Procore Championship
Napa, California
Silverado Resort (North Course) – Par 72 – 7,123 yards
Field – 144 entrants
Purse – $6.0M
The Preview
After a brief one-week hiatus following the TOUR Championship, the PGA Tour returns this week as the FedExCup Fall structure commences in wine country as Napa Valley’s Silverado Resort plays host to the Procore Championship (formerly Fortinet) for the 11th consecutive year. The 7,123-yard, par-72 layout is shaped by narrow oak-lined fairways, but it doesn’t quite compare to a similarly short venue like Harbour Town where players are forced to sacrifice distance for accuracy, oftentimes laying back to the 175-200 yard approach range. Here at Silverado, aggressiveness off the tee is welcomed as the event typically becomes a wedge fest, simply emphasizing angles into tucked pins. Several reachable par-5s help inflate par-breaker opportunities while slick, but bumpy poa greens serve as the primary defense. Napa’s weather forecast looks promising throughout the week, though a slightly stronger breeze is slated to arrive Sunday afternoon in crunch time.
Recent Champions
2023 – Sahith Theegala
2022 – Max Homa
2021 – Max Homa
2020 – Stewart Cink
2019 – Cameron Champ
2018 – Kevin Tway
2017 – Brendan Steele
2016 – Brendan Steele
2015 – Emiliano Grillo
2014 – Sangmoon Bae
Key Stats to Victory
SG: Off-the-Tee
Proximity: 75-150 yards
Par-5 scoring
SG: Putting (Poa)
Yahoo Value Picks
Based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Sahith Theegala – $43
After struggling throughout the first two legs of the FedExCup Playoffs, the defending champion in Napa is now coming off a valiant third-place effort at the TOUR Championship, where he actually posted the second-best 72-hole score of the week while matching a season-high 8.9 strokes gained from tee to green in Atlanta. However, it was Theegala’s short game that carried him to victory here at Silverado last year when he paced the field in putting average while gaining 8.9 strokes with his flat stick on these poa greens. Due to Yahoo’s softer pricing, expect Theegala-Clark stacks to be common up top, while a slumping Max Homa figures to slip through the cracks.
Corey Conners – $39
Securing the most consistent ball striker in a given field at a sub-$40 salary typically calls for an easy click, especially in cash games, and that’s the case here with Conners, who’s gained strokes both off the tee and on his approach shots in all four of his previous trips to the Silverado Resort. The Canadian is No. 2 in SG: APP over his last 36 rounds, and he owns the third-shortest odds in the outright betting market to win this week.
Glue Guys
Keith Mitchell – $34
Mitchell has finished on the positive side of SG: Putting in just three events since the beginning of April, but he placed top-15 in each of those instances, and his ball striking remains stout with an average of five strokes gained from tee to green per outing throughout his last 10 starts. At No. 1 in Opportunities Gained and No. 2 Birdies or Better Gained over his past 24 rounds, Mitchell holsters the upside that’s necessary to take home a GPP.
J.J. Spaun – $33
Spaun ranks fourth or better in each of SG: APP, Par-5 Efficiency and Birdies or Better Gained over his last 24 rounds, and he’s now making his first appearance since notching a T9-T3 stretch at the 3M Open and the Wyndham Championship. He’s gained at least 4.3 strokes with his irons in four consecutive starts dating to a T23 at the John Deere Classic, and Spaun hasn’t lost strokes putting since the RBC Canadian Open in late May. Additionally, he’s gained strokes off the tee in all eight of his previous Procore/Fortinet Championship showings.
Luke Clanton – $30
The Florida State University standout remains atop the World Amateur Golf Ranking despite losing to Jackson Buchanan in the Round of 32 at the U.S. Amateur last month on the heels of a top-5 effort at the Wyndham Championship, where Clanton racked up 21 total birdies and two eagles while gaining 6.9 strokes on approach en route to 107.2 Yahoo fantasy points. Across his past 12 measured rounds at the PGA Tour level, Clanton ranks No. 1 in both Opps Gained and BoB Gained, as well as fourth in both SG: OTT and SG: APP. Looking at the salary board, I would’ve priced Clanton in the $36-$38 range at the least this week.
Bargain Bin
Hayden Springer – $26
Beginning with back-to-back top-10s at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and the John Deere Classic, Springer has gained an average of 3.8 strokes from tee to green per event throughout his past five outings. He’s top-10 in each of driving distance, SG: Par-5s and P5: 550-600 Efficiency over his last 24 measured rounds.
Neal Shipley – $20
Shipley, who turned pro earlier this summer after posting a T26 at the U.S. Open for Low-Am honors, is coming off a T6-T40-T37 span from the ISCO Championship to the 3M Open, notably gaining 12.5 strokes from tee to green over his last eight rounds. He’s scored at least 72.7 fantasy points in four of five starts dating to the Rocket Mortgage Classic, but has yet to budge from the $20 minimum salary.
Michael Thorbjornsen – $20
Primarily for large-field tournament consideration given he’s finished T61 or worse in four straight starts, Thorbjornsen still has an admirable ceiling for a min-salary player, as seen in early July at the John Deere Classic where he racked up 27 birdies on the way to three rounds of 64 or better. The talented 22-year-old bombs it off the tee, and he’s top-10 in both P5: 550-600 Efficiency and Birdies or Better Gained over his last 24 measured rounds.
