The Cheat Sheet provides DraftKings fantasy golf players with course info, player history, and the most noteworthy trends of the week to help them with their roster selections.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $200K Sand Trap [$50K to 1st]
The Field
The Biltmore Championship Asheville is a brand-new event on the PGA TOUR schedule and kicks off the 2026 FedExCup Fall. The tournament features a field of 132 players, with the low 65 and ties advancing through the 36-hole cut. The event will also mark the PGA TOUR’s return to Asheville for the first time in more than 80 years.
With the FedExCup Playoffs now complete, this week’s field is missing most of the PGA TOUR’s elite names, but it still includes a solid group of established veterans and younger talent. Jackson Koivun, Jacob Bridgeman, J.T. Poston and Corey Conners headline the field, while Denny McCarthy, Davis Thompson, Tony Finau, Billy Horschel, Andrew Novak and Nick Taylor are also scheduled to tee it up.
Justin Thomas was originally the biggest name in attendance but withdrew on Sunday and was replaced by Cameron Champ. Several players near the top of the field also have extra incentive. Koivun and Bridgeman will represent the United States at next week’s Presidents Cup, while Conners, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Nico Echavarria, Ryo Hisatsune and Taylor will play for the International Team. This week’s event will serve as their final competitive tune-up before heading to Medinah.
For the rest of the field, the FedExCup Fall Series creates plenty of urgency. Players will be fighting for position over the next several events as they try to secure PGA TOUR status and playing opportunities for 2027.
The Course
The Cliffs at Walnut Cove — Asheville, North Carolina
Par 71, 7,249 yards; Greens: Bent/Poa
The Cliffs at Walnut Cove is a Jack Nicklaus-designed course that opened in 2005 and will be hosting a PGA TOUR event for the first time. That means we have no previous PGA TOUR results or ShotLink data to rely on this week, so course fit and current form matter more than traditional course history.
The course will measure 7,249 yards and play as a par 71, although the scorecard is somewhat unusual. Walnut Cove features four par 5s and five par 3s, leaving just nine par 4s. Three of the par 5s measure 541 yards or shorter, while the 568-yard 17th is the longest of the group, meaning we could low-score this week if these holes present good birdie or better opportunities. Given Asheville’s elevation, we should expect all four to be reachable for much of the field.
The par 3s provide a different challenge. Four of the five measure at least 199 yards, including the 246-yard second hole and 225-yard 14th. Longer iron play should therefore be tested more than we typically see on a PGA TOUR setup, and players who are strong from 175-225+ yards should have an advantage.
Walnut Cove also changes character somewhat as players move around the property. The opening nine is more exposed and runs through former farmland, while the back nine moves into more heavily wooded terrain with streams and more elevation changes. Distance should still be useful, but this doesn’t look like a course where I would necessarily emphasize driving distance alone. In some respects, looking at previous events played at altitude like the old Barracuda Championship may be a good guide. That event was won by plenty of short hitters who dominated with iron play and putting.
One potentially significant factor is the rough. Tournament preparations have reportedly allowed it to grow to nearly six inches, significantly longer than members typically see at Walnut Cove. If it does play tougher than usual, bomb-and-gouge strategies could be more prevalent.
The longer rough makes finding fairways more important, but the scoring opportunities on the four par 5s should still reward players who can combine distance with solid accuracy. For DFS purposes, I’m likely going to favor strong overall tee-to-green players and good long-iron players, while also placing some emphasis on par-5 scoring.
The lack of course history is obviously the biggest unknown this week. Rather than forcing a direct comparison to another PGA TOUR venue, recent ball-striking form and performance on Nicklaus-designed courses may be better starting points when assessing players.
2026 Weather Outlook: The early weather forecast for Asheville is fairly unsettled, but no major wind event appears to be developing at this stage. Temperatures should remain warm throughout the tournament, with highs generally reaching the mid-to-upper 80s. Thursday currently carries a chance of afternoon thunderstorms, with additional storm potential on Friday. Winds could be slightly stronger Thursday but otherwise look relatively modest.
The weekend forecast is less certain. Some forecasts currently have Saturday and Sunday trending considerably drier, while others still show a meaningful chance of thunderstorms. That discrepancy makes it difficult to draw many conclusions this far out. I’d watch Thursday afternoon most closely, as an increasing thunderstorm threat could give the Thursday AM starters a cleaner opening round. However, with the forecast still changing, I’d wait until closer to lock before making weather a significant factor in lineup construction.
Winning Stats and Course Overview
With the Biltmore Championship making its PGA TOUR debut, we don’t have a past winner or previous ShotLink data to lean on this week. Instead, the tournament scorecard and course setup give us some good clues about what should matter most at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove.
