The FedExCup Fall gets underway with the Biltmore Championship from The Cliffs at Walnut Cove in North Carolina.
For those who failed to make the FedExCup play-offs, the final events of the PGA Tour season give players the opportunity to secure their cards for the 2027 campaign.
The first event of the FedExCup Fall is the inaugural Biltmore Championship and is played at a brand new venue, meaning every player heads to North Carolina blind.
While The Cliffs, which opened in 2005, is new to the PGA Tour, there are a few things we know about the course. Firstly, it's played at altitude with the course around 2,000 feet above sea level, meaning the ball will fly further and straighter and caddies will need to make lots of yardage adjustments throughout the week.
Secondly, it's a Jack Nicklaus design, and the Golden Bear's courses are typically generous off the tee but penal for those who do miss fairways. While that can benefit longer hitters, the altitude makes The Cliffs a short course, and with four reachable par-5s, shorter hitters should be competitive.
On the greens, bentgrass surfaces are used, as found at Augusta, TPC Craig Ranch, Muirfield Village, TPC Twin Cities, Colonial, Hamilton, TPC Deere Run, Hurstbourne, Yokohama, Black Desert and Caves Valley.
5 - Doug Ghim
While distance is often useful at Jack Nicklaus courses, avoiding the rough is the primary target, something Doug Ghim has excelled at of late. After struggling off the tee in the first few months of the season, ranking 100th on the PGA Tour for driving accuracy after the Valspar Championship, Ghim now ranks 33rd.
Ghim’s recent form has also turned around nicely, with top-20s at the Canadian Open, Rocket Classic and Wyndham Championship, as well as a T6 at the John Deere Classic.
While the putter has always been Ghim’s undoing, he did gain strokes putting on his last two bentgrass outings at the John Deere and the 3M Open (albeit missing the cut at the latter), and the runner-up finish at the 2024 Shriners Children’s Open suggests the 30-year-old is comfortable at altitude.
4 - Corey Conners
One of the few Presidents Cup players teeing it up this week, Corey Conners is keen to solidify his ranking in the top 60 of the FedExCup standings to improve his status for next season.
Conners has had some nice results over the second half of the season, finishing T23 at the US Open and T7 at the Travelers Championship, both events that required accurate driving. The Canadian was then T14 at The Open and T20 at the Rocket Classic, and his only missed cut since the WM Phoenix Open unfortunately came at his home Open.
Conners also has an admirable record at Muirfield Village, recording three top-25s in his last five outings, and given his driving accuracy and long-iron play, the 34-year-old should fancy his chances at The Cliffs.
3 - Davis Thompson
It’s perhaps unwise to read too much into ‘recent’ form, given few of these players have competed in the last month, but Davis Thompson was playing some of the best golf in the field heading into the play-offs, where he finished seven spots outside the all-important top 70. Thompson ranks first for SG: Approach, SG: Tee-to-green and SG: Total across the last eight events as per Golf Betting System.
Thompson needed three big weeks to reach the post-season, but his T7-T8-T14 at the 3M Open, Rocket Classic and Wyndham Championship proved to be too little.
Thompson could so easily have won at the Wyndham given his tee-to-green play, in which he led the field, only for a stone-cold putter to leave him languishing outside the top 10.
Thompson also has a T5 at TPC Summerlin and a T15 at TPC Scottsdale, and he’ll look to add to his bank of form at altitude this week.
2 - JT Poston
After a drop-off following a remarkable mini-run that saw JT Poston win the Memorial Tournament and come T4 at the US Open, the 33-year-old finished T24-T22 in the first two FedExCup events, narrowly missing out on a second East Lake appearance.
Born less than 90 miles from this week’s venue, Poston will have plenty of support as he chases a second win of the season.
Poston’s first win of the season is particularly noteworthy this week, given it was at another Nicklaus-designed course in Muirfield Village. Poston also has a superb record at the Nicklaus Tournament Course, used for one of the four rounds of the American Express.
Poston is also a winner at TPC Summerlin and won on the bentgrass greens of TPC Deere Run.
While there isn’t loads to go at this week, Poston seems to tick plenty of boxes.
1 - Jackson Koivun
Ahead of his Presidents Cup debut next week, Jackson Koivun is opting to peg it up in North Carolina. Rather than risk rocking up to Medinah cold having not played since the FedEx St Jude back in mid-August, Koivun will look to shake some rust off.
Not that there’s likely much rust to shake off. Even by the high expectations placed upon Koivun after turning professional, he’s been outstanding. Missing the cut at the John Deere, Koivun bounced back with a T10 at the ISCO Championship before winning the 3M Open a fortnight later – on bentgrass greens, no less.
He’s no worse than T31 in his last three appearances, and his ball-striking has been consistently stellar.
Having attended Auburn University, Koivun is familiar with golf in this part of the country, and given his strong long-iron play and accurate driving, The Cliffs looks like an ideal venue.
