A brand new event enters the PGA Tour schedule as the penultimate tournament on the 2026 calendar. A field of 120 players will travel to Austin, Texas for the Austin Championship presented by Compliance Solutions.

Five-hundred precious FedEx Cup points are on the line along with a $6 million purse. I mention the season long points list first for two reasons. Five players currently inside the AON Next 10 are competing to keep their place in the field for the first two Signature events of 2027.

The other important cutline is the top 100. 17 men ranked 90-110 are in Austin trying desperately to sit inside the top 100 after next week and earn their Tour card. Although $1.08 million for first sounds nice, any of those on the bubble would surely take the points over the cash.

Our brand new host venue is the Omni Barton Creek Resort and Spa. Located just west of downtown Austin, the only thing better than those coveted FEC points might be the BBQ fare. Speaking of Austin, this tournament marks the return of the PGA Tour to the state capital since the Match Play was cancelled in 2023.

The Austin Championship also marks the fifth time the Tour has ventured into Texas this year. And new users can bet $10 on the tournament and get $200 in Bonus Bets win or lose at bet365 Sportsbook.

This preview is just that, a preview. For a complete list of my betting predictions covering the Tour Championship placements, and H2H matchups, please go to Read The Line and subscribe.

MORE: Beginner’s guide to how to bet on golf

Austin Championship best bets

Best bet to win

In the last five years, Brian Harman has played five tournaments (total) on the fall calendar. Harman finished T4 at the Baycurrent last month, entered the Austin Championship, and still has his home event left at Sea Island on the schedule. Number 70 on the FEC points list, Brian knows he is playing well and fits the Canyon Course at Barton Creek. A win or high finish may get Harman in the AON Next 10 and those first two Signature Series events. That level of motivation has caused Harman to put his hunting trips on hold and compete. Venues that require accuracy and Bermudagrass give this Georgia Bulldog a great chance to win against a weaker field.

Best bet to place

When a course calls for 200+ yard approach shots, there’s a cheat code on the PGA Tour, take Ricky Castillo. The Florida star is one of the best long distance approach players on Tour with a T3 at the recent Biltmore Championship and a win at the 2026 Puerto Rico Open. No doubt this Gator can also score on Bermudagrass and get inside the top 20.

Best head-to-head bet

In an all-time “name” matchup, the key is going to be off the tee skill. Sudarshan Yellamaraju’s ball striking will keep him in play more often than Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Throw in the fact Yellamaraju’s putter is trending while C-Bez’s has gone cold only compounds the opportunity of the positive odds H2H tournament matchup.

Austin Championship odds

All odds are courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

MORE: Full guide to using the DraftKings promo code

Austin Championship preview

The Omni Barton Creek Resort and Spa is home to four championship golf courses. The Canyons Course opened in 1999 to rave reviews. In 2022, the course went under a massive renovation with one goal in mind, bring elite professional golf to the resort. Tournament hosts achieved that goal and the Austin Championship was born.

A par 72 scorecard, the course stretches 7,451 yards across the western hills of Austin. The Canyons Course specifically is home to many elevation changes and limestone outcroppings. Covered in Bermudagrass, 26 of the top 100 in the OWGR are ready to tear this place apart. The Barton Creek Resort may sound familiar to golf fans. The Fazio Foothills and Coore-Crenshaw Cliffside courses hosted the 2022 PGA of America National Championship. The low 20 players in that tournament earned a place in the 2022 PGA Championship contested at Southern Hills. The Canyons Course sits a mile or so southwest of the main resort. Four par 3s and 5s, and 10 par 4s, there are 10 holes with a penalty area in play, and 43 bunkers cover the course. 

The Austin region has been wet this fall. The Canyons Course and surrounding areas received 2.6″ of rain in October, and 2.2″ in the first week of November. Soft turf conditions are going to increase scoring opportunities when the world’s best men arrive ready to go low. The high temperature(s) for the week is 78 degrees on Thursday and Friday. A front will move in over the weekend, dropping the daily mercury to the low 70s on Saturday and low 60s on Sunday. Over 7,400 yards will seem pretty long at 63 degrees and wet. The wind will be calm over the first 36 holes. When the front comes in over the weekend, plan on afternoon gusts approaching 20 mph out of the east. 

The turf conditions will be ideal for scoring. Even though nobody in the top 50 of the OWGR is in attendance, we still have 26 players inside the top 100… Needless to say these guys aren’t good, they are great. The last four winners of the Fall Series events owned pre-tournament odds in the 30s. Our winner Blades Brown is just another example of this. Michael Brennan, Austin Smotherman, and Andrew Novak also sat firmly in that middle tier odds range. Those four (including Brown) were showing incredible form. Putting the odds aside for a second, who enters this week (in the field) with at least one fall start and sits in the top 10 for SG: Total (fall)?

• 2026 Fall Top 10 performers: Austin Smotherman, Andrew Novak, Doug Ghim, Chris Kirk, Seamus Power, Alvaro Ortiz, Brian Harman, Blades Brown, Ricky Castillo, Trace Crowe

Five of those players sit in that coveted middle tier on the odds board. Why is it coveted? Because those players can win. Smotherman, Novak, Kirk, Power, and Harman are not only playing well this fall, but they all also have proven they can win more than once on the PGA Tour. Brown and Castillo are two more 2026 winners on that list.

