Bank of Utah Championship DFS picks 2025: Why I believe this young stud will outclass the competition
The Bank of Utah Championship (known last year as the Black Desert Championship) is only in its second renewal, and it has been a welcome addition to the PGA Tour’s Fall Swing. Despite the new sponsor and name change, the event will return to the Black Desert Resort, designed by Tom Weiskopf and Phil Smith in 2022-’23. This was Weiskopf’s final design before he passed away, and the track sits amongst a very unique setting of a lava field. Matt McCarty won with a score of 23-under par last year, and despite the highest missed fairway penalty, there are plentiful scoring opportunities on this resort style layout.
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Typical of the Fall Swing, we will not see too many big names in attendance this week, as Maverick McNealy is the highest-priced player in DraftKings. Michael Thorbjornsen, Alex Noren, Kurt Kitayama, Kevin Yu, Davis Thompson and defending champion Matt McCarty round out some of the higher-priced options.
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Let’s dive into my favorite picks for the Bank of Utah Championship DraftKings slate.
$10,000 range
Play: Michael Thorbjornsen, $10,000:
Michael Thorbjornsen is playing some incredible golf at the moment, and he almost broke through for us with his first PGA Tour victory at the Baycurrent Classic. This will be a much worse field, and on talent and current ball-striking form alone, Thor should outclass his competition.
Fade: Maverick McNealy, $10,500:
This will be Maverick McNealy’s first appearance at the Black Desert, and we have not seen him since the Procore Championship over a month ago. The lack of course history, recent form and poor middle approach play leave me confused as to why McNealy is the highest-price golfer on the slate.
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$9,000 range
Play: Rico Hoey, $9,300:
Rico Hoey continues to be one of the best middle iron players and overall ball-strikers in the field, and a fourth-place finish at the Baycurrent Classic only cemented this. Hoey ranks second in this field in recent approach play, and first in proximity from 150-200 yards, where the lion share of approaches come from at Black Desert.
Fade: Thorbjorn Olesen, $9,100:
I never play Thorbjorn Olesen, and I certainly won’t be starting now. In fairness, he has been playing some very solid golf on the DP World Tour, but the results never seem to translate to the PGA Tour in the way that I hope for. Olesen has recorded just three top-20 finishes in 18 starts on the PGA Tour this year.
$8,000 range
Play: Alex Smalley, $8,700:
Alex Smalley is one of the more volatile players in the field, but when he is on, the former Duke standout can be a ball-striking machine. Smalley always seems to play his best golf on resort courses as well, with multiple top-10 finishes at the Mexico Open and a 25th-place finish at the Black Desert last year.
Fade: Billy Horschel, $8,000:
Billy Horschel is only two starts removed from a five-month injury that saw him sidelined from April to September. In his first two starts back, Horschel missed the cut and finished 54th, and I am very comfortable taking a wait-and-see approach until he shows some more form.
$7,000 range
Play: Doug Ghim, $7,600:
Similar to Rico Hoey, Doug Ghim is an approach specialist, and he ranks seventh in this field in recent approach play. Ghim also finished 25th at the Black Desert last year, where his ball-striking was outstanding. Of course, we are just going to need that putter to cooperate.
Fade: Ricky Castillo, $7,500:
Ricky Castillo has been one of the harder players to predict on the PGA Tour for me. I absolutely believe in the talent, but he has a real tendency to go ice cold with his approach play. Castillo has lost strokes on approach in six out of his last eight starts.
Flier: Carson Young, $7,200:
At $7,200, Carson Young is one of my favorite plays on the entire slate. Young finished 11th at the Black Desert last year, gaining significantly off the tee and with the putter, and he is coming off a performance at the Sanderson Farms where he gained over six strokes on approach.
$6,000 range
Play: Henrik Norlander, $6,600:
There are very limited options in the $6,000 range this week, but Henrik Norlander has my attention due to his approach upside. With top-30 finishes in three out of his past four starts, Norlander has shown some solid form for me to favor him as a strong sleeper candidate.
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Andy Lack is a PGA Tour writer and podcaster from New York City who now resides in Los Angeles. Andy is the founder and CEO of Inside Sports Network, a website devoted to the predictive quality of advanced analytics and golf course architecture. He came to Golf Digest’s betting panel after previously writing for Run Pure Sports, RickRunGood.com, the Score and GolfWRX. In his free time, Andy can likely be found on a golf course. Follow him on Twitter: @adplacksports
