The inaugural Austin Championship at the Fazio Canyons Course at Barton Creek Resort welcomes a field that includes five 2026 winners and a healthy number of young stars competing for a $6 million purse.
Blades Brown fits into both of those boxes, coming off his breakthrough win in Cabo San Lucas. Joining him in the field is fellow American teenage sensation Miles Russell, fresh off being named the AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year for a third time.
And then there’s tournament favorite Jackson Koivun, the elder statesman of the bunch at all of 21 years of age. Koivun, one of the most decorated golfers in collegiate history, is already a Presidents Cup winner and PGA Tour champion in his rookie season.
So, which of these young bucks do the sportsbooks favor? Let’s dive into the odds as the Tour makes its return to Austin, Texas, for the first time since 2023’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship won by Sam Burns.
2026 Austin Championship odds (as of Monday, November 9, courtesy of DraftKings)
- Jackson Koivun (+1600)
- Doug Ghim (+1650)
- Blades Brown (+2050)
- Andrew Novak (+2600)
- Jordan Smith (+2700)
- Chris Kirk (+2800)
- Brian Harman (+3200)
- Pierceson Coody (+3200)
- Kris Ventura (+3400)
- John Keefer (+3700)
- Marco Penge (+3700)
- Zach Bauchou (+3700)
- Austin Smotherman (+3900)
- Stephan Jaegar (+4100)
- Rico Hoey (+4100)
- Seamus Power (+4100)
Who will win the 2026 Austin Championship?
Despite his relatively young age, Koivun has earned the right to be a tournament favorite and this isn’t uncharted territory for him — he had the slight edge over eventual winner Jacob Bridgeman at the Biltmore to start the Tour’s fall season and then again in Utah where he was listed on top of Michael Brennan. With all that said, bettors are being asked to pay a premium for taking the “big name” who hasn’t really threatened to win over the last three months.
That means we’re rolling with Andrew Novak at +2600, who was having an out of body experience with his putter the last time we saw him. Until that special something with the short stick goes away, we’re not going to fade the South Carolina native. In his last 15 rounds of competitive golf, Novak has posted five sub-64s.
Favorite longshot to win the Austin Championship
Russell at +8200 got us to take a look given how this season has gone on the PGA Tour but nearly right below him is a name of another former phenom who is getting an even richer payout: Austin Eckroat at +6500.
The four-time All-American and two-time Tour winner sits No. 122 on the FedExCup Fall points list, so he comes in properly motivated to preserve conditional status in 2027. Additionally, he’s made 17 out of the last 18 cuts so he’s playing as consistent as anyone in this field. The rub? He hasn’t been inside the top 20 since Myrtle Beach.
First round leader prediction: Austin Championship
Staying close to the top of the favorites list, we’ll recommend Chris Kirk at +4400. He was awesome in the opening round south of the border last week, putting together a 63 — his eighth straight round of 70 or lower Thursday, which was good to cash this ticket. A repeat seems too good to be true? Or does it??
Also, worth a flier here is another favorite: Zach Bauchou at +510 to finish inside the top 10 at the end of Round 1. He would have been the pick outright on Day 1 if it weren’t for a costly, opening round 74 in Vallarta two weeks ago. Besides that gaff, he has eight opening rounds at 70 or lower in his last nine outings.
2026 Austin Championship best bet
Straight up, Zac Blair to finish inside the top 20 pays +225 seems too good to be true. We’re talking about the Tour’s third-best player in driving accuracy and 45th best putter. We like our chances with the No. 120 played in the FEC Fall points list.
One more for the road: Pierceson Coody couldn’t get the job done for us as a top 10 play last week but that doesn’t mean we’ll shun him here. We’ll take the UT standout and parlay him with another in Brian Harman to finish inside the top 20. That is a nice +480 ticket to help us get in the black.
What’s at stake this week on the PGA Tour?
This is the second-to-last tournament on the 2026 Tour schedule.
The season ends with next week’s RSM Classic, with the top 100 players on the final FedExCup standings earning full PGA Tour cards for the 2027 season.
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