- The course has an unusual five par 3s and four par 5s, with just nine par 4s.
- The par 3s are particularly notable, as four of the five measure 199 yards or longer, including holes of 246 and 225 yards. Long-iron play should be tested more heavily than at a typical PGA TOUR stop, putting extra emphasis on approach play from 175-225+ yards.
- There are also plenty of longer par 4s. Four measure at least 460 yards, while another comes in at 455 yards.
- On the other end, only three par 4s measure under 430 yards. That distribution should create plenty of mid-to-long iron approaches and makes overall ball striking more important than simply excelling with wedges.
- The four par 5s measure 535, 536, 541 and 568 yards, and all should provide legitimate birdie opportunities. Asheville’s elevation should also help the ball travel farther, making the listed 7,249-yard setup play shorter than its raw number suggests.
- That should make Par 5 Scoring and Birdie or Better Percentage two stats worth emphasizing for DraftKings, especially with four par 5s available every round.
The combination makes SG: Approach and SG: Tee-to-Green my two biggest statistical targets this week, with Good Drives/Driving Accuracy, long-iron proximity, Par 5 Scoring and Birdie or Better Percentage also carrying additional weight.
Key Stats
- Strokes Gained: Approach
- Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green
- Approach/Proximity from 175-225+ yards
- Par 5 Scoring
- Birdie or Better Percentage
- Good Drives/Driving Accuracy
Finding Values on DraftKings Sportsbook
Odds to win are one factor to consider when picking players (but not the only one, so be careful not to put too much weight on them). This section is going to detail a few of the players who have the best fantasy value compared to their DraftKings Sportsbook odds of winning this week.
JT Poston (+3200, $8,900)
Comparable players:
- Eric Cole (+3400, $9,100)
- Mac Meissner (+3300, $9,000)
- Kevin Yu (+3700, $9,200)
Marco Penge (+3300, $8,400)
Comparable players:
- Ryo Hisatsune (+3600, $8,500)
- John Keefer (+4900, $8,700)
- Beau Hossler (+3600, $8,600)
All odds are provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and are subject to change.
Recent Form
1. Jacob Bridgeman ($10,300; T4–9–T30–T26–T28) — Bridgeman enters off a T4 at the TOUR Championship and a ninth-place finish at the BMW Championship, making it one of the strongest finishes in this FedExCup season. He also made the cut in 21 of 22 PGA TOUR starts in 2026 and achieved 10 top-25 finishes.
2. Davis Thompson ($9,700; T14–T8–T7–MC–T26) — Thompson quietly delivered a strong run before the regular season concluded. He placed T7 at the 3M Open, then tied for 8th at the Rocket Classic, and finished T14 at the Wyndham Championship. These three consecutive top-14 results, along with his recent performance in scoring and ball striking, make him a notable target based on current form.
3. Jackson Koivun ($10,500; T24–T29–T31–Win–T10) — Koivun has been consistent since earning his first PGA TOUR victory at the 3M Open. He followed the win with finishes of T31 at the Rocket Classic, T29 at the Wyndham, and T24 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Add in a T10 at the ISCO Championship immediately before the win, and Koivun has now finished T31 or better in five consecutive starts, including a victory.
4. Nico Echavarria ($7,400; T12–T12–MC–T67–T36) — Echavarria finished the regular season playing some of his best golf, posting consecutive T12 finishes at the Wyndham Championship and FedEx St. Jude Championship. He also fired a third-round 62 at the Wyndham, the lowest PGA TOUR round of his career, and his recent surge is backed by a season that already includes a victory at the Cognizant Classic.
5. Ryo Hisatsune ($8,500; T12–T52–MC–T50–T53) — Hisatsune’s overall recent results aren’t as consistent as the names above, but his most recent start was easily his best. He finished T12 at the BMW Championship against a 50-man playoff field after opening with a 65, providing a significant bounce-back from his previous few starts. He also recorded a T9 at the John Deere Classic earlier in the summer.
DRAFTKINGS DFS STRATEGY
Big Field Punt Plays
David Lipsky: Lipsky has an interesting history at elevation, most notably winning the 2014 Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre in the Swiss Alps. He shot 18-under that week to claim his first European Tour victory, and the altitude angle is relevant again at Walnut Cove, where the thinner air should also help mitigate his lack of distance off the tee. Lipsky has already flashed some upside in 2026, including a runner-up finish at the Valspar Championship, another Par 71.