We are six events into the FEC Fall Series and the average winning score is 22 under par. Four of the events have posted a winning score of 23 under par or lower! With a brand new venue and great scoring conditions, let’s not overthink this. The winner in Austin will be under 268 and have been a contender in recent events. My focus will remain on that middle tier. Let’s build a card that resembles the 2026 fall resume.

For full betting coverage of the Tour Championship subscribe to our Read The Line newsletter (it’s free!) and follow us on Twitter!

MORE: Full guide to using the DraftKings promo code

Here are some of the current sportsbook welcome offers to consider when comparing legal betting sites. Promotions change frequently and depend on state eligibility.

MORE: Best sportsbook promos and betting app bonuses

How to win the Austin Championship

Avid RTL readers know I lean toward the playability side of predicting who will win a golf tournament. Analytics are certainly important when it comes to backing up your initial read on a venue, but overall I like to answer one simple question, “what does this golf course ask you to do?”

Not all golf courses are alike. The Canyons Course calls for a couple of fundamental player characteristics. In order, I am looking for great mid-iron players (175 – 225 yards). Second, who can hit the fairway (with speed) and when they do miss, are closer to the fairway. A great stat to measure this is called good drives gained. Simply, who hits the GIR even when you miss the fairway. These are generally aggressive players who when they miss the short grass do not do it by much.

The third pillar for the Austin outright card is scoring. With 10 holes that feature a penalty area and tons of elevation changes, guys will miss GIRs. I want the best birdie to bogey ratio players. The close to the WWT was a prime example of why this ratio is so important. When the wheels start coming off and the walls are closing in, who repeatedly scores from close range and keeps the momentum going.

Since we do not have any historical data on Fazio’s Canyons Course, our best research time can be spent on comp or complimentary courses. The Canyons Course has a couple of telling traits. I’ve mentioned this a couple times, but elevation changes matter. The field will walk an average of 5.5 miles and climb 530′ during each 18 hole round.

What other venues on the PGA Tour test the men’s ball striking and fatigue in a similar fashion? Fazio’s design also has a devious set of par 3s. They average 212 yards in length and require a great degree of approach acumen. The par 4s all bend and are average in length. Finally, there are four very sub-par friendly par 5s. Based upon those course characteristics and a couple of others, I present the following comp list.

• Innisbrook, Copperhead Course (Valspar): Five brutal par 3s and a couple of three shot par 5s test the guys. A great collection of positional and driver friendly par 4s.
• TPC San Antonio, Oaks Course (Valero): A great driving test, and similar short game scoring exam. One of the five Texas venues.
• Colonial Country Club (Charles Schwab): One of the best comps on Tour, similar agronomy, killer par 3s, a great blend of 4s, and requires a solid game plan to score off the tee.
• TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, North Course (RBC Canadian): Great drivers get an edge, and the par 3s will test you. Tons of mid-iron approaches fit the Canyons Course requirement.
• TPC Deere Run (John Deere): This might be the best comp on the PGA Tour. Similar terrain changes and par lengths force a unique corresponding iron examination. Hitting fairways is a priority and unlike a couple of these comps, I believe the overall scoring total will match as well.
• Detroit Golf Club (Rocket): Pre and post renovation, the Rocket requires scoring and gives an edge to distance off the tee. Although many of the par 4 approaches are short, par 3 and par 5 scoring is the key to contending.
• Sedgefield Country Club (Wyndham): Another incredible match, Donald Ross’ design applies pressure OTT and requires a similar approach test. Brutal par 3s must be navigated along with grainy Bermudagrass agronomy on and around the green complexes.
• Cliffs at Walnut Cove (Biltmore): Similar to TPC Deere Run, a strong collection of par 3s, elevation changes galore, and a scorable venue. Not to mention, many of the final top 10 in Asheville are playing in Austin!

Notice when I selected these venues, none of them are Signature sites. They have comparable fields to the one we are seeing in Austin. When using comp courses, focus on two elements. First, follow the leaderboards and see who specifically has success on that style of venue. The skill sets will correlate if the player is currently expressing great form.

The second key is to develop the type of player who excels at those designs. The point is, not every player has to have played there recently. What “type” of player contends at comp course XYZ and how do they compare to others in the current Austin field. This is more of a validation route, but can be equally valuable when you travel with the PGA Tour 20+ weeks per year and know which players correlate.

With any new venue, I’ll always prioritize putting. The best putters not only make putts, but they read greens better than their competitors and control their delivery speed. The final feature of my outright predictions has to do with FEC points. Players are actively pushing for the AON Next 10 and top 100. Backing players in great form who have to maintain (or increase) exemption status in 2027 has reflected in the fall leaderboards. Six events into the FEC Fall Series we have a sound set of results to follow. Let’s keep contending and see if we can catch another win this week in Austin!

Read The Line is the leading golf betting insights service led by 5-time award-winning PGA Professional Keith Stewart. Read The Line has 50 outright wins and covers the TGL, LPGA, and PGA TOUR, raising your golf betting acumen week after week. Subscribe to Read The Line’s weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: TikTok, Instagram, Twitter.