.00

In an ideal world, Billy Horschel would be preparing to tee it up in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth - click here to read Steve Rawlings' excellent preview of that event - this week.

Horschel was the winner of the DP World Tour's flagship event in both 2021 and 2024 so would have been seeking a hat-trick in a tournament he absolutely loves.

"I'm devastated, I'm upset. It's a decision that was really tough to make," he said after missing the annual trip to England. So what gives?

Horschel, an ever present at Wentworth since 2020, can't make it as he needs FedEx Cup points.

After an injury-hit 2025 season followed by a poor 2026, Horschel is 100th in the FedEx Cup rankings. In other words, as only the top 100 secure playing privileges for 2027, he's at risk of losing his PGA Tour card.

So, taking all that on board, I'm going to lean into the motivation angle.

Horschel has huge incentive, a double incentive in fact.

First, he needs to bag some points. Second, he'll be absolutely driven to prove that skipping his beloved Wentworth was the right choice.

The more straightforward sell is that, despite a poor year, it looks very much as if he's started to turn the corner.

The 11-time PGA Tour winner has a 12th (Wyndham Championship last time) and a 13th (3M Open) in two of his last three starts.

He was 13th (Wyndham) and 3rd (3M) for Strokes Gained: Tee To Green in those events so looks to be striking it well again.

Sedgefield, home to the Wyndham Championship, is also a North Carolina layout and Horschel has a great record there (five top sevens) while he's also got some tasty form on Jack Nicklaus tracks.

He's bagged a win and other good finishes at Muirfield Village and was also a runner-up at The Concession when it staged the 2021 Workday Championship.

Back Horschel at 33/134.00 in the 10 Place market.

Biltmore Championship Ashville Bet 2: Christiaan Bezuidenhout each-way @ 35/136.00

Let's be honest, although we can look at clues and make some decisions based on logic, there's a lot of guesswork this week given that we're on a new course.

But golf is a game played between the ears as well so having looked at the idea of motivation to help select Horschel, let's try that on another level with Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

The good news is that the South African has been given a wildcard to play in next week's Presidents Cup.

The bad is that a lot of folk are questioning International skipper Geoff Ogilvy's decision given that Bezuidenhout's form has been relatively poor.

Given his back story and early challenges in life, I'd say Bezuidenhout is pretty good at proving people wrong.

As well as the 'I'll show you' angle, the very fact that he'll be taking part in the showdown against the USA at Medinah shows that the 32-year-old will have been putting in the hard work and honing his game.

And, in truth, while the narrative is that his form is 'poor', a more positive spin is that he's not far off.

Bezuidenhout has made his last eight cuts on the PGA Tour and in the three of the last six he was 12th, 20th and 21st.

He's also gained strokes for Approach and Putting in his latest three outings which also hints at better things coming soon.

As for Jack Nicklaus form, he was fourth at Memorial in 2024.

Biltmore Championship Ashville Bet 3: Davis Thompson each-way @ 22/123.00

The other way of trying to circumnavigate a complete lack of course form is just looking at those currently playing well.

Davis Thompson absolutely fits that bill after finishing the regular season with a run of 7-8-14.

At the Wyndham Championship last month, his long game was sensational as he ranked 1st (by a mile) for both Approach and Tee To Green.

The putter was stone cold but note that in his previous start he'd ranked 10th for SG: Putting when eighth at the Rocket Classic.

Thompson clearly likes playing in North Carolina which is another way to get to him on board.

In eight starts in NC dating back to 2022 he has a win in the Korn Ferry's Rex Hospital Open and four other top 15s.

They've all come in his last five starts and include ninth in the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst.

Going back to that idea of motivation, Thompson's Sunday slide at the Wyndham when his putter gave up on him meant he didn't qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

That was particularly galling as he'd just missed out the year before.

This looks a great opportunity to atone for that and continue his strong play in surroundings that should really suit.

Now read Steve Rawlings' in-depth preview of the Biltmore Championship Ashville

*You can follow me on Twitter @DaveTindallgolf