Isaiah Salinda: Salinda has enough length to take advantage of the four par 5s but isn’t completely reliant on his driver to score. His iron play has flashed at a high level, and he’s the kind of player who can pile up birdies when everything clicks. His ceiling makes him much more attractive for large-field GPPs than other golfers in this range.
Aaron Wise: (see below)
Core Plays
Jackson Suber ($8,200): Suber is an intriguing mid-range target whose ball striking gives him considerably more upside than his name recognition suggests. He’s shown the ability to gain strokes both off the tee and on approach, and his tee-to-green upside makes him an appealing DFS target, especially with solid form that includes a T22 his last time out.
Kevin Yu ($9,200): Yu’s combination of distance and iron play makes him interesting this week. There are four par 5s to attack, but Walnut Cove also asks players to handle a large number of approaches from longer distances thanks to its five par 3s and several 460-plus-yard par 4s. Yu has the ball-striking ceiling to excel in both areas, and a weaker fall field gives him more realistic top-five upside than he typically carries in stronger events.
Andrew Novak ($7,800): Novak is an easy player to overlook after the break, but he’s a strong approach player who doesn’t need an elite putting week to consistently generate birdie opportunities, and he has already proven capable of contending and winning on the PGA TOUR. The North Carolina native also gets a pseudo-home game this week. With course history unavailable, I’m comfortable leaning on his iron play and overall tee-to-green consistency.
Michael Kim ($7,800) – see below
Contrarian Click
Taylor Pendrith ($7,900): Pendrith could get squeezed from an ownership perspective with Koivun, Bridgeman, Conners, and several other attractive options near the top of this field, but his ceiling is solid for this setup. He’s one of the longest players in the field and should have a realistic chance to reach all four par 5s in two. If ownership gravitates toward the more obvious ball-striking names, Pendrith offers legitimate winning upside as a tournament pivot and a player who lost in a playoff just five starts ago.
MY PICK: Michael Kim ($7,800)
At his mid-range salary, Michael Kim stands out as one of my favorite values on the board this week. Kim put together a strong end to the 2026 regular season, producing three top-10 finishes. While his overall results cooled during the summer, there was a pretty significant reminder of his scoring upside in July. Kim fired a bogey-free 59 at the 3M Open, making 12 birdies and closing with four straight to record the first sub-60 round on the PGA TOUR this season.
The putter has remained one of his biggest strengths. Kim ranks 17th in SG: Putting this season and 19th in one-putt percentage, while converting birdie or better on more than 32% of the greens he hits. That ability to convert opportunities could be especially valuable at Walnut Cove, where four reachable par 5s should create plenty of chances to accumulate birdies and DraftKings points.
There are also some interesting course and timing connections. Kim finished T5 at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas during the fall of 2024, closing with a 62 at a course played at elevation. More recently, he won the 2025 FedEx Open de France last September, so he’s already shown an ability to peak coming out of the PGA TOUR season and into the fall portion of the schedule. Kim’s ball striking hasn’t been quite as consistent in 2026, which is a concern, but he’s remained around PGA TOUR average on approach and has flashed better metrics toward the end of the season.
In a weaker field at a brand-new venue, if his irons cooperate, his ability to get hot with the putter gives him legitimate top-10 upside and makes him one of my favorite mid-tier GPP targets this week.
MY SLEEPER: Aaron Wise ($6,500)
I’m going back to Aaron Wise despite three consecutive missed cuts to end his summer. The recent results are ugly, but they don’t tell the entire story. Immediately before that three-event skid, Wise finished T3 at the ISCO Championship and T15 at the Corales Puntacana Championship, shooting a combined 29-under across those two starts. The ISCO performance was particularly encouraging, as Wise opened 65-65-66 before ultimately finishing one shot out of the playoff.
Walnut Cove also gives us an interesting course-design angle. Wise has historically played some of his best golf at Muirfield Village, another Jack Nicklaus design. He owns a career runner-up finish at the Memorial and also finished T9 there in 2021.
The underlying profile still offers some encouragement. Wise is gaining strokes on approach for the season (and did so in some of his missed cuts as well) and is averaging over four birdies per round. Putting remains the major weakness, but it’s also the club most likely to flip dramatically from one week to the next. Overall, we’re getting a former PGA TOUR winner who was T3 only a few starts ago and has repeatedly shown an ability to contend on a Nicklaus-designed course at just 6.5k.
For DFS, Wise remains the definition of a boom-or-bust tournament play, and for betting, this is the sort of field I love ladder betting him through Top 20 to Top 5 positions. The floor is obviously low, but in a weaker field and at a completely new PGA TOUR venue, I’m willing to take another shot on his ball-striking upside at what should be a very affordable salary